From Dorm to Apartment: What to Expect

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While you settle into your new space, it can be exciting to have a place to call your own without dorm rules, RAs, and randomly assigned roommates. But with great power comes great responsibility when you don’t return to your bathroom clean while on winter break, and it’s not a simple trip to the mess hall for lunch. It’s important to make yourself aware of all the major changes that come with living off-campus. Thankfully, we have a few reminders to help you stay on track with everything and make your first year officially on your own a breeze.

This article is divided into 4 sections. Budgeting Your Life, Furnishing Your Space, Safety Plans, and Adulting Tools 101.

Budgeting Your Life

It’s easy to buy toiletries when you have a meal plan in your back pocket. But on your own, you have to account for more bills, from utilities to groceries to renters’ insurance. To stay on top of everything, you can try:

• Setting Up: Before you move into your new place, call or visit your local utility provider’s website to schedule service transfers. Your core utilities will be electricity, internet, water, sewer, trash, and/or gas, as this can vary based on what your landlord covers.
• Due Date Tracking: There are a few ways to keep track of your bills and create a consistent grocery shopping schedule.
  • Create a digital calendar for all your grocery shopping dates that coincide with payday and your billing dates.
  • Download your providers’ apps or set up email and phone reminders to get reminders a week or a day before your bill is due.
  • If you’re comfortable, set up auto-pay for your fixed utilities, such as the gas bill, so you don’t incur late fees or service interruptions. But if you are juggling, it’s best to hold off on auto-pay until you are confident that you can put the money out on that exact day, so you’re not shorting your account.
• Renter’s Insurance: Most apartment complexes require proof of insurance before handing over the keys. It typically costs $10 to $20 a month and protects your belongings from theft, fire, or water damage. You can purchase renters’ insurance directly from your apartment complex or through an insurance company, and the latter may be cheaper.

Furnishing Your Space

We’ve heard the typical dumpster-couch chronicles when looking for your first living room or bedroom set. But you don’t have to choose style or affordability if you look in the right places and pick the right times. Some tips are:

• Prioritize the Essentials: In my first apartment, I focused on the base furniture. A bed, a dresser, and a nightstand for my bedroom. For my living room, I focused on a loveseat, an end table, and a coffee table. As I stabilized my income, I added accent chairs, bookshelves, a vanity, and some décor. I didn’t sacrifice my practicality or my grocery budget to get everything at once.
• Thrift or go to Marketplaces: Some of my favorite pieces, such as my nightstand, came from local retailers or online marketplaces. As I upgraded my lifestyle, I moved towards larger furniture retailers, but at first, my focus was on style for less. To do the same, you can try:
  • Checking local secondhand shops or discount retailers for heavily discounted wall art, mirrors, and rugs. Personally, I left the tables and chairs alone for better quality if they were not from a local shop. Some stores will markdown on Mondays, so it’s best to go early in the week to snag a deal with fewer people in the store.
  • Online Marketplaces: I scored my floating bookshelves for free because someone was moving and wanted to get rid of them quickly. In most cases, you can buy furniture for less than you might see in a store, including tables, couches, and chairs, if you can handle the transportation.

Safety Plans

Living alone means not having campus security out on patrol or extra security measures like ID cards and passcodes. Sometimes your apartment is on an open street, and you don’t have a gate. In this case, you have to implement extra security measures to protect yourself. Some tips are:

• Solo Safety Routine: Every night before bed, I closed and locked my windows, locked my door with the regular lock, and placed an extra lock between the latch and the security pole against the knob. You can also add security cameras on your door or change the door lock to a passcode if your apartment allows it.
• Emergency Bag: If you are worried about a break-in, evacuation, or any other unsafe situation, you should have an emergency bag to grab and go. A duffel bag or backpack with chargers, basic toiletries, a flashlight, water, food, first aid, personal documents, and sanitation. This can get you going for the next 24-48 hours.

Adulting Tools 101

This was a hassle for me to learn at first, as I quickly realized that you can’t get by with just a screwdriver and a tape measure. But what to buy when you’re not sure of what you need is another hurdle in itself. Some things to start with are:

• Hammer
• Pair of pliers
• Wrench
• Leveler
• Power Drill
• Utility Knife/Box Cutter
• Nails
• Command Strips

With this in mind, you can enter your new space armed with the right steps and tools to navigate your next chapter and beyond. As scary as it may be, you also have the freedom to do what you want in your space and live how you see fit. Use these tools to help you find balance. Best of luck!

So, does a side hustle or a campus job sound better for you? Ask your friends and family what they did to make extra money in college and if they have any advice for either opportunity. Regardless of what you choose, both will be a great way to help you save up throughout college. 

It’s no secret that college costs a lot of money. Make sure your investment in higher education is protected with GradGuard. Our affordable tuition insurance and renters insurance plans are specifically designed for college students. Customizable plans make it easy to protect your tuition, room and board, laptop, bike, and so much more.