The summer is winding down, and that means it’s almost time to go back to college. This can be a stressful time for students. However, you can still enjoy what’s left of summer while prepping for your future if you follow a few simple tips.
Find Out Where You Will Be Staying
If you plan on living on campus this year, it might be helpful to find out the general location and sizes of the dormitories available. You can usually find info on this in the school’s documentation or online. Knowing what to expect beforehand can help you decide how much stuff you’ll need to bring, or whether you might need to consider renting a storage space as an alternative to leaving stuff with your parents.
If you plan to live off-campus, getting those arrangements settled as soon as possible will be even more beneficial because you’ll certainly want to shop around and ensure that you’re finding the right balance between convenience and closeness to the campus versus price and quality.
Build Your Dorm Out of the Family Storage Unit
Do you have family with storage units? Save money on buying new dishes, shelves, or other college dorm needs by looking through what your family already has stored away. Any extra chairs, shelving – even T.V’s – can help you save some money and still live comfortably by bringing home with you.
Save Money on Textbooks
If you’re suffering from “Broke College Student Syndrome,” saving money whenever you can is an enormous priority as you prepare to go back to school. Buying your textbooks can easily cost up to $1,000 or more per year! There are tons of services, like Chegg and even Amazon, that will rent textbooks for much less money than it would cost to purchase them. Since some professors list textbooks needed for their course but you never end up using it and you aren’t always certain about liking a class or two, you should definitely not invest in a super expensive textbook until at least the end of Drop/Add Week.
Celebrate the Time You Have Left Before Your Big Move
Some of the best memories come from time spent with close friends and family. Round up all your friends who are in town for one last hurrah before you all part ways. Make it a night to remember: maybe that means a night at the theater or a comedy club, or a weekend road trip, or a night in with pizza and Netflix. Whatever it is, go all out and do it big, so you have great memories just before you go to make new ones.
Let’s take the stress out of back to school season. Take time to plan out the important steps and your best options to make this the easiest move. You can estimate how large your storage unit needs to be with our Storage Unit Size Calculator. When it’s time to start this next exciting stage make sure you have done the prep, but most importantly, have fun!