This One’s For the (College) Freshies
This post goes out to all of those beautiful newly/soon-to-be high school graduates gearing up for your first year of college in the fall! CONGRATULATIONS YOU MADE IT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL FEEL AWESOME.
Seriously, YGG. Get yourself an ice cream or something.
I am writing this with hopes of helping you save tons and tons of money for college so you can spend your time being social and studying hard-- not panicking over textbook costs and your sudden lack of employment. So get out your pen and paper because here is what you do and don’t need to do/buy this summer to set yourself up for success in the fall.
1) Make sure your tuition is squared away.
I know it seems like common sense, but seriously: FAFSA, scholarships, loans, parental magic, however you’re paying for college, get that money documented and sent in to the financial aid office ASAP. If you’re gonna pay your own way and work part-time, START APPLYING NOW. A couple of hours a week now will save you a lot of stress the week before classes.
2) Learn how to budget...AND stick to it.
I wasn’t money smart in high school. At all. So when I got to college I wasn’t money smart. At all. Do yourself a favor, and learn how to budget now (I say this under the assumption that you have a summer job). Look for a template that will force you to save as much as possible over the summer. Decide exactly how much you need to live, add $50 for fun stuff (it’s your last summer at home, do cool things), and put everything else from your paycheck in savings. Print it out, color code it, get excited about it, and stick to it. All of that graduation money you’re getting? Put it straight into your savings and worry about it in July. I’m serious; touch it now and you’ll spend every penny of it on nonsense.
3) Wait as long as possible to buy things for your dorm, and save the cute stuff for later.
A new laptop, a few flash drives, a mini fridge, a microwave-- the big stuff. Things that cost a lot and are an absolute NECESSITY, buy before move-in day, but not so soon that they sit in your house for longer than a couple of weeks. I know it’s hard to resist buying everything right now, but wait and you’ll be glad you did. Once you get on campus and moved in, you can buy that cute marker board and christmas lights and dorm decor, but for now hold off. Those little things are dollars that can be put towards things you might not know you need yet, like bed raisers or shelves.
4) With that said, spend the big bucks on what matters.
For me, it was my bed. I spent almost $200 on sheets, pillows, and a mattress topper, and I guarantee you it was the best $200 I ever spent in my life. There is nothing like falling into a heavenly cloud after pulling an all-nighter in the library. I can’t tell you how many times I looked at my roommate after crawling into bed and said, “This is seriously my favorite part of the day.” My bed was my saving grace, and I highly highly recommend spending a little extra when choosing your bedding.
5) You don’t need everything that Pinterest says you do.
Post-it notes, a printer, a Brita water filter, tons of dishes and silverware-- wait to purchase them. Yes, Wal-Mart will be slammed during move in weekend, but you don’t have to pack everything including the kitchen sink. I probably used our water filter twice. Wait until you get onto campus, see what resources you have there, THEN decide what you need when it comes to lighting, office supplies, etc.
6) You can’t have everything Pinterest says you do.
Room inspections are a thing, and your RA will/is supposed to make sure everything in your dorm follows the rules. Usually, only a certain amount of your walls can be covered, your lights can only be in certain places, only certain lamps are allowed, no curtains, no candles. I bought and brought a lamp to college that wasn’t even allowed in my dorm. Know the rules and wait wait wait on buying those things.
7) Make a list of what you need, what you want, and what you hope to have.
This kind of goes along with budgeting. Put your laptop, fridge, and microwave at the top of the list, ending with dorm decor and christmas lights. Guesstimate a price for those things so you can know about how much you’ll be spending before going off to college and how much you’ll need when you get there. This will keep your money from disappearing when going dorm shopping and will also help remind you of what things are the most necessary.
8) GET EXCITED
HOLY COW GUYS COLLEGE IS AWESOME. I can’t even describe it but life is about to get 38734x even more fantastic for you so enjoy the heck out of your summer, spend time with your fam, and get pumped because college is great and you’re gonna have a blast.
Hopefully you enjoyed these ramblings; I only hope to impart a little bit of the knowledge I gained from the mistakes I made this time last year while packing for college. Make sure you check back in because there will be more detailed posts about budgeting, packing, and what to expect on move in day. Congratulations, Class of 2015! It only gets better from here!
Peace, one love
