Packing for college is a huge and exciting process for students and a bittersweet, tearful event for parents. While everyone’s emotions may be running high, the question of what to pack and what to leave at Mom and Dad’s can be a challenging one.
You don’t want to start off your college career calling Mom every day to ask her to ship yet another item you didn’t think you’d need that got left behind. You also don’t want to stare at your new place wondering why on earth you packed all this stuff you didn’t need, after all.
Know what you don’t need before you go. Here are four examples.
1. You don’t need a printer
This will take up space for no reason. Most teachers and professors are happy to let you email your final work to them. Otherwise, all you need is a flash drive and a few dollars to spend at the office supply store to print necessary paperwork.
You can also use Mom and Dad’s printer to make hard copies of work when you visit. Libraries have printers, and they’re inexpensive. You really don’t need to take up space and waste your hard-earned college money on a printer.
2. Cable or satellite television
With Internet access and the fact that most channels allow you to watch their recent episodes online, you simply don’t need to pay for this expense. Additionally, you can watch entire seasons of your favorite shows on Netflix, which costs only about $8 a month.
3. Campus health plans
If your parents are insured, you are still covered under that health insurance plan until you graduate from college or drop out. There’s no need to pay additional fees for a campus health insurance plan when your folks are already paying for it at home.
4. A fancy car or furniture
This is college. Most students wear out their belongings and don’t treat them very nicely, since they’re not the ones paying for them. More often than not, a car on campus becomes a place to eat, store junk and dirty clothes, and transport a dozen other kids who don’t have a ride of their own.
There’s no need to take a luxury car and all the accessories to school in order to transport intoxicated friends all over campus on the weekends.
There’s a lot you need for college, but there’s also a lot you don’t. Know where to spend your money and where to save it.
