Are you sending a son or daughter off to college for the first time? If so, you may be feeling like one dad I know, who said his job in getting his daughter equipped for college was a “walking, talking ATM.” Seriously, it can be a financial drain for getting your child ready for college life. Here is a list of items which college students need to be successful during their college years.
1. Zip Loc Storage Bags
Now, I know this may be a little counterintuitive, but college students tell me that this should be number one on every student’s list. They can be used for keeping leftovers in the fridge, for taking pencils, gum and other supplies in a backpack, and can be used for saving and organizing receipts and coupons. A couple of boxes of quart size and a box of gallon sized bags should be a good start.
2. Student Advantage Card
The Student Advantage Card is a $20 per year card offering discounts to many major retailers like Target, Barnes and Noble, travel services, sporting good stores, clothing retailers and more. Your student will easily make back the cost of the card during the year, and that will also save you some money as well.3. First Aid Kit
Having a small first aid kit is essential for your college student. A ready source of band-aids, non-prescription pain killers, cough drops and a digital thermometer will be important for those unexpected events.4. Jump Start Battery
If your student will have a car at school, make sure it is equipped with a jump start battery. Kids will often leave the lights on or in some other way drain their battery. This clever piece of equipment will let them start the car even when the battery is dead to the world.5. Sunscreen
College students are notorious for spending time outside, whether in good weather or in the winter on the slopes. A good sunscreen with at least SPF 15 (30 or more is better) will pay big dividends during the year.6. Cell Phone
Ok, I know you might not think this is essential, but your student will. Many students now rely solely on their cell phone for communications; they will not pay for a land line because they aren’t home that much. We have our college aged daughter on my wife’s cell phone plan so they can call each other (or other customers with the same company) without using minutes. And then she pays us for any minutes she uses in excess of our agreed upon amount.7. Plastic Buckets
Unless your student is living in an apartment with his or her own bathroom, they will likely need to cart their toiletry supplies from bedroom to bathroom and back, and a small plastic bucket is a great way to do that. They are also great for storing things under a bed or in a closet, and will double for a dresser drawer when there aren’t enough. And when they are not in use, they can nest into one another, giving you a little extra storage room.8. Flash Drive
Now, whether your student has a PC or a laptop, or whether they are relying on an on-campus computer lab, a flash drive will be essential for storing their own files and sharing them with others. Our college aged kids have found a thumb drive indispensable for working on projects in groups, for downloading PowerPoint presentations to a classroom computer for presentations, and for moving from one computer to another doing research and writing.9. Backpack or Book Bag
Every student needs one, and with the growing proliferation of laptop computers on campus, getting a bag that will accommodate books and a computer is essential. The favorite bag of many students I know is the Targus XL Notebook Backpack.10. Digital Camera
Your student will want to preserve some important memories of their college days, and a digital camera has become a must. The favorite of the college students I talked with is the Kodak Easy Share camera, which is really easy to use and is slick at downloading photos to your student's laptop or PC.