Quick answer: About half of what you own from the dorm carries over. The kitchen is the expensive part, furniture is the part people overspend on, and utilities are the part nobody budgets for. Split shared costs in writing before anyone signs anything.
What carries over from the dorm
Do not rebuy these. They work exactly the same in an apartment.
- Bedding, unless the apartment bed is a full or queen rather than Twin XL. Check before you assume.
- Towels, shower caddy, and bath supplies
- Laundry hamper, detergent, hangers
- Desk lamp, surge protector, cables
- Storage bins and drawers, which finally have somewhere useful to go
- Cleaning supplies, in larger quantities than before
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The kitchen, from zero
This is where the money goes. Buy the short list first and add the rest over the first month rather than in one trip.
Buy first
- One good chef's knife and a cutting board
- A medium pot and a large skillet
- A baking sheet
- Colander, mixing bowl, can opener
- Plates, bowls, mugs and glasses for four
- Silverware and cooking utensils
Add within a month
- Food storage containers
- Measuring cups and spoons
- A second pot
- Dish rack and dish towels
- Trash can and bags
- Basic pantry staples
Skip for now
- Full cookware sets
- Single-purpose appliances
- Matching dishware for eight
- A stand mixer, however tempting
Furniture without overspending
- Find out what the apartment includes. Student-focused buildings are often furnished, and unfurnished ones vary.
- Buy the bed and the desk chair new if anything. Everything else works secondhand.
- Campus buy-sell groups in May are full of graduating students unloading exactly what you need.
- Measure the doorways and the stairwell before buying anything large. This is a real and recurring problem.
- A couch is the item most likely to be regretted. Sit on it first, and know who keeps it when the lease ends.
Utilities and the bills nobody mentions
- Which utilities are included? Water, trash and internet are sometimes bundled and sometimes not.
- Deposits. Electricity and internet often require one, due before you move in.
- Whose name is on each account? That person is legally responsible for the whole bill, not their share.
- How does the split work? Agree on the method and the day of the month before the first bill lands.
- Renters insurance. Frequently required by the lease, and the dorm-era coverage on a family policy usually does not extend here.
Lease questions to ask before signing
- Is the lease joint or individual? Joint means you can be liable for a roommate who stops paying.
- What are the subletting rules for summer, when most students leave?
- What is the exact move-in and move-out date, and does it overlap with the dorm move-out?
- What counts as normal wear, and what gets deducted from the deposit?
- Is there a guarantor requirement, and who is signing it?
- What is the parking situation, and is it an extra monthly cost?
A lease is a binding contract, often for twelve months, and student housing leases are usually written to favor the landlord. Read the whole thing, and have someone else read it too before anyone signs.
Splitting it with roommates
- Write down who owns what. Anything bought together needs an agreed owner for the day the lease ends.
- Pick one payment method for shared bills and stick to it.
- Agree on cleaning, guests and quiet hours in writing, exactly as you would have in a dorm.
- Decide what happens if someone leaves early, before it happens.
The apartment list works the same way the dorm list did: one shared list everyone can see, with who is buying what marked on it. The stakes are just higher, because now it includes a couch.
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