Moving from a home into a dorm finally is a memorable and determinative experience for a college goer. It is, perhaps, your first step into adulthood. You must be wondering what to pack for college and what to leave behind. While campuses provide basic items like a desk with drawers, chair, bed, mattress, closet, curtains, you have to buy the rest of the items yourself. Most families discover that making a home away from home can be an expensive proposition, and a lot of cash gets burned fast in the process. However, shopping smartly and spending money on the right resources can make a hell of a difference in a family’s budget. We are giving five tips for sprucing up your dorm nicely while staying within your budget:
Make a List and Start Early
Create a college dorm checklist for freshman years. Listing down everything you would possibly need in your dorm is the first step toward sound planning. Go to your favorite online store and mark down all the items that you need. Don’t buy them right away and watch out for the sales, promotional deals, and product bundles. However, don’t wait too long to get your hands on the essentials, as the pressure of delay may lead to impulsive buying at high prices.
Shop Frugally
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Raid the Dollar Store
If you think what you can possibly get in a dollar store is worthwhile for your dorm life, this list would surprise you! For a dollar, you can buy all these helpful items:
- Flip-flops.
- Socks.
- T-shirts.
- Hand sanitizer.
- Inexpensive conditioners and lotions or samples.
- Bandages.
- Dry erase board to jot down essay ideas and messages.
- Stationery items (notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, folders, rulers, tape, scissors, post-its, dry erase board).
- Hanger set.
- Hand towels.
- Tissue rolls.
- Can openers.
- Certain cutlery wares.
Look Close to Home
You may not have to freshly shop from zero and might be able to locate certain supplies at home like hangers, table lamp, a fan, laundry baskets, boxes, pillows, bedsheets, electric blankets, comforter, privacy curtains, alarm clock, cushions, rug, tissues, medicine, etc. Get plenty of ideas from any American dream essay. You can get items from an elder sibling, a cousin or friends, even grandparents or anything for free that they don’t need anymore.
Maximize Space
One reality that you, as a first-year student, have to accept is that, unlike your home, space is limited in your dormitory. Getting adjusted to this limitation can be painful; however, there are some space-saving ideas and examples that can really help make the most of your tiny space.
- Invest in plastic containers to store stationery, makeup, hair, and grooming-related stuff neatly.
- Utilize the space under the bed to keep away books, magazines, snacks, groceries, out-of-season clothes, shoes, etc.
- Storing stuff in under-bed carts and plastic containers helps in making them organized and cleaning and retrieval easier.
- Utilize the vertical space in your room by installing wall-mounted adhesive hooks, rails, shelves, etc.
- Get multipurpose furniture, such as storage boxes, that can double as a stool.
- Hang a shoe and purse organizer inside your closet or behind your door to hang clothes, shoes, scarves, cap, etc.
- Put out-of-season clothes in space-saving vacuum boxes.
If however, you do find that you have a medium to large dormitory or opt to live off-campus, you may be able to bring a variety of your personal belongings with you. To make this easier on you and your family, it may be wise to look into a company like threemovers.com that can get your stuff anywhere in the USA reliably.
Share Amicably
Living away from home also enables you to share a living space with a complete stranger and learn to coexist. If your roommate happens to be cooperative and friendly, you can share items like a blow dryer, fan, a small fridge, coffee maker, blender, iron, CD or DVD player, stereo, and iron board and save some cash as well as space. Having two iron boards, mirrors, bulletin boards are just going to clutter up precious space. Do remember, privacy or blackout curtains, noise-canceling earbuds, and sleep masks are a good idea to get some much-needed space in a shared room during the research and writing.
Eat Healthily
Healthy eating is one of the topics that frequently come up in discussions about dorm life. Unhealthy snacking and poor food choices can lead to weight gain and health problems. Hot plates, microwaves aren’t allowed as it is in your room and you don’t have time to cook, but you can use the microwave in the kitchenette to whip up quick meals like noodles, rice, mac and cheese, etc., or choose healthier options at the cafeteria and dining hall. Also, stock up on healthy snacks in your dorm room like energy bars, nuts, whole-grain crackers, cereals, canned food, and keep healthy perishable food items like milk, cheese, eggs, fresh fruits, and salad in your mini-fridge.
Students who try to drag everything but the kitchen sink to their college find themselves in a fix rapidly, as limited space means they have to throw many things away. Knowing how to pack for college responsibly would help you make the transition smoother, and it would also enrich your experience. The responsibilities that follow living independently are part and parcel of the experience of growing up and becoming a responsible adult. When young people learn to live in co-shared spaces, they learn to tolerate differences, respect others, and get along.