Assess Your Needs Ahead of Time to Keep Dorm Room Clutter Under Control [College]

Assess Your Needs Ahead of Time to Keep Dorm Room Clutter Under Control [College]: "

Thousands of students are preparing to go to college next month and most of them are hauling an astounding amount of stuff with them. If you're one of them, you can cut down by realistically assessing your needs.

Trent, at the frugality blog The Simple Dollar, found a bunch of pictures of his college dorm. Reflecting on that time he realized he had a lot of crap. Stuff that he didn't need, but at some point had thought he would need, might possibly need, could possibly need, and so he hauled it into his tiny dorm.

What I saw was a lot of clutter. A fridge I rarely used. A robe I think I used once. A big rack of rarely-watched videos. Way more clothes than I ever needed. Lots of little tchotchkes that just took up space.

When I was first planning for college, I had little idea what I was doing. I read lots of 'here's how to get ready for college' articles and vacuumed up the suggestions like a Hoover on overdrive. I spent the entire summer collecting and buying things I'd need for college.

I could, with small variation, have written the same thing—the photo above is my freshman dorm room the night I unpacked all my stuff.

He goes on to say if he were to start all over he'd arrive at college with nothing but a generously-sized backpack, I myself have often said if I knew then what I know now, I'd have taken nothing more than a basic military foot locker. It's easy to over-pack for college. You're venturing into an unknown territory, leaving behind the comfort of home, and bringing lots of stuff with you is a way bring part of your previous life with you. Most of the time 90 percent of it goes unused and you just waste space and spend time cleaning around it.

How can you avoid ending up in a 12x10 foot room with 15x15 feet worth of stuff? Ask yourself some simple questions when packing:

• Is there a smaller version of this? Do you need a full-sized computer tower or would a laptop do?
• Is this thing replicating a service available on campus? Why bring shelves of books if you have a large campus library?
• What function does this thing serve? Do I actually need that function? Can I make do with less?
• Does the importance of immediate access to this thing out weigh the inconvenience of going out to find it? Do you really need a photo printer if there is a Walgeen's with a photo kiosk a quarter mile from your dorm?
• If you haven't purchased the thing yet: Is this thing so unique and so immediately useful that I don't want to risk being unable to purchase it once I've moved in?
• Am I bringing this because I need it or because I think it says something about me and I want people to see that?

The last question might seem a little overly philosophical, but it's an important consideration. I lived across the hallway from a guy who had a longboard surfboard in his room despite our dorm being not only in land-locked city but over a thousand miles from any good surfing beaches. It was perpetually in the way and his room mates hated it, but it was a giant fiberglass monument to his identity as a surfer and he wouldn't budge on removing it.

Whether you're packing for college as we speak or reflecting on a Freshman year long gone, what absolute necessities would you take with you and what could be—or should have been—left behind?

Dorm Room Clutter: What Do You Actually Need for College [via TheSimpleDollar]

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