Incoming Freshman Shopping Costs

<p>How much money have you guys spent in the past few months buying college stuff (comforter, clothes, fridge, microwave, etc.)? I went shopping for all my stuff over the past weekend and the total cost was crazy!</p>

<p>A lot. </p>

<p>It’s taken over a month to get it all. Luckily, I’m finally done. </p>

<p>I needed a lot of new clothes because most of mine were years old, faded, frayed, torn, etc. I also needed new tennis shoes, rain boots, etc. Fridge was about $150, but I did really good with my sheets and comforter. </p>

<p>But mostly it was just a lot of small stuff that added up to a high total cost.</p>

<p>It gets more expensive if you decide to live in an apartment, on or off campus, later on. Everything for a kitchen, and possibly some furniture as well.</p>

<p>As a junior, my advice is to not buy everything at once. Buy the necessities first and then go from there. When I was a freshman, I went shopping like crazy because I bought into all of those store advertisements and college information sessions that told you what you “should” have. A part of it had to do with the “going away to college/moving away from home” anxiety where you think it’s better to be prepared and safe than sorry. It turned out I didn’t need a lot of it, and probably wasted a lot of money on unnecessary things, like an iron board for instance. My suggestion is to get adjusted first, then figure out what you need and go from there.</p>

<p>The nice thing now though, InBloom, is that a lot of the huge store things are package deals of the basics. I don’t remember seeing all that a few years ago.</p>

<p>Yup living in an apartment is more costly. I spent over five thousand last year(not including clothing), which was mostly attributed to the furniture expenses.</p>

<p>For my first year I probably spent between $1000 and $1500. For this year I am going to spend a few hundred dollars restocking and replacing things, as well as adding a few luxuries I didn’t have before (couch!).</p>

<p>woah, i’m just buying some new clothes. i already have twin extra long sheets, i have a blanket and some pillows, i have a laundry hamper, i have some posters, and i don’t really think i need a fridge or microwave, since there’s a common kitchen in my dorm for that kind of stuff. i also already have a shower caddy, so…</p>

<p>I spent, so far, $200 on bedding/towels…and that’s it. Probably going to spend another $150 to $200 max for stuff like a surge protector(extra outlets, ftw?) and a footlocker(bringing a lot of precious technology)…oh and a trash can, saw one the other day that you step on to open! …yeah, it’ll probably break 2wks in.
I guess altogether it’ll be like $500, at the most…I hope. It’s a nice goal?</p>

<p>So far i have spent about 1600 plus 450 on books and i am on my way to bed bath and beyond to buy a trunk for $70 and then radio shack. ■■■. Things add up. :(</p>

<p>Atlantic, make sure your dorm doesn’t already come with a trash can. I bought a trash can my freshman year and ended up returning it cause we were provided one, which I would have known had I paid closer attention to the school website…</p>

<p>I probably spent a couple hundred on things for my dorm…but it was last year, so I don’t really remember.</p>

<p>XU – your school provides trash cans? WEIRD. At my school, you only find trash cans in the bathrooms in the academic buildings, campus center, library etc (read: everywhere but dorms).</p>

<p>We get trash cans…AND recycling bins. Ooooo. :)</p>

<p>My school provides trash cans too, as well as recycling bins… I don’t think that’s that weird.
When I was coming into freshman year, after buying my laptop (macbook pro), bedding, some new clothes/shoes/outerwear, toiletries, dorm supplies, school supplies, textbooks and flight ticket to school (i live a couple thousand miles away), etc, I had spent at least a couple thousand dollars of the money I’d worked very hard to earn over summer… ugh it was painful.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, we get recycling bins too…that started like halfway through my freshman year I think.</p>

<p>Not much at all… I just spent $21 yesterday on enough toiletries to last me two years. I wouldn’t recommend spending that much on just body wash, but I’m particular about the products I use and the ones I wanted came in a big bottles. Will spend $20 on underwear, $20 on a Thermos food jar, $15 on a good canvas hamper, below $50 on a comforter (check Target, or Overstock, which has good quality stuff for not much), $30 for hiking shoes on clearance, $40 on snow boots, $5 on a bath towel on sale. I’m bringing the pillow and sheets from home, as well as the vast majority of items in my wardrobe, though I may decide to get another warm jacket for the winter months. I’m expecting to spend no more than $300, textbooks aside. I’m a good shopper. ;)</p>

<p>^^Awesome shopper, I’ve already spent around $500 on dorm stuff and I haven’t even left my country yet! So I’m not nearly done…
Sucks being a shopaholic</p>

<p>freshman year i spent about 500, this year about 100</p>

<p>I just spent about $200 on dorm stuff today including toiletries (pads, tampons, ibuprofen etc), storage, laundry detergent ($11 there alone), hangars…and I spent about $70 on school supplies, including a backpack.</p>

<p>ive spent somewhere about $300 on actual class/dorm supplies. My books will prob cost me another $200-400.</p>