So you’ve got in…but what do you actually need?
I moved in with practically nothing in terms of kitchen, bedroom & bathroom comforts. WORST DECISION EVER – especially if your Mum & Dad are moving you by car, and that’s the only time you’ll have use of one.
So with reflection from my experience and my girlfriends (for the girlie stuff!) I’ve written a check list of all the useful things I think you should bring to university, which hopefully should help you out a lot when packing!
You don’t need a ton to spend and I was on a bit of a budget!
Kitchen Essentials
(little note, you may feel that kitchen stuff isn’t that important as you’re not a big cook or you think you won’t use said appliance, but trust me, you’ll need it. I didn’t bring a potato masher – most random thing ever, but then I realised just how much I love mash potato, rookie error!)
- Cutlery – you can never have too much, I only brought 4 of each and am now down to 1 fork. I advise buying cutlery with a pattern rather than a bog standard silver as it all gets mixed together.
- Baking trays – ALWAYS need baking trays, one isn’t enough, I have three back in Essex and I find I am always using at least two at once.
- Pots and Pans – a fairly obvious one, I advise you buy big ones, especially if you’re cooking for multiple people, which you will if you make friends or cook as a house, potatoes always need a huge pan. I would advise getting 3 pans of different sizes, you need multiple pans for big meals such as a roast.
- Casserole dish – it may seem like a random one, but trust me its a handy dandy little thing, especially if you like to cook, I make everything in my casserole dish, from shepards pie to chilli. They can be quite expensive because they are china, I think mine was £7.99 from Argos and that was the cheapest one I could find.
- Plates and Bowls – I have 4 plates in university, I tend to only use two of them, as for bowls I have a pasta bowl and a cereal bowl which suit me fine. Again I would suggest getting a pattern set, lots of people go for plain white and they get muddled up, I bought mine from The Range and got them for 50p each, bargain!
- Tupperware – always an essential, I use mine all the time to store food, if I’m in a cooking mood I tend to make multiple meals to last me a few days, that way if I have a busy evening with work I don’t have to worry about cooking. I also use them to store food that I want to last a long time that may go off in a packet, such as crackers or big bags of crisps. Also great for taking in leftover food or sandwiches for lunch the next day!
- Tea Towels and Wash Clothes – unless you plan never to wash up, these are an essential, as well as washing up liquid which goes FAST.. purely because everyone else uses it, on that note I also advise a scrubbing brush. Once again, get vibrant ones so you know they’re yours,
- Utensils – such as a potato masher, if you like mashed potato that is. I advise a spatula, some form of tongs, multiple chopping knives, tin opener, bottle opener, scissors, cheese grater etc etc, all depends how much of a chef you are.
- Appliances – it may not always apply for every university, but Essex did not come with a kettle or toaster, so I advise you double check to see if you need to get each of these, also consider that another flatmate of yours may bring one, and you don’t want to have multiples. I brought with me a toaster by chance and luckily I was the only one who did, so now everyone loves me. I also bought a toastie maker from Argos for £4.99 that I LOVE.
- Bits and Bobs – All depending on how domestic you are, there are lots of little things that you may want to bring, such as cleaning products, foil or baking paper, I do advise you bring a lot of kitchen roll, I use mine a lot. I also suggests you bring your own roll of bin bags for when you have a huge room tidy out, usually of empty alcohol bottles in my case.
- Nosh For Students – I highly recommend you invest in this bad boy, I absolutely love my copy and 95% of my meals come from this book, it gives you a difficulty rating for each meal as well has how much they cost per person to make. Definitely a brilliant purchase. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0954317998/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0954317998&linkCode=as2&tag=studmonesavi-21
Bedroom Essentials
Obviously you will bring with you your most needed items.. tv, xbox etc but sadly there are also other items that are pretty important on the whole university items list ladder..
- Bedding – universities don’t tend to supply any form of bedding, even if they do I suggest you purchase your own, do you really want to sleep in bedding other students have used? I advice you do buy good quality bedding, after all your bed is your main residence after university itself. I suggest you buy 2 or even 3 sets of covers, depending on how often you plan to do washing, I change my bed once a week and only do washing once every two weeks, so I have three sets of bedding.
- Stationary – I wouldn’t go mad with the stationary, I did and I have barely used any of it, I do most of my work on my laptop. I would just buy the same amount of stuff as you do for revision, post its, highlighters etc. I also suggest lots of paper and cheap pens, you will make lots of notes, and doodle lots too. Always remember to buy an academic year planner to write down any exam/essay date you will have, I suggest getting one in book form and poster form so that you can always keep track of deadlines. A printer isn’t always essential, but does make life easier, I use mine quite frequently and so it proves more useful to have my own rather than buy printing credit at the library.
- Clothes – A pretty obvious one, never a good look to turn up naked. I wouldn’t suggest going mad with the clothing, university is not a fashion parade as my father would say. You’re a student, shopping at Superdry no longer becomes your top priority, you will be poor and your pyjamas will be your best friends. Also bring a variety of hoodies, you’re no longer subject to mothers central heating. I also recommend bringing some clothes for fancy dress occasions, especially during freshers week and formal clothing for balls will always prove useful.
- Personal Items – depending on what type of person you are it’s always nice to have a few personal touches to your room, I am not a huge fan of belongings, I just see posters, photos etc as clutter. Remember you can not hang anything to the wall, so if you are a photo lover bring blue tac (this depends on where you are, make sure you read your housing contract (some allow blue tac, some allow pins.)
- Storage – university rooms don’t tend to come with amples of storage, just enough for a basic human being. I myself have a large collection of toiletries I keep in my room, so you may want to invest in a cheap table.If you have a lot of clothes you may wish to invest in a storage box.
- Mirror – I once read that you should purchase a full length mirror in university so that you can always be aware of student weight gain, I did this and am now depressed by all my extra stretch marks, good idea in theory, but does cause depression.
- A clock – my room did not come with a clock, nor have I bought one yet and so I am constantly using my phone for the time, Ikea do some pretty cheap clocks which would prove pretty useful, but I hated the ticking of mine, so i got rid of it.
- Food – always a good idea to stock little treats in your room, I tend to stock biscuits as you know, as well as crisps and bottles of water. Nothing worse than being thirsty in the middle of the night and having to travel to the kitchen to get water.
Bathroom Essentials
(depending on whether or not you have your own bathroom, I have my own and so can afford to go crazy on products in the way of space, I would suggest cutting down on the quantities of bottles if you share a shower.)
- Toothpaste and Toothbrush – need no explanation, only advice, buy big tubes of toothpaste because it does go quickly, and always remember you’re suppose to change your toothbrush every three months. Asda smartprice toothpaste is about 30p or if you liked branded toothpaste go to somewhere like the £1 shop!
- Shampoo and Conditioner – most obvious, unless you like dirty hair. Again a trip to the £1 store unless you like something fancy, which you probably don’t need..
- Toiletries- It’s only when you start to buy them yourself that you start to realise how much more you need them. I suggest going a little crazy in this department, due to being poor, being groomed nicely is one of my only pleasures..
- Toilet Roll – Buy it good and buy it in bulk. No Tesco Value paper is not the way forward, it is cheap and nasty and will not serve its purpose. Treat yourself and go for something swish. If you have a wholesaler nearby, such as Costcos, go there, you can buy a huge number for cheap.
- Towels – Unless you want to drip dry and walk around the house naked (which some of you may) I suggest you invest in a couple of towels and face flannels. All depends on how much you wash them, hygiene is paramount.
- Disinfectant – both for your hands and toilet, buy a cheapy little bottle of hand disinfectant for obvious reasons, you are no longer eligible for Molten Brown hand wash. You are a student. I also bought some Mr Muscle to clean my bathroom once a week, if you have a communal bathroom the cleaner tends to come more often and you may not need to clean it yourself.
I think that just about covers what I think you desperately need for when you move into your university accommodation/private housing.
I have probably missed off some stuff, for which I apologise. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask!
I have probably missed off some stuff, for which I apologise. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask!