Y’all are so far ahead of us here on the dorm shopping. I think D21 is anxious about leaving. She has expressed almost no interest. We went to BBB last weekend and she got super anxious in the store. So I’ve backed off. The BbB stories are concerning - I was thinking of doing the pickup at a store about 30 minutes from campus to avoid the crowds and supply issues at the nearest one. There is also a Container Store and Walmart in the same shopping area. And now D21 has a job working weekends so our time do to a big shop is pretty limited.
She got her move in appointment yesterday. T minus 41 days. EEK!
I bought mine two sets of sheets but he rarely used the second one. When he washed his bedding, he would strip the bed, wash everything and put it right back on. He didn’t have room in his laundry basket for dirty sheets if he waited to wash them.
Yeah same. S19 has a pair of fleece plaid sheets that never got unfolded and stayed in his drawer for all of freshman year. He brought them home and here they sit!
Lately I have gotten a bunch of $20 off $80 coupons at BBB or today even I see a $15 of $50 so I will spend around those amounts to buy items and they wind up being better than the 20% ones. But, overall you definitely have to be careful about not paying more there even after the coupons than for the same stuff elsewhere. A lot of what I’ve been buying have been on sale or exclusive to BBB. Just now a tumbler we bought came with a chip. I called to get it exchanged and then at the end of the call the guy gave me a 20% off everything for unlimited use through September. WIN! For when I want to use it.
This made me LOL and think back to when something did happen to it. My ex husband left it near the oven top once way back when we were all outside. I happened to walk back in and yep, fire. Good thing. I saved the house, but not the blanket. We were fortunately able to replace the blanket. I’m not even sure now that I think about it, that we replaced the monogramming on it. I should look. My twins used to walk around with the same blankets too but ironically they wound up preferring each others. So the one with the pink one instead liked the purple and vice versa. So that’s who’s became who’s and they’re still folded today in their closets as keepsakes. I suppose we can subsitute his for pink or purple! I see the store is still in business so there is maybe a chance they still have them hah. I’ll have to see what happens in the long run. He definitely doesn’t NEED it as he doesn’t take it on vacations or overnight or to his dad’s.
Was able to get our BBB pack and hold order in with the 20% savings pass. I really loathed their site lack of straightforward functionality. It turned out that you could (as the very last step pretty much) schedule the later pickup date. I hate paying more for these items but in case our flight is delayed or whatever it will be convenient. The store we are using has very, very few mattress toppers in stock for twin beds.
If you guys haven’t purchased towels, Costco has bath towels on sale. I got a grey one for S21 for $5.48ish. The white one was less than that, but we are staying far away from white for dorm things. I got him grey bath towel (just getting one and I’ll pack a swim towel for pool if he plans to swim for exercise), grey washcloth towel, and grey bedding. I’ll probably do laundry in August and then will start packing things.
One more thing. I had thought about getting MixTiles if you want to go that route, sign up for their email mailer. I noticed that it’s a better deal with their code on email vs reg social media sales. 16 tiles for $89 has been the best deal I’ve seen.
I ended up ordering from Shutterfly. I got the metal wall frame and one metal thing can include 9 photos. Ordered 2 so less things to manage. I’ll have S22 use 3M tape to stick them to the dorm wall. The cost for the two metal wall collage less than MixTiles if you use the codes from Shutterfly.
I saw those and almost bought but then once measured realized they weren’t really bath sheets and I was looking for bath sheets since we already had the bath towels for him. Ultimately got the huge bath sheets from Kohls.
I’m debating going back though and buying some of those towels for our house since they had a decent collection.
Not sure if I already mentioned this, but we bought 2 of the Woo zoo fans from Costoc, already demo’ed one and woah crazy powerful for that little thing. I was both impressed and surprised. They also have already increased in price since we bought ours at $34.99 and Walmart is selling same fan for $52.99. Best part is they’re not bulky or take up a lot of space. The “globe” thing also rotates in so many positions including one straight up and it has a remote and I believe my son said it has a timer you can set to turn on and off.
We wound up buying a study pillow just for some accent from BBB for like $17. I looked around and that was actually the cheapest. It came (had to be shipped) and looks pretty good and has a decent amount of colors. For wall “decor” looks like it’s going to be a Michigan flag and Cubs flag. We haven’t found a Bears flag we like that hangs vertically so may have to pass on that. Still have to pick up the UM one. But I figure two is plenty.
He finally went to visit with his dad this weekend and said it was good although Central campus where he was living they walked around a lot and North Campus as suspected was completely dead, very few buildings he said, you walk a little then all the Engineering, and he is VERY happy it’s not where he’s living. I think this week they actually are starting in person tours including Engineering, but his dad has to work and my son is doing some work as well, so not doable.
For those of you with kids that have to fly, check into getting them TSA precheck clearance. It’s a simple interview that takes a few minues and the clearance is good for 5 years. Saves tons of time for them at the airport especially during peak travel times during the holidays. It’s $85 but you get a credit back if you have an airlines card and some other cards credit back too - here’s a list to check if your cards give the free benefit. One of the best things we ever did! Credit Cards and Loyalty Programs featuring TSA PreCheck® | Transportation Security Administration
D21 just had her TSA interview on Friday! We wanted to get the global pass for $100, but they only do those at the airports, so we’ll do that another time.
If you have one of those credit cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve, etc) and haven’t used the perk, you can get TSA precheck or global entry for your kid. Both of our kids have global entry, which made it really nice when we travel. We don’t realize how much we appreciate it til we had to wait 20 min for our travel partners to get thru TSA recently!
Well, I’m kind of anti-credit card and only have one small one through my credit union in case of emergencies. I know folks say to get an airline one, esp since D21 will be flying coast-to-coast for the next 4 years, but I’m just not comfortable with credit cards.
It’s definitely not for everyone or every family. We pay ours off every month and I’ve done that since my first credit card bill. I find that credit cards provide me with much better fraud protection than any bank debit card. From a financial standpoint, I prefer to pay up at the end of the month so that I get more interest rates with the month I don’t have to touch til the end of the month. Some cards have bonuses that we use (e.g. I haven’t paid for one Southwest plane ticket this year since flying with DH) and it’s just free money to me.
I got the woozoo a few days ago (thanks to this thread) and it’s great! Got the small desktop one…so cute, quiet and cooler than you’d think. My D likes it so much she just texted a photo it to her future roommate in case she wants a desk fan too. They lucked out to get one of the few freshman dorms at their school with a/c in the dorm rooms (a big deal in Tidewater Virginia) but they still might want to get the air moving.
My D and I spent much of yesterday just ordering the last misc. stuff…surge protectors, command hooks, desk lamp and clip-on bed light… Just want to be done! I’d rather shop in person but there are few stores here (and dropping like flies) except for Walmart (whichI avoid) and TJ Max (which I love, but you never know what you’re going to find). You have to drive seventy miles in any direction to find any big box stores like BB&B or Target, and after all that driving you still might not find what you want. I don’t want to do last-minute shopping on move-in day…Anyway, I think parents will be given very little time in the dorms before students are whisked away for a multi-day orientation that goes til bedtime and starts early each morning. No way to do last minute shopping unless I do it myself after drop-off and sneak it into the dorm somehow and I’m not gonna be that parent!
That woo zoo is stronger than it looks! I had to confirm with my friend who told me to get it that it’s really that small!
My living room is now getting loaded with all the dorm stuff for my son who we don’t even leave to take until Aug 22.
Meanwhile my D who’s home working this summer we’re moving her into her apartment for school on Aug 6 so she wants to start picking out and getting stuff but I really don’t want to ship it again so not sure what she wants although I think more business clothes is at the top of her list. Sigh!
And then other D returns from Israel on July 27, we meet her in NY and drive with her to Ithaca and move her to her apartment to set up as much as we can over the next 2 days then fly back for her to acclimate, see family, friends, Drs, see Lolla then goes back on Aug 10 alone and can deal with her roommates on the rest of the apartment since they’ll all be there then.
I’m overwhelmed with dealing with 3 tuitions all due at different times, making sure rents are paid, leases are read again thoroughly, and what not! This reminds me when I had 4 kids in 3 different K-12 schools and having to be ultra organized. Happening again except in a month or so it should go away and they’re on their own but now ugh!
and I’m not gonna be that parent!