Jam-Packed: Making Move-Out as Easy as Possible

Moving in and out can be one of the most stressful parts of your college experience. That’s where we come in! Move-out doesn’t have to ruin your life this year — in fact, it can be much less stressful than move-in, if you follow this guide.

What’s the best way to pack my clothes?

All of the Goodwill runs and mall visits have taken a toll on your closet. How do you recover without ditching some prized items? Her Campus writer Gennifer Delman offers an interesting solution.

“I always roll my clothes when I’m packing instead of folding,” she said. “This limits wrinkles and creases and leaves more room in the suitcase!”

Another option is Space Bags. This genius invention allows you to pack almost double the amount of clothes. The process is simple: just fold your clothes and place them in the Space Bag, then insert a vacuum cleaner into the available hole and suck all of the air out of the bag. You’d be surprised how much space air takes up!

Her Campus writer Elyssa Goodman usually mails the majority of her winter clothing home to lighten the load in her car. While prices vary depending on weight, shipping a 15 lb. box can cost anywhere from $12-$75 depending on when you need it to be delivered.

James Madison University sophomore Cammie Little uses her laundry baskets to get her clothes home. “They’re less restricting,” she said. “You can pile your clothes up high without having to worry about getting the zipper to close. Plus everybody already has laundry baskets!”

What about the bigger objects?

So you’re packing up the car, all of the windows are covered with your piles and piles of magazines, movies and bedding. Then you realize you forgot to pack the desk hutch. What do you do?

Her Campus writers Cara Sprunk and Carlene Helble suggest renting a storage unit near your school for the larger items such as TVs, refrigerators and drawers. If you’re strapped for cash, see if any suitemates or friends would be willing to split it with you. That way you don’t have to haul it all home, or into storage, by yourself.

Also, don’t hesitate to call in for a favor! After this year, you’re sure to have made lots of friends who live in apartments or houses. They will be unoccupied over the summer, so why not store some of your stuff in there?

What about the items I bought with my roommates?

While the planning before school can be fun, dividing the assets can be a little awkward. Never fear! There are plenty of ways to handle this situation.

One way is to reuse the items in your room next year. Her Campus writer Kathleen Corlett found a creative way to recycle a shared item. “I pitched in for a chair with my suitemates last year to add more seating to our room, and we moved into a house this year, so the chairs are still in use and we keep them in the house,”  she said.

But what if you’re not living with them next year?

Her Campus writer Jessica Goldstein has an organized approach to the roommate situation. She suggests making a Google Doc of all roommate purchases, assigning every item a dollar value. Then each roommate can make a list and rank the items in order of what you want the most. Whoever ranks a certain item higher gets it. She suggests making up the difference in cash if it is significant.

What if I’m living in the same place? What should I leave behind?

If you’re living in the same apartment or house next year, the most obvious things to leave behind are furniture, bedding, school supplies and kitchen appliances. In terms of clothes, you might consider leaving winter coats and heavy leggings behind, since you won’t need them when you’re lying by the pool! Also decide which movies, books and magazines you’ll want over the summer and which ones you can afford to leave at school.

So start packing soon and make sure you have everything in order. The last thing you want for finals week is to be stressing about fitting everything into your duffel!

Sources:

Gennifer Delman, Her Campus writer

Cara Sprunk, Her Campus writer

Jessica Goldstein, Her Campus writer

Cammie Little, James Madison University, Class of 2012

Carlene Helble, Her Campus writer

Elyssa Goodman, Her Campus writer

Kathleen Corlett, Her Campus writer

https://www.spacebag.com/