Hey Reader,

The school year is ending very quickly, which means graduation season. We just received our first grad party invite for May.

Last year, we celebrated my son's high school graduation. My husband and I went parties for two weeks like it was our job and we loved every minute of it.

We've been empty nesting for the past year and our college freshman will be packing up his dorm in a few weeks to return home for the summer.

So all that extra stuff is coming with him 😳 and we need to find a place for it, or pass it on. I will likely be selling and giving items to friends because he is living in an apartment next year.

So, if you are getting a college freshman ready to leave in August, you must read this article before you buy! I wrote it l based on what we bought and what we did NOT buy. And I just updated it with all our experience from his first year.

My Most Important Advice

My most important piece of advice is to "shop your house" and take advantage of items you already own. Think blankets, sheets, towels, tools, water bottles, office supplies, etc. And my second piece of advice is to be sure they know how to do laundry and budget their money. Summer is a great time to practice this especially with the graduation money they will likely receive. Some of the items on the list my son had to buy for himself.

Since I'm a minimalist mom, we had many conversations about what to buy and what not to buy. And now that he's been gone for nine months, I wanted to share our experience to help college-bound families save time and money by not buying everything they see in their news feed. (Yes, you can still return things.)

You can help your student create a clutter-free dorm room, learn how to prioritize needs versus wants, and use what you already own.

You can find EVERYTHING we bought (and didn't buy), in my updated article A Minimalist Guide to Dorm Room Essentials.

Can I ask a favor too, Reader?

If you know someone who is sending their child off to college in the next year or two, would you be so kind as to forward this to them? I would be very grateful.

Happy Graduation and Happy Packing!

Amy

XOXO

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