Super helpful thanks for posting.
Strange. Ours went down about $1,000. Because Iâm divorced, I know exactly what each kid costs because I need them to do a calculation for me to let my ex husband know how much to reimburse me for with the kid and without the kid on our insurance.
Geico has been awesome. Itâs going to go down another $600 when I put this next one down as away at school.
Thanks! Iâm not sure if the recommended items are all that essential. Do they really need a rug? Thatâs one thing to get dirty and wonât be vacuumed. They recommended one of those back pillows but that just takes up space on the bed. I like the two pillow idea, though.
I feel like with this group, the suggestions have been so great that Iâve minimized what to get S21. Iâm bringing his stuff and probably wonât need to have anything delivered. I hate crowds so refuse to go to a BBB or Target near campus. Yeah for Southwest Airlines and Samsonite Tote-a-Ton. We can check in a total of 6 bags with three people. I am packing S21 a corelle plate and bowl because heâs going to want ramen. He will have to remember how to wash dishes (he does know how to do) because we have two dishwashers in our kitchen.
I was at a Costco Business Center today and spent $14 on a first aid kit. Soft case so easy to pack. Has all the things heâd need. I got Tylenol and Ibuprofens that are individually packaged so this will minimize germs and contamination. Will get the cough drops and other decongestant stuff there. I have to check with my peds to see if we need get any Rx stuff.
I agree about the rug, sounds like a dirt and dust collector.
Do kids wear slippers at school these days? S says he just wants warm socks and he will wear his crocs as slippers.
My D asked for a rug after the first month. It made the room cozier and the girls vacuumed once/week.
I am a planner, and I like to have everything done before hand. I just realized though that one of the dorms on my sons list does not have an extra long twin but just a regular twin. It is his third choice and he has a early time so hopefully it wonât get to that (he is 6â2â and still growing) but keeping the tags on the extra long twin sheets I bought just in case!
Hi - my daughter is a 2020 grad who spent this year at home taking online classes, and sheâs applied to live in the dorms and will let the housing office choose her roommate(s) this coming fall. The people that sheâs met online this year have either decided to move off campus or will be commuting from their parents and she wants the dorm experience so has decided to just go for it. (Sorry for butting in - since we never actually got around to prepping to move her in last year I have been reading all the packing and sale tips here.)
Iâm the same way, and I know I need to keep myself from over planning. I donât know if this will work, but on our spreadsheet (Iâm a planner!) of items I added a column to check if we can buy the item on Amazon later if itâs needed.
What about a vacuum? My older daughter borrowed one, code for never used it, but my rising freshman wants one. We have a cordless dyson that is amazing, but thatâs a lot of money for a dorm vac⊠Anyone have a recommendation?
I asked my son. Got him shower slippers. He said he would wear socks so Iâm skipping slippers. He has a pair of Oofos (we are an Oofos and Archieâs flip flop family because Iâm a runner) so if he needs to, he can wear those flip flops in his dorm in the summer and socks on the winter.
As for vacuum, Iâm not getting one unless asked and I may just get him a Swiffer. He can use the wet or dry refills to clean the floors. Less bulky and can be disassembled and put away in summer storage.
My S and his friends all wear LLBean moccasins in the winter, sometimes even to school since they have a hard sole with tread.
S wants a rug. His friend who is a junior at the same college said he liked having one since it warmed up the room and sometimes friends would sit on it (yuck) if they were all watching a live game on TV or computer. He said they vacuumed it sometimes but threw it out after freshman year.
I forgot he also has these really ugly slides that are for runners. I forget the brand, but he can use those too.
We are envious of those kids who are done with school. D21 is halfway through the 4th quarter. Her AP Lit class is just starting a new novel. Seems like senior year goes on and on and on.
@Creaky Argh! Thatâs sucks! I know some District/states go til mid June. Our last day was 5/20 but we started 8/12. I think most of the years seniors finish a week or so before everyone. D24 is done after next Fri but they all turned in their books yesterday.
The best set up is to be done and no AP exams. S21âs friends still have their exams but they are all chilling. No one is studying for the exams.
My coworker with a junior drove away from home and turned everything off that required WiFi so they her daughter could have all the bandwidth for her at home exam. 
We totally did this last yearâŠyet, physics 1 exam refused to take the second part of the answers. I told any tech issue wouldnât be on their part but likely on College Board. Hopefully, no issue for the kids this year. They donât deserve any of that.
Normally the seniors would be done around now and school would end next week. This year we started late because of covid so the seniors are at school until June 9th and the rest are there until June 18th. Really stinks for my S23 - gets out June 18 and has to go back August 10th.
D19 and all of her friends had rugs in their dorm rooms. We bought a stick vacuum that was around $100 on sale at Target and split it with the roommate. They stayed roommates for sophomore year so that worked out well. They did use is but we threw it out this year because it wasnât working very well and we couldnât find the cord as we packed the room up.
First year D19 never asked for slippers (and never once wore the robe we bought) but this year they had a âbalconyâ area (imagine a motel with the doors facing outside) that they liked to hang out on so D asked for Ugg slippers for Christmas.
Make sure you have a thermometer and plenty of bandaids. Even as I was packing up my daughter last weekend, one of her sorority sisters came into her room looking for a bandaid, lol. I had just packed the it up.
Also, bacitracin, neosporin afterbite, tide stick (laundry), wipes, etc. One of the best things to do is to go down the pharmacy/drug aisles at Target and where they have the travel sizes of everything and write down or buy now everything you need. Mine also had oximeters although not sure theyâll really need them for next year, but they definitely used them.
As for cleaning, after seeing my daughterâs disgusting room last weekend and just how dusty it was, ugh, I have to add swifter to the list for all 3 of my kids and I am definitely getting a rug for my son, even if he has carpet. One reason is because if he has carpet, I donât even want to know how gross the carpet there is, and two, it is just a warmer feeling than stepping on the gross floor. Itâs at least his rug. It will also just brighten up the room. He will be sent with a dustbuster as well (another must item my girls used) and the dorms usually have vacuums, but even so, rugs are easy to shake out. @momofboiler1 cozier is my point too. Especially when theyâre freezing.
@Aguadecoco No slippers. They wear uggs slippers if you want to call it that if girls, and boys wear flip flops and kids will crocs. I would watch other kids as far as wearing socks around in hallways in case there is glass or other sharp objects.
A mirror is also a must if your rooms donât have one. Sometimes theyâre there from the kids before but oftentimes no mirror. You can find them for less than $10 usually at Target or Walmart during the week of move in. We always buy those once in town. But I buy it online to be ready for pick up. Some mirrors are $50 but you can get a decent full length one for $5. Stick it up with command strips.
Mine took 2 calculators. Their fancy graphing ones and a regular TI calculator for basic things. One also had to get the HP calculator for Business. That was like the good old days for me. I wish I knew where the heck mine was as I couldâve just given that to her.
In bad news in our family, my daughter hasnât been feeling well, about 3 weeks ago was dx with strep but never really felt better. Came home about 10 days ago still not feeling well so finally went to the Dr this week and unbelievably has mono. They said itâs recent within the past 6 weeks but wow, how she was able to get through finals and all her last minute projects is something else. I think sheâs through the worst of it but of course who knows who else may have been exposed or what kid gave it to her! I guess the good news is sheâs home and can rest and doesnât start her internship until June 1 and itâs remote. That probably is a good thing. Now, I just need to keep her sister away from her in the bathroom when she returns on Tuesday because sheâs supposed to leave for Israel on 6/1. Although they may delay that a week depending on where things are there. Whoever are the parents that say 18 and theyâre on their own I canât figure out. These are my babies and Iâll worry and take care of them for as long as they need my help and me. That doesnât mean they wonât be self sufficient fully functioning adults. But 18, theyâre still children.
I hope she feels better soon, good thing her is home and can rest.
@srparent15 Oh, no!! I hope she gets better soon! That sucks to be sick at this time of year.
Weâve used the same temporal thermometer since S21 was born. Never had to change the battery! I lost the cap cover and the company sent me a bag of so many 3 years in and I swore loyalty to them. I got one for S21. He knows how to use it. For sure neosporin will be in his bag, as well as hydrocortisone. I donât know what bacitracin is so will google. We have plenty of Tide pen to-go. Tide has helped to put a roof over his head and pay for his education :).
Same here!!! Mid- June!!! Graduation date on calendar looks like a cruel mirage. 