Parents of the HS Class of 2018 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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DS had zero interest in anything for his dorm. I did all of the shopping and even when I asked if he liked something he really did not care. I was a little bummed, but color coordinated everything quite nicely, and was happy w/ how his dorm looked when I was done.

Now youngest DD is going off to college and I thought how nice we can shop together, pick things out, and have a nice time. Nope. Everything I suggest she does not like, or wants to look somewhere else where they have “better things.”

I have to say I am not enjoying this like I thought I would!

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@laralei your comment made me laugh. D18 is not really a fan of the college shopping either. She keeps telling me she doesn’t need a lot of stuff. Maybe we should shop to redecorate their home spaces since they are sucking the fun out of it!

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@melvin123 I think we likely will be doing the same since it will cool down right about that time and as you can imagine, you can’t get away with just one jacket…you need a few or 6 :open_mouth:

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@Meddy I bet the reality of living in a small space will have hit them before we leave for Parents Weekend. 6 jackets? Not going to fit.

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Target rolled out a college program, I was looking at it the other day. You can “shop” online choosing from a limited listing of items and then choose your pick-up date in the city where your kid is going to college. The window for pickup runs to early September if memory serves. I only briefly glanced at the items in bath/beauty and school supplies. The list is limited but its an option.

We had DD home from camp for 24 hours this weekend, we spent our time wisely. She needed a laptop and a new phone. Her phone up and died last week, dead, would not even turn on, so the Apple store was added to our list of places to go. We were going to get her a phone for her B-Day which is late in August so its just a bit early. We found a laptop she really liked at Costco, it was on sale and with a couple of swipes of the ole debit card, the most expensive things on the to-get list are done.

We talked to the guy at the Verizon booth in Costco, we could have saved about $55 off of sales tax but Costco won’t let me buy the phone outright, it has to go thru our carrier and their financing plus they didn’t have the color DD wanted. I know I could have then contacted Verizon to pay off the phone but its a hassle and yes I know its free financing but I prefer it to just be paid for since DD upgraded our of her pocket and I don’t like the monthly bill.

So direct from Apple was how we went and it was easy. We walked into the Apple store at the local mall and immediately found a sales associate. DD knew what she wanted, they pulled it, we paid for it, they disposed of the dead phone, swapped the SIM card and had her back up and running in less than 1/2 hour. I like easy!

Then we wandered the mall (very rare event, I hate shopping) we stopped at Journeys and picked up a new pair of Converse for school, then Bath and Body works was having a sale…

We ended the day at In-N-Out - nothing like a great burger to top off a day of heavy retail therapy!

@drewsmom17 That is a great idea, redecorate their rooms at home! DD is totally not into the whole dorm decor thing, she wants her comfort items and special things from home but as for a theme or decor, chaotic nerd is probably the best label.

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My husband is annoyed at my shopping but I think our S needs some accessories and color (even if color is grey/black). I got him some lighting and a fake plant, and some items for the built in shelves above the desk. He may be more decorated than the average guy, but not in a weird way, I don’t think! I am trying to keep the bags out of H’s sight, even though he sees the credit card charges…

@mommdc - My D is moving into an off-campus apartment too! We are going in early August to check it out and move some things in, and will see what roommates have already/what she needs. Giving her some kitchen items from our house (including our wedding registry “daily” dishes we rarely use now), and if we need to replace anything, we’ll get something new!

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@melvin123 Here in the Rockies you deal with the windbreaker, the fleece vest, the down vest, the warm down coat and the lightweight down jacket. Okay so five. Will five fit? lol I guess since four of us will go out to drop her off, we may just have enough room if we all take two suitcases :smiley:

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@1399HdJ Husband and I are living that too! I have ordered a lot online and I always hope the packages arrive when he isn’t home. If he sees a package he says “What did you order him now?” and “How much did that cost us?”.

Son has no interest in dorm shopping. His roommate is bringing a flag and that is the extent of the decor. Everything I’ve bought him is either bedding, storage, or electronic. I also bought some dishes, a fan, clip on lamps, rug, and lock/lights for his bike. He did pick grey and navy as the colors when given a choice. He did not want any patterns, just solids. So boring! I expect my D20 will be much more fun to shop with because she loves shopping and decorating. But she also will be way more expensive!! Got S laptop and backpack. He just needs new tennis shoes and a few new shorts and he will be set!

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@S18D20mom Good to know it is not just me! He will follow up with “I went to school with the blankets from my bed at home - doesn’t matter if they don’t fit” type of thing. But did agree that S needs flip flops for the community bathroom, LOL. You will have fun with your D - start saving now!

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Just got a letter from our DD with a pretty specific list of what she “needs” for the start of the academic year. We are going up to see her on Aug 7th with a box of her school stuff and “lots of snacks!”

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Nice surprise. DD got an email from the school that they recently had money donated for scholarships and DD was awarded $1000!

Now if I can just get her high school to forward her $1000 scholarship to the school! I spoke to someone in the office and they said the award wasn’t even on the list of awards. It was new this year, so has me a bit concerned. Friend told me they have a snippet of the awards night on youtube and it actually has DD accepting the award, so I have proof! :wink:

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We are going away for almost 2 weeks in August. I’m trying to make sure we have what we need for college but think we have the basics. We bought a mattress pad/topper, quilt, comforter, pillow and two sheet sets. We have a lamp, fan and toiletries at home. We need towels and a circuit breaker and she is good to start. Oh we also have fairy lights at home to bring. My youngest is starting high school so we picked up basic school supplies for both - basically some pens, pencils, notebooks and a few little things like a stapler. They both start school within days of coming home.

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My D’s tuition bill is due Wednesday, so yesterday I finally “paid” it. I decided to have the money come from the 529 account directly (but a 1099Q is issued to my daughter, the beneficiary) rather than me pay a check and reimburse myself out of the 529 (in which case the 1099Q is issued to me).

I called my accountant about the fact that my D is being issued a 1099Q because she has no income this year and won’t be filing a return, and I didn’t know if the issuance of the 1099Q would mean that she really should file a return, even though it shows no income. He told me that he had another client who went the 2nd method (paying by personal check and reimbursing himself) and the IRS gave him a really hard time, so he wants me to have the money sent directly to the school. I know I’ll still have a 1099Q issued to me this year, though, because I’m going to use 529 funds to pay for her computer and books, so I figured I’d buy all of those “qualified educational expenses” separate from anything else and keep the receipts in my tax file in preparation of an audit. The amount at issue for books/computer is a heck of a lot less than tuition/R&B. About the tax return for my D, my accountant said not to bother since she has no income, and since the check is payable to the University, he doesn’t think the IRS will question it.

The other issue about sending the money from the 529 plan directly to the university is I had to pay a $15 expediting fee since it takes 3 - 5 business days for the check to get to the University sending it expedited verses the regular 7 - 10 business days time frame.

On another note, I’m so glad my D got the health insurance waiver in!!! $3,600 and I think that’s just for the semester, so a little over 7k/school year. Wow!

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The health waiver was stressful! There were two different deadlines listed, the school one and the actual. So we missed the school deadline and they included $2,200 for it on the tuition bill - I called and they said no worries, just subtract that amount if the waiver went through. It is a small school so worked out easily!

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I was just looking at another thread here on CC about 529s and someone posted that the schools send out 1099T in the student’s name and SSN reflecting the costs billed by the school, so as long as the 1099T and the 1099Q issued to her match up, everything should be fine. I was trying to find information that someone had posted, advising to pay all but $x,000 of tuition with the 529, and pay the $x,000 directly in order to claim one of the educational tax deductions, but I haven’t found that yet.

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Just had 20 people in the garden for a ‘goodbye tea party’. S is leaving tomorrow - my birthday!! - for Lisbon and then in 3 weeks heading state side! Won’t see him until we arrive in October. Girlfriend in tears - they have decided to split up - but otherwise everyone was pleased/excited for him. And I know he is a bit richer now!!
Not sure how ready I am…

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@Whistlingal oh that must be tough! Nice that you have a visit to focus on. Hopefully it will be slightly easier knowing there is a future visit coming up.

D18 is having fun getting to know other students online. She has offered to help one move in so I’m glad my homebody is making connections. She is not at all focused on the school part yet but I’ll let her enjoy the rest of summer. They did assign a book and essay due the first day of class so that has to get done. She will have to get focused soon enough and as long as we are not missing deadlines, I’ll assume she will be fine.

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@drewsmom17 He has been given two books to read before classes. H put them on the kindle for him but don’t think for 3 weeks in Portugal he will do any reading so guessing he is going to start college playing catch-up. No change there then!

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I showed S18 the suggested packing list from the college. His response - “I don’t need any of that stuff.” While I would love to save some money, I am picturing me overnighting Amazon packages after he realizes that he actually does need it!

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I just comparison shopped for the books she’ll need this semester

School bookstore, including rentals/ used wherever possible: $638
Amazon, including used wherever possible: $148

Guess where her textbooks are coming from?