<p>We were also concerned that the stores near campus would be picked over, so we headed to a Target, BB&B , etc farther away…wrong. Our experience was just the opposite. The stores closest to the schools were the ones loaded with dorm supplies. They expect the rush during move-in and are well prepared.</p>
<p>We also checked a fully packed foot locker on Southwest (2 free bags). We secured it with duct tape and kept it just under the 50 lb. weight limit.</p>
<p>As others have said, when it comes to dorm supplies, less is the way to go. There isn’t anything you can’t get to your student within a few days.</p>
<p>We’ve found that the Amazon subscription service works well for personal care items. That’s the deal where you “subscribe” to getting, for example, razor blades. You get a discount off of the regular Amazon price, and you set the frequency of refills. Shipping is free even without Amazon Prime. A few days before shipping, Amazon emails you to give a heads-up that the order is going to ship soon. If you want to cancel or delay the shipment (maybe because you found the razor blades on sale elsewhere for even better than the Amazon price and you stocked up), you can do that with no penalty. And you can cancel your subscription at any time.</p>
<p>The student can do a price comparison between Amazon and the local Target/Walmart/Walgreens/student store and see if it makes sense.</p>
<p>We bought most stuff when we got there, though we stuffed what we could in the luggage. We didn’t find anything so essential and special that he wanted to buy here, so what we stuffed was his clothes. You really don’t want to take that much there, since you have to do the reverse process at the end of the year when all is chaos, and then repeat each year thereafter. </p>
<p>It also depends on where your child’s school is. If it has a lot of shopping nearby, you can buy a lot of the stuff there. Some things might be picked over, so send a box of essentials there. The trunk might well be a good idea. But don’t sweat about forgetting this or that. S/he isn’t going to Outer Mongolia and we found that all essentials were easily found though maybe not in an all in one shopping trip. Really, most kids have too much junk, not the opposite.</p>
<p>What the student takes to college is also a function of things like the family buying things in bulk from places like Costco or Sams. If I get 12 bars of Dove soap at Costco for a lot less than the smaller packs at Target you better believe the student will be taking a few Dove bars to the dorm (if traveling by land). </p>
<p>Does it save much in terms of the overall college cost? no, but it gives a bit of a moral satisfaction and learning moment that money saved is a good thing. I know it is inconvenient to take stuff like that along from day 1 but money is money; if we make the case of buying a textbook online to save $5 off the bookstore cost, then why stop there?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My daughter wouldn’t TOUCH a bar of soap with a ten foot pole…no matter how cheap it was. She uses body wash…and she bought it herself in college.</p>
<p>Turbo…it’s a lot easier to send some “replenish” toiletries in a care package once in a while than to find a place to store those extras in some dorms…where there is VERY limited storage. Just saying.</p>