<p>Amanda- congrats on the passport issue!! I got a frantic email from D… " I forgot to bring a copy of my passport and greencard, can you bring it tomorrow". I copied and put in the Dr Seuss book she was taking " Oh the places you will go"…cos she would need it for all the places she will go. I even got a " aw cute" from D.</p>
<p>PS I know she needs the actually docs when she travels. The college keeps a copy on file- just in case.</p>
<p>Hooray for the valid passport!!</p>
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<p>Making monthly payments even if you’re paying the full balance each month is all you need to do establish credit. Just keep the account active by charging a small amount and paying it off each month. You don’t have to carry a balance and pay the ridiculous interest rates. We never carry balances on our cards either. </p>
<p>When I was in college the first company that gave me a credit card was Nieman Marcus (?!!!). They required nothing, no proof of a job (which I did not have) or ability to pay. I remember distinctly that I had a $1000 credit limit. Needless to say I did not use it, but I did enjoy the cache of having it in my wallet :D</p>
<p>^ I had a Neimans card too, and a Saks… 
I had forgotten that!
I used to have several specialty cards…department stores would offer you on-the-spot cards by running your credit from the major bank card.
AND sometimes if you did it right there–you’d get a discount.
DH got a card from one dept store when we bought our first TV while engaged…we felt very “grown up” haha.</p>
<p>^lol fogfog! There was a girl in my sorority who used her Neiman’s card so much the raised numbers wore out and stopped imprinting (remember they had to take an imprint of the card with a “ker-chunker” machine, back in the Stone Age before magnetic strips). She was kind of a legend :)</p>
<p>Funny passport story. I decided to get DS’s renewed because it was set to expire during the school year and some countries require 6 months remaining of passport for it to be valid (stupid, right)? So we did that yesterday. Today I read that DS needs to fill out a form for jobs (mandatory even if not planning on a job right away) and guess what the recommended id is–of course, a passport. So now he will have to provide two forms of ID with the second one either a birth certificate or ssn card. Sigh, I didn’t want to send him with that paperwork.</p>
<p>DS has actually gone thru his clothes which is a big deal. Now if I can get him to clean his room it will be an amazing day!</p>
<p>Echoing relief about valid passport. One of the items on the sloooooowly shrinking list of “things to do” is to scan D1’s passport, drivers license, social security card, and make sure that she has a copy along with info on laptop warranty, dorm insurance, etc etc etc. It is incredibly satisfying to see things get crossed off. </p>
<p>You know how there’s always one thing on your to-do list that you just don’t want to deal with? For us, it’s creating bank accounts. D1 has a savings account at my credit union, and a checking account at the spouse’s credit union. Unfortunately, there’s no credit union ATM at her school, so she’ll need one more account to avoid getting slammed by ATM fees. Then I need to make sure that we/she can move money around between all those accounts. For some odd reason, this makes me want to stick my head in the sand.</p>
<p>We are having house guests, so I ordered one of those green tea scented memory foam mattress toppers for the hard-as-nails guest bed so D1 could test drive it for her dorm room. It smells like mint chocolate chip ice cream. :)</p>
<p>May I join the club? My first credit card was from B Altman. It was pink. And oh, how I loved that store. My D has appropriated my first ‘classic’ Coach bag (black) that I bought on that card (and paid off at the end of the month from my lordly 10k annual salary). Walking home from Mid-town to Brooklyn and skipping lunch was as nothing to the glamor of a Coach bag.</p>
<p>Congrats to all who had successful move in days.</p>
<p>My first credit card was a Bamberger’s in NJ- predecessor to Macy’s. I even remember my first purchase. It was an Izod striped maroon sweater.</p>
<p>D1 comes home on Sunday, and we drop her off on Friday. All of her college stuff is in piles in her room. She will have lots of things from 8 weeks at camp. I will move her college stuff to the den, so she can spread out in her room to pack her clothes, or else she will have a melt down due to college overload. For some reason, H wanted to use boxes for her stuff. We only have a 45 minute drive, and will be back at the school on Sunday for regular orientation. We bought 4 laundry baskets, so I planned to put her clothes on hangars, put them in plastic bags, and put them in the baskets. She also has a large duffel that she uses for travelling.</p>
<p>Sounds like everyone is very close to the bottom of their lists. Bravo. Before we know it Thanksgiving will be here and our kiddies will be home.</p>
<p>Another congrats on finding the current passport. I’m sure it’s a relief not to have to deal with that.</p>
<p>Thought we finished with doctors last week only to discover that S has his 1st cavity. Dentist is fitting him in next week to fill it before he leaves for school. The good new was that there were no problems with the wisdom teeth - so if it had to be something - better the cavity.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that you don’t have to play interest to build a good rating on the credit report. That’s exactly the opposite of the message that we’d be trying to teach. We’re going to see how S handles the debit card and checking account before we move on to the credit card. We are also hoping that paying the interest on the unsubsidized loan counts for something as well.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the successful move ins!! No tears? I’m impressed!</p>
<p>AmandaK: So glad you found the passport! Can’t believe they missed sending you the first packet of information. Sounds like you need Pepper’s frying pan!</p>
<p>Pepper: Hope he’s recovering well from the wisdom tooth removal. S2 is scheduled to have his removed on Friday.</p>
<p>
I remember buying my coach bag–I still have it–a perfect “blazer” bag…not the large one–the mid size…in saddle…a classic!!! I walked both ways to work in Wash DC and was happy to do that…My DH gave me a large Coach bag in black – to replace a canvas tote for carrying my shoes while I walked in my sneakers!!!</p>
<p>And we saved for our downpayment for our house–taking lunches to work, eating generic bag-o-chips and such with our peanut butter sandwiches for lunch…</p>
<p>and didn’t carry credit card debt 
because we were saving!!!</p>
<p>Oh yeah–about Move in–I AM NOT READY!!!
I keep hugging kiddo…the days are flying by!!!</p>
<p>S is the last move-in (Southern Oregon University) so I haven’t started to panic yet but I can feel just a hint of “yikes!” starting to creep in. Two nice new bath towels, one set of XL sheets and a matching comforter, one new laptop, and…uh…I think that’s it. Oh, plastic hangers. Yep, that’s definitely “yikes!” I feel.</p>
<p>S and I are spending tomorrow afternoon and evening together at the movie theater, watching the DCI prelims live from Indianapolis–five hours of marching music. It’s been on the calendar since spring and seemed like it would never get here, but suddenly here it is. Feels like a theme developing…</p>
<p>Move-in in 9 days for us. Definitely starting to feel “stressy” but just in general, not about buying stuff. Bought the laptop and the XL sheets. What else does a boy really need? :)</p>
<p>^nothing but a mother’s love! Good luck to your S, mathmomvt. D’s move in day is 6 days away. </p>
<p>Bought the laptop last night. Who knew Apple gave a 6% corporate discount? Not me until it was too late (I was paying by check - already written it out). All you have to do is show them a business card. We didn’t take them up on their printer offer (buy it for $150; submit receipt online; get $100 back) because it’s the dreaded HP Photosmart version, which refuses to print ANYTHING in plain ol’ black and white unless you have all the colors installed. So if you’re low on cyan, you can’t print. What a racket. They make so much money selling ink cartridges.</p>
<p>The stress goes in waves. From ‘we’re on top of this’ to ‘OMG I have so much to do!’ D sent a big box UPS yesterday with bedding. Had her blood test yesterday to check on iron levels to make sure anemia’s under control; she’ll start packing this weekend. I told her to lay out our luggage and eyeball how much stuff she still has to send.</p>
<p>Glad I have all my cc friends to go through this with. No one else really understands.</p>
<p>My d came home late Friday night from counseling at a girl scout camp all summer. We spent the day Saturday with family at my niece’s wedding. D has appeared to be frantically getting ready for move in day, though I don’t see enough progress getting done. </p>
<p>She has her EMPTY blue chest in the trunk of the car to see if it will fit. I told her clothes or bedding or something needs to be in it, but no signs of that yet. There are piles of unfolded clothes on her floor. (not sure if they are clean or dirty) Some laundry has been done, a lot of time spent with friends has been done, plans to be gone for 5 days next week has been made, a shopping list only 1/4 of the way purchased is sitting on the table. </p>
<p>She did finally put in the last hours for her Gold Award this week and will go to get the required signatures from her mentor, then to the Girl Scout office to turn in the paper work. That is something that should have been done months ago and she could have had today to work on college stuff. My worst fear is that the committee will deem it not good enough and she won’t have time before the Sept. 30 deadline to get it done right, especially since she is leaving soon for an out of state college.</p>
<p>She leaves from our Iowa home on Tuesday, Aug. 23 to meander her way to Tulane for a Sept. 27 move in day. Not sure how this will all get done if she plans on being gone 5 days next week. But, she is organized in her mind, if no where else, and things generally get done good enough.</p>
<p>Hello everyone -</p>
<p>I just got back from several days visiting D1 in Puerto Rico. She’ll be finishing her internship there in the next month and moving to the DC area for the next one. We had a lovely weekend vacation and I also got to see where she is living, meet her friends there, etc. It was a nice trip.</p>
<p>I wish everyone well and enjoy hearing all of the news. I know everyone is having ups and downs, big and little. We’ve got the same in our family. Hugs to everyone!</p>
<p>D2 has been inching her way through what needs to be done. She has less than 3 weeks to finish packing, finish cleaning her room, and - oh, yes - finish the 2 books and write the 2 papers. If it were me it would have been done already, but she has to do it her way, and I’m just letting it go. I’m not going to fight with her during these last few days that she’s home. I did remark that in college one learns to “read strategically” - but that’s something she’ll have to learn for herself. She’s read a lot of the plays (40 library books stacked on the dining room table for the past month) but could have read many more. Again, it’s her life. </p>
<p>She’s been spending time with friends, doing a lot of sitting around, organizing pictures and making lovely collages to have at school. She’s invested in the moving process and will push hard at crunch time, I’m sure. We’ve seen so much new maturity this year, and I really can’t criticize. She’s been pleasant and undemanding, and I’m going to miss her. I’m mostly very happy that she is starting this new phase, and especially that she is so positive about it. </p>
<p>What comes after that will be very surprising for me, I am sure. I have lots of plans this fall but really don’t know what it will be like not to have any kids here long-term. I know it will be very different.</p>
<p>**The next new student move-in is Southwestern University on August 12th.
Move-in day is in 1 day! Where did the summer go? :eek:
(Based on TX weather it is still summer!)</p>
<p>University of Alabama and NC State move-ins are just 2 days to go.
University of Missouri (Mizzou) move-in is just 3 days to go (for sorority recruitment).
Millikin University move-ins are just 5 days to go.
University of Southern California, University of Missouri, Emory, Baylor and Pitt (band camp) move-ins are just 6 days to go.
University of Colorado, Lawrence University (tennis), Harvard (outdoor program), and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) move-ins are just 7 days to go.</p>
<p>Last new student move-in is the University of Southern Oregon on September 22nd<br>
Move-in day in 42 days.</p>
<p>The link to the Move-in Date Thread is <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1141579-hs-class-2011-college-class-2015-move-dates-5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1141579-hs-class-2011-college-class-2015-move-dates-5.html</a></p>
<p>If you son’s or daughter’s move-in dates and schools are not listed please add them to the list.**</p>
<p>D’s last day at work is today. That will give her two weeks to get ready before we leave. Can’t get her to focus on much…much more important to hang out with every single friend before they leave.</p>