<p>Hangers, power strip, great idea. Door jams, another great one. My hubby packs a small “tool bag” for our sons to take to college, as you never know what they may need for repairs, etc. Sleeping mask and ear plugs are always a “must” and I always have a notepad and pencil ready so as we are setting up the room, I can jot down things for that last-minute run we always seem to need to make before it’s really “done”!!</p>
<p>What I needed:
Wastebasket (somehow I thought the school provided one…)
Handcart (makes it easier to move everything from car to room)
Time to go to Target or Walmart or Bed’n’Bath – she had 1 hour for move in before she had to get on a bus for XC camp so we set up her bed, unpacked a few boxes, then time was up</p>
<p>What I brought and was glad I did:
hammer
garbage bags
paper towels
Fantastik</p>
<p>^^On the discussion of a handcart, they can be quite pricey and huge (if you are driving)…</p>
<p>Staples has a rolling collapsible cart; it has been amazing valuable, not only for move-in but for many other uses…around this time of year, it’s $14.99…</p>
<p>I have one (similar to what you can use for food shopping) for 25 or so. No idea where grandma got it though.</p>
<p>Sleep is another thing i forgot to stalk up on</p>
<p>for some reason duct tape is always needed and sticky tak to hang posters.</p>
<p>If you don’t have a hand cart-pack stuff in rolling suitcases, books, etc not just clothing. Leave a small one at school, haul the rest home. We packed a lot of stuff in Rubbermaid totes=they stack, have handles, stack inside of each other when empty, easy to haul back and forth. </p>
<p>Our oldest was the only one to have tools on his floor freshman year. We got him a box of tools that had a hammer, couple screwdrivers, measuring tape, etc. I think we got it at Walmart or maybe even Home Depot (the kind where everything snaps into place). It came in handy several times.</p>
<p>I have a collapsing hand cart, I’ve used it for a number of Girl Scout Cookie Sales…now it’s going to move in. Bought it at Walgreens for about $20, they seem to stock them from time to time.</p>
<p>Still need to pack a small toolkit.</p>
<p>Yeah, bring a 2 lb. hammer in case you have to move bed frame on risers…it can be a bear adjusting bed height without a hammer.</p>
<p>2 rolls of duct tape and a small tool kit (from Target) made my daughter the most popular first year on her floor.</p>
<p>Toolkit was great and also made my kid very popular - especially the variety of screwdrivers. My DH insisted on including a drill; that was ridiculous:)</p>
<p>I forgot the 3m command strips for hanging things…and of course the local store had bare shelves. my kids put the command strip hooks on the back of their door for coats and stuff, too. The one thing that was invaluable, but of course we had to buy in town were the sterilite extra drawers. Both kids wanted the large 3 drawers that add three more drawers for “stuff.” If they have a dresser it can go on top or it’s tall enough to be an end table or bedside table. I’ll buy it ahead and ship it for 3 or do a BBB order/pickup if he’s in a more metro area because those sorts of things are difficult to locate in some of the small rural college towns but they are sure handy.</p>
<p>I don’t know how to subscribe to a thread without posting to it but I want to look at this next week :)</p>
<p>@ohio - at the top of the thread page, on the right side just beneath the page number is a tab highlighted in blue that says, “Thread Tools.” Click on it and a drop down will appear. Within the drop down, one choice reads, “Subscribe to this thread.”</p>