The Least Stressful Way to Pack up and Check Out of Your Dorm

Dorm moving season is tricky because it coincides with the finale and the melancholy that comes when you leave your friends and newfound freedom. Plus, you probably haven’t been the cleanest model all year, so you have a lot of junk to dig through, sort, throw away, and pack. Here are some tips to make things go a little smoother.

Where to Get Free Packing Boxes

Before you start packing anything, you need boxes, and new boxes are actually quite expensive. For a standard size 10 pack, you can get $70, which is absolutely insulting when you consider how much of it you threw away in the last year.

Instead, reach out to local businesses—ideally ones you’ve built relationships with employees or are self-employed—and ask if you can get the old boxes they’re preparing to throw away. Even if they’ve already broken and flattened them, for the price of a simple roll of packing tape, you can reuse them. Liquor stores and stationery stores in particular are great places to buy the most durable boxes.

Other than that, be smart with the storage you already have. Pack things, for example, in suitcases, backpacks and bags.

Start preparations for moving to the final

You need to get yourself together before you start learning. Try following this chart:

• Two weeks before moving out: Sit down with your roommates and look through all the common areas to determine whose belongings belong to whom. Cookware, hair products, and winter gear are things that can get mixed up in drawers or closets, and it’s best to separate them all before someone is too busy studying to notice if their favorite coffee mug is accidentally torn out. .
• One and a half weeks before departure: pack unnecessary things. Think about your outerwear, clothes you don’t plan on wearing for the next week and a half, shoes, kitchen utensils—pack everything you don’t need right before you start so you only have the essentials in case. If you are planning to ship your items home, do so now.
• During the final week: take breaks from your studies and make sure some of them are dedicated to packing. Take a bath during one of your breaks. Second, clear your desk.

Think about the best storage

Packing and shipping (or shipping) all your belongings home is a pain, but it’s a double pain if you have to bring it all back in the fall. Explore local storage options: Some warehousing companies offer student discounts or special offers for summer-only storage.

For example, U-Haul has a Collegeboxes program that will pick up your boxes from your dorm, store them, and return them to you in the fall. Collegeboxes also offers a delivery service if you choose to send your items home. Each 24″ x 16″ x 18″ box you keep costs only $13 a month, which can save you a headache when you’re trying to ship your stuff back and forth twice a year.