2017 College Dorm shopping on a Budget

[dreamin_disney]

It's official DD has her dorm room m booked. Her and her roommate are back in touch and they will meet sometime in the next 1-2 weeks

 

[krysenchips]

When is the IKEA BIG SALE for college students? I thought it was July 16 but now I can't find any info on it. Anyone know?

It is the 16th. I've been getting flyers for it all summer.

 

[mamamary]

It's official DD has her dorm room m booked. Her and her roommate are back in touch and they will meet sometime in the next 1-2 weeks

My daughter won't find out what dorm she is in or her roommate until Aug. 4th. Move in is Aug. 24th.

 

[kymom99]

My daughter won't find out what dorm she is in or her roommate until Aug. 4th. Move in is Aug. 24th.

We don't know yet either. Word is "sometime in July". I'm not buying much until we know. In fact, I talked with my son about taking the bare minimum and when he comes home for Labor Day he can take more depending on what he feels he wants after he is there. Boys are so easy.

Heck they don't even have the meal plans available to choose or his final amount of KEES money. According to his account he still owes zero. He was able to order his parking pass.

Move in is August 16

 

[dreamin_disney]

My daughter won't find out what dorm she is in or her roommate until Aug. 4th. Move in is Aug. 24th.

Wow that's late. My DD got her roommate in mid May

We don't know yet either. Word is "sometime in July". I'm not buying much until we know. In fact, I talked with my son about taking the bare minimum and when he comes home for Labor Day he can take more depending on what he feels he wants after he is there. Boys are so easy.

Heck they don't even have the meal plans available to choose or his final amount of KEES money. According to his account he still owes zero. He was able to order his parking pass.

Move in is August 16

In Feb we paid $25 housing fee to hold her spot. At that time it was 50/50 that she was going there. June paid remaining tuition, July paid 1st month of housing , August 1st , first meal plan payment is due and she doesn't start until the end of August! Meal plan was picked out 2 months ago when down payment was due

 

[yeahdisney]

Our aldi had a grand opening today. I got a over the door mirror. In the color she likes for 7.99. And a pop up laundry basket same color. They had a little college type area with stuff. I found a super slim garbage can for under a desk for 2.99 and I got a silicone trivet for 1.29 or 1.19 for her to put her hair straightener iron on.

 

[sksjasams]

Our aldi had a grand opening today. I got a over the door mirror. In the color she likes for 7.99. And a pop up laundry basket same color. They had a little college type area with stuff. I found a super slim garbage can for under a desk for 2.99 and I got a silicone trivet for 1.29 or 1.19 for her to put her hair straightener iron on.

I was just looking at that ad last night! I shop there almost weekly, so I will have to check out that section this weekend! That $7.99 over the door mirror caught my eye - they were $20 at BB&B.

It's so hard not knowing what the room already has. Does it already have a mirror? What if there are towel racks on the back of the door so we couldn't put a mirror there? DS will be in a huge dorm that has had many additions over the years, so there is no standard room - they vary a lot.

Don't remember if I already asked this here or on another thread...has anyone found cotton twin xl sheets with side pockets on the fitted sheet? I think I may have to give up that search and just have DS decide on cotton or side pockets.

 

[elgerber]

I was just looking at that ad last night! I shop there almost weekly, so I will have to check out that section this weekend! That $7.99 over the door mirror caught my eye - they were $20 at BB&B.

It's so hard not knowing what the room already has. Does it already have a mirror? What if there are towel racks on the back of the door so we couldn't put a mirror there? DS will be in a huge dorm that has had many additions over the years, so there is no standard room - they vary a lot.

Ha, this is exactly what happened to us! Her door had a mirror so you could see your face on the back of it, and right below that a towel bar. So that darn mirror had to lean up against a wall behind a bed and slide out if they needed it. Next years dorm had a full length mirror on the door. Now she is an apartment and her 6 foot wide closet is one giant floor to ceiling mirror. That darn thing is now in my basement with the hanging hardware still in the baggie it came in LOL.

 

[sk!mom]

Ha, this is exactly what happened to us! Her door had a mirror so you could see your face on the back of it, and right below that a towel bar. So that darn mirror had to lean up against a wall behind a bed and slide out if they needed it. Next years dorm had a full length mirror on the door. Now she is an apartment and her 6 foot wide closet is one giant floor to ceiling mirror. That darn thing is now in my basement with the hanging hardware still in the baggie it came in LOL.

Excellent reminder to buy necessities only in advance, unless you can return. DD's freshman year dorm room was so tiny that it was difficult for two people to move in at the same time.

 

[Psychodisney]

My DD and I went to IKEA yesterday. She got a nice rolling cart with 3 trays for 24.99. They have some inexpensive drawer organizers that will be nice. Also hit Home Goods for a drying rack and some desk items.
I worry about the over the door mirror damaging the door. I know my DD's closet doesn't have doors, only the main door. I can't find anywhere on her university's website on whether or not she can use command strips.

On another note, if you have an AMEX card, you might have a walmart.com offer for spend $50 get $10 back.

 

[Psychodisney]

I just used my Walmart deal and ordered a fan, a fever thermometer, a bluetooth mouse and some tape (to get free shipping ). Checking things of the list!

 

[robinb]

I know this isn't dorm related, but Apple finally came out with their Back to School promo: free Beats headphones with the purchase of a computer.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

DD and her roommate picked out matching comforter sets from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I just reserved it for in store pick up today. It comes with XL twin sheets, pillowcase, sham & comforter. With my 20% coupon, it is only $79 for the complete set!

 

[mamamary]

My DD and I went to IKEA yesterday. She got a nice rolling cart with 3 trays for 24.99. They have some inexpensive drawer organizers that will be nice. Also hit Home Goods for a drying rack and some desk items.
I worry about the over the door mirror damaging the door. I know my DD's closet doesn't have doors, only the main door. I can't find anywhere on her university's website on whether or not she can use command strips.

On another note, if you have an AMEX card, you might have a walmart.com offer for spend $50 get $10 back.

My DD and I went to Ikea this morning. I haven't been there in about 15 years. We did get a few things. We picked up a laundry basket, shoe organizer that hangs in your closet and a step stool in case she can raise her bed up. These items were all cheaper here than in Walmart or Target. I held off getting a mirror. A saw a few cute bed pillows but because they were in the little kids section she didn't want them. Didn't see any nice pillows in the "grown up" area so she was out of luck with that. I googled a few youtube videos from the college where the students take you on a tour of their dorms. Got a few storage ideas plus was able to see what some of the dorms looked like. On the tour we only saw one dorm and honestly I didn't even see that one in all the videos we watched. Still don't even know if she'll have a bathroom in her room or have to use one down the hall so I haven't bought any bathroom items yet.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

My DD has "chatted" online with her roommate a couple of times. The roommate wanted to know if my DD wanted to coordinate and sent her some pics from pinterest.

This is SO NOT my DD. She is happy with whatever is on sale and would never think of spending extra $ to get matching comforters, decorations, etc. I don't think DD is even taking any wall decorations and told roommate she could decorate however she wanted.

I hope they get alone when they get there!

 

[robinb]

For people who have been to Ikea ... do they have Twin XL sheets and comforters? I only see twin ones online.

 

[Psychodisney]

For people who have been to Ikea ... do they have Twin XL sheets and comforters? I only see twin ones online.

I think they did...but they were not very nice. I hate cheap sheets....so I won't buy them for my DD. She likes the jersey knit ones at Target. At least they are 100% cotton. I found that with my older kids, a lot of the sets at Kohls and Bed Bath and Beyond had a lot of polyester is the sheets.

 

[aprilgail]

Our aldi had a grand opening today. I got a over the door mirror. In the color she likes for 7.99. And a pop up laundry basket same color. They had a little college type area with stuff. I found a super slim garbage can for under a desk for 2.99 and I got a silicone trivet for 1.29 or 1.19 for her to put her hair straightener iron on.

I need to find a garbage pail for my daughters dorm- it has to be metal, they are not allowed to have plastic ones in the dorms.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I know this isn't dorm related, but Apple finally came out with their Back to School promo: free Beats headphones with the purchase of a computer.

Hubby checked it out. Is that usually what they offer or whats been the best promo?

My DD and I went to Ikea this morning. I haven't been there in about 15 years. We did get a few things. We picked up a laundry basket, shoe organizer that hangs in your closet and a step stool in case she can raise her bed up. These items were all cheaper here than in Walmart or Target. I held off getting a mirror. A saw a few cute bed pillows but because they were in the little kids section she didn't want them. Didn't see any nice pillows in the "grown up" area so she was out of luck with that. I googled a few youtube videos from the college where the students take you on a tour of their dorms. Got a few storage ideas plus was able to see what some of the dorms looked like. On the tour we only saw one dorm and honestly I didn't even see that one in all the videos we watched. Still don't even know if she'll have a bathroom in her room or have to use one down the hall so I haven't bought any bathroom items yet.

Once dd and room mate meet they can decide what they plan on doing matching or different style. First thought was they would pick out their own colors and style but for some reason I have a feeling they might end up matching. They seem to have the same connection so not sure. Once they meet hopefully they come up with a plan. My dd has been looking but nothing is catching her eye. Once she finds something then everything else will fall into place.

Dorm closet is small and they share it :/ They will have a private bathroom they will share with another room. I pray they other room girls are nice and chill. My dd and her room mate are easy going and nice so hopefully the 4 girls all have the same personalities. I'm not buying anything for the bathroom until we see how things go. Hopefully the girls will take turns buying an air freshener and hand soap? How does toilet paper work do the girls just leave it in there or carry it back and forth? Not a problem to leave rolls in the cabinet if they all contributed but if they don't then not fair to the ones that do. Curious about the toilet paper leave it in the bathroom or carry it back and forth or does each gift leave certain things in their own bag or basket in the bathroom cabinet like pads, tampons, shavers, toilet paper etc?

 

[yeahdisney]

Ross had metal garbage cans, not cute, but they would get the job done.