<p>I’m sending two girls, and I don’t think I’ll spend more than $100 each. First is going about 2 hours away, so not much difference in clothing. She’s also an athlete and most of her clothes, including shoes, are provided. She’s taking all her bedding except I’ll have to buy sheets. She’ll need some shampoo and things and we’ll get those on move in day.</p>
<p>Other is going farther away, but her dorm room is small. She’s also taking her bedding. She’ll need boots and a warmer jacket in the fall.</p>
<p>Less is more. They don’t need everything on the first day either.</p>
<p>One thing to remember for those purchasing clothes for college is that the kids will need a business/interview outfit - jacket, blouse and skirt for girls - jacket, shirt, tie, and nice pants for boys and for both the appropriate footwear.</p>
<p>On BB&B…a friend actually invited me to a focus group an ad agency was doing about dorm shopping and I gave my honest opinion…I can’t stand BB&B. Our local stores are crowded with things stacked up to the ceilings (which you cannot reach), there is no (or maybe just to me, nonsensical) organization - comforters would be spread out into 5 different “rooms”, prices were high. Maybe it’s our store but all the women in the focus group said the same. One’s D literally started crying and had to leave, my S had a gift card and picked a pillow and ran out of there as fast as he could.</p>
<p>Target was a lot easier for us to navigate (all dorm stuff in the same area) and wound up being a lot cheaper, even without the ubiquitous 20% off BBB coupon.</p>
<p>Just my own opinion but I struggled to spend a gift card there, in fact I wound up using it online after walking out of the store.</p>
<p>And somewhat formal occasions, too. When my son moved into the dorms, he didn’t want to bring a suit. He brought “nice” clothes, but not a suit. Then he had an event to attend which required a suit and I mailed his suit to him. Big box, lots of “popcorn” stuffing and his suit in a plastic bag. It cost a lot mailing it, but not as much as buying a new suit. He should have brought the suit with him when he moved in. </p>
<p>Re: career clothing & / or semi formal wear,oh yes, be sure to have some.
Bring along either her prom dress or previous semi formal evening dress just in case she need to wear one and you dont have to mail it to her. There is always 1 or 2 dance ( optional of course ) . My D said the career biz-like clothings are esp. Important for her meetings. Just something simple that can be mix & match w/ other clothings.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I’m quite frugal–grin, and why I want to start shopping as soon as possible so I can hit up 2nd hand stores for items (not bedding–bed bugs–yuck), and to catch end of season clearance and holiday sales. BBY seems too expensive to me for the quality, even with 20% off coupons. So, we most likely will not purchase much from there, especially with Pottery Barn–Dorm’s, annual and clearance sales. I’ve also found some items on Amazon that are more environmentally friendly for less, although still not a steal/deal in my book. </p>
<p>D has a full bed at home, so will need all new bedding. Clothes, lol, she literally has a couple of non-party dresses, a a couple of skirts, some t-shirts & sweats/hoodies for winter. She loves resale shops. so I know where a lot of her clothing will come from. I am not counting the laptop or new phone in our costs. </p>
<p>Let’s keep this thread going for those parents of Class of 2015 to post our deals!</p>
<p>@OHMomof2 I agree that BB &B is difficult in person and I too prefer Target on a regular basis. However, BB&B has some nice features for college students. For us, since we are flying across the country and have one day to buy what is needed, the benefit of checking out merchandise locally, ordering online before we hop on the plane and picking up at a store close to the college is very appealing. They allow you to have a “save list” that D can add to during the summer before officially ordering. We’ve been price checking Target and BB&B and most everything is the same… some items cheaper at Target and some cheaper at BB&B. Unfortunately, Target only has the in-store pick-up for same day ordered items and not all items eligible. Most of our friends whose kids went across the country did the BB&B route unless they were able to road trip over.</p>
<p>We’ll still be making a Target trip, no doubt. All the toiletries, detergent and such will come from there.</p>
<p>University students get Amazon Prime free shipping for a few months(6?.) She can sign up once she has a school e-mail address. And start ordering things to be sent directly to the school starting several weeks before school starts.</p>
<p>Target has 5% off with the Redcard, and free shipping. She can attach it to her debit card so that it takes money directly from acct at time of purchase, instead of working credit card style. If you want to sign up for it that way, you can do it while in the store in checkout line, but do need a void check to give them. The Target near D’s school had a special sale for students only of extra 10% off several days before beginning of semester late at night after regular store hours. they brought the kids on special buses from campus, about 5 miles away. And had party games and etc. They run online sales of school merchandise starting about now. I remember the mini-fridge was really cheap.</p>
<p>The mini-Walmart near her dorm ran 10% off everything for students the first 2 weeks of school. She used that discount when buying her cheapo bike and many bathroom staples.Also, the larger Walmarts in the city honored the discount for kids who had transportation. First time D ever shopped at Walmart. What can you do when it’s right across the street and you have no car?</p>
<p>D went far away. We bought and shipped, and bought there, more than we would have if she were a driving trip from home.</p>
<p>I don’t know about other dorms, but the only light in her room was a ceiling fixture. So we bought a desk lamp and cheapo torch from Target and another better torch from Lowes. Saved torch boxes to repack for storage later.</p>
<p>We needed to get shower curtain and hooks. Those were not provided, but I heard that some dorms did come equipped, so you need to check. Her dorm desk was not adequate. The chair was fine, but desk only about 2 feet wide, perfect as a frig stand, but D is used to spreading out her HW. Got a sturdy 4 foot table to assemble from Target, maybe $100 before discounts? I’ll dig up receipts from back then and post more details. Then bought an acrylic sheet at Lowe’s to protect the table top.</p>
<p>Bring a simple tool set. The dorm front desk may have some, but it’s easier to bring your own and not have to wait for them.</p>
<p>Keep potential bugs out :
Plastic zip closed mattress thing ( I don’t know the official product name ).</p>
<p>Most important item for my D1 & D2 in their opinion, even if they don’t have anything else, they want this item.
a zip closed mattress liner thing ( $39 or more??? not cheap ! ) ,you zip the dorm mattress into this " plastic ", then zip it close, it provides a barrier to prevent any bugs that may be on the dorm mattress from coming out to get you.
Not to be confused w/ the cotton quilted mattress cushy topper,
this is the plastic zip mattress thing I don’t know what they call that. </p>
<p>If you read the Neurotic Parent link I posted, you’ll see she recommends simply buying a brand new $89 mattress instead of $300 worth of things-to-make-the-lousy-dorm-mattress bearable :D</p>
Well, I’m not quite sure what quality mattress $89 will get you. Plus, at most universities, you would need to reset the dorm room at move-out to move-in condition (less normal wear), so that means store the dorm mattress during the year, store the $89 mattress over the summer, and repeat *3. No thanks; I’ll spend the $300 out of my own pocket if I had to.</p>
<p>Yeah, the blog is satire, of course, but it did get me thinking. It might be that some schools are willing to just take their mattress back, I haven’t really looked into it. </p>
<p>But it seems like $100 or so gets maybe better than a dorm slab, topper, zipper cover, etc would.</p>
<p>We’re afraid of bedbugs! We have mattress covers on all our boxspring & mattresses at home, got one for my son’s dorm room (and tossed it out at the end of the year). I bought him a new one for his new bed/boxspring off campus. He also had a mattress topper (necessary) to make the dorm mattress softer and wanted one for his new bed (not really necessary, but whatever :)). </p>
<p>I haven’t read all of this, but you don’t need as much as you think. The cost can vary widely, depending on styles and where you shop. My son goes to school near Albany, and he NEVER used his nice down comforter, or nice winter coat. Didn’t ever buy rain boots, and didn’t use his snow boots. He said he didn’t need a printer, but did want a fridge. I can’t remember if his roommate had a microwave or if they used the one on the hall. They didn’t have a TV. If they watched something it was on computer. He did use lots of towels, and lots of socks. He didn’t wear many of the clothes that went with him. I don’t think they ever vacuumed their room, but he did use cleaning wipes. (That computer screen must be clean). With my second son I’m not buying all new things for room, and I figure if we need it we can buy it and have it shipped. Even if we pay ill price for some things, we will probably be ahead financially. </p>