Moving out of catered Hall - make me a shopping list for student House

[homebythesea]

DS heading into his first off campus accommodation for the second year. He was in a catered Hall in first year so requirements were minimal. Now thinking about what he will need - what did your DC's have in terms of cooking/household items. Also, a shopping list to start him off food wise (usual storage constraints!)

Big and small plates
Cereal bowls
Mugs
Glasses
Cutlery
Tin opener
Corkscrew
Ladle
Serving spoon
Spatula
Whisk
Tongs
Frying pan
Couple of different size saucepans
Baking trays
Oven/casserole type dish
Sharp knives
Scissors
Veg peeler
Couple of big plastic bowls (for mixing/serving salad in etc)
Measuring jug
Small scales
Egg cups

Salt
Pepper
Oil
Spices/herbs (depends what sort of thing he likes cooking)
Tomato purée
Sauces such as ketchup, soy sauce, mustard, mayo etc
Jam/choc spread/peanut butter
Pasta/spaghetti/rice/couscous
Tins of soup, tuna, beans, tinned tomatoes
Cereal
Flour
Sugar
Teabags /coffee

Hi homebythesea!
DS2 is also going into his second year. I also have DS1 who has just graduated so have spreadsheets and lists some experience of student houses.
In fact we moved some of DS's stuff in last week. His tenancy started nearly three months before he goes back to uni .
The main difference to halls is that there may well be even less cupboard and fridge space.

Best to plan a little bit - no need for five toastie makers / corkscrews etc.
If they are a group that share cooking then even better. DS1 took a huge slow cooker and they made massive curries and pulled pork dinners. No use for DS2 as he is veggie .

Kitchen
Plate x2
Bowl x2
Mug x 2
Glasses x2
Cutlery
One good sharp Knife
Plastic food boxes
Jug
Can opener
Tablespoon
Wooden spoon
Scissors
Cheese grater
Big pan with lid
Small pan
Baking / pizza tray
Slow cooker?
Tea Towels
Oven glove
Sieve /colander

Basic Food
A good range of spices and herbs and some tins. Other than that we did a food shop when we got there.

Other household items - fairly obvious. Bedding, towels, a good desk lamp was useful.

I didn't buy much because I had squirrelled away old pans and pots which was just as well because a lot never came back.

DS is in a house with 3 others and volunteered to buy a printer. He does photography and needs it for his own use. We got the HP Envy which has an inbuilt ink ordering system so you never run out. They're starting with the minimum (£3 a month for 50 pages + 50 max rollover). Beats searching for expensive cartridges the night before you hand work in!

A laundry duffel bag (those popup ones break immediately) was a good idea. They're also thinking of putting one of those lock boxes with a digital code for the spare key. Not sure how that will work...

Neither of mine have ever used a printer. That may depend on subject though. DS2 just saves to cloud and prints at uni on the rare occasion he needs it.
Make sure the internet is sorted in good time, the speed may not be what they have been used to in halls. DS is taking a very long ethernet cable to reach his room and duct tape to secure it to floor.

Have you got a CostCo card? If so, I'd get massive catering packs of rice, noodles, vegetable oil, teabags, crate of baked beans and tinned tomatoes, massive tomato ketchup, soy and brown sauce. (If you don't have a CostCo card, then is there a South Asian or Chinese supermarket in his uni town?)

Clothes airer, I got a heated one from Lakeland for dd, excellent and cheap to run. Uni houses do tend to be mouldy and damp so the heated airer may save money in the long run by saving clothes and towels from going irreparably mouldy.
Also her clothes storage was tight so she ended up with a cheap single clothing rail for over flow.
If you have an old games console at home they always come in useful for evenings when they're too broke to go out. Our old wii was given a second lease of life in her uni houses.

Old games console is a good idea. DS1 had a tv in his flat but it wasn't connected up. It came in handy when someone brought their old xbox.
Of course private rentals will vary vastly but in the ones I've seen there has been less room in the kitchen than halls.
DS2 has literally one small cupboard to store all his food and his pots and pans. It was full last week when we moved him in and he only took tea bags, spices and pasta. Unless there is surplus space in the room for food they can't bulk buy. They also have one small fridge and freezer between five. Less than a shelf each.

Those plastic stacker boxes are very useful for overflow storage in the room. They slide under a bed or fit on top of a wardrobe.

DS1's last room was a single of about 10' x 12' so tiny. DS2's room this year is a decent size double room.

Ds has just finished at Uni and spent his last 2 years in shared houses. I agree with Squirrills about buying 2x many items such as plates, glasses etc. No more as space is definitely limited and the group my son shared with bought some items from a joint kitty for the house. Electric kettle, toaster, microwave and vacuum cleaner spring to mind.....but not until they arrived at the house. They also bought a cheap shared set of plates and cutlery......they loved Wilko! A large saucepan with a lid, for pasta, cheap non stick frying pan, and most popular was a non stick wok....all from Wilko. Most of these items had to be thrown away after 2 years of constant use, except the wok. Stir fries were a firm favourite as were one pot pasta dishes.
He also needed a Bedside lamp, loud alarm clock, clothes airer, mattress topper, scented reed diffuser and in the first house, small bookcase.
It's an adventure...let the fun begin. Good luck.

When I moved into a shared apartment, for Uni, I gathered a box of stuff under my bed (at home, over the 2 months before I left):

This was an apartment where there was crockery (1 plate, mug, bowl, drinking glass, knife, fork, soup spoon, teaspoon each) and cooking utensils (3 pots between 5 of us, a pan, and very basic kitchen utensils).

2 distinctive mugs
1 decent large glass for cold drinks/beer - distinctive is good
A pasta "bowl" type dish
A small sharp knife
A wooden spoon
A grater
A corkscrew
A tin opener
A small pan
A big pan for stir-fry type dishes
A baking tray (a couple of actual baking things but mostly for pizza, waffles, the odd roast chicken leg etc)
Washup brush
A pair of oven gloves
3 tea towels and a hand towel

Roll tin foil
Roll cling film
Pack j cloths

Small salt and pepper mills (full)
Herbs and spices (I used things like basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary a lot, mild and medium curry powder - chilli powder is also very useful although I wasn't big on that back then)
Stock cubes
Cornflour (for making sauces)
Jar mayonnaise (I was a demon for bacon sambos with mayo!)
Bottle vinegar (I used wine vinegar as it was ok for chips and for salads/cooking)
Oil (I used olive even back then as again, salads and cooking uses)
Bag pasta
Bag rice
Tinned tomatoes
Teabags
Coffee
(I didn't use sugar, and wasn't a hot choc or similar drinker)

Washup liquid
Bottle kitchen cleaner
Pot scrubber thing
Bleach
Roll of black sacks

I was reasonable in the kitchen even then, so I generally cooked a fair bit from scratch.
Others in the flat were less good, so there were lots of packets of curry sauce, tins of beans, jars of pasta sauce etc.

What is your DS capable of? Would he be a cook at all? Would he like flour for pancakes, sauces, soups and even baking? Or is he a "everything from a packet straight to the oven" man?

Also, for his own room (and check what's already in it) things like a bedside lamp,
lamp for study space,
bookcase,
magazine racks to organize book spaces by subject/project (and minimize space needed by keeping papers upright!).
Bedroom bin (for rubbish and scrumpled up paper!)
Alarm clock (with radio etc)
at least 2 decent large towels for showers (a dressing gown may be useful but storage may not be there for that - large towels to wrap around are good).

His own pillows and duvet, sheets (2 sets of sheets - 1 for washing, 1 to wear)
Bag for carrying laundry, popup laundry basket could be useful if space allows
Hanging "shelves" to put into a wardrobe may be useful to get more useable space, or stackable plastic tubs

This is all great! Of course he's had bedding and laundry and hanging stuff from his room in halls - it's the domestic side if things that we are starting from scratch with- he hasn't had to cook for himself at all yet apart from post piss up pot noodles

I can't see him making anything terribly sophisticated in the kitchen- defo a one pot chap! Points on storage v helpful- will look for under bed boxes. Did anyone get lockable boxes for precious/important items (I'm paranoid about burglary). I will encourage him to discuss with housemates on shared things like cleaning materials etc. Luckily there's only 2 to each shower room so hopefully they can sort that out between them. They will have Virgin internet and telly included.

More inspiration very welcome- I'm making a list!!

He may well survive the year on pot noodles, it has been known!
I tried to teach DS to cook last summer but he reckoned he only needed pasta and cheese when he started last year. By Christmas he was ready to cook .
DS2's house has locks on the bedroom doors. None of DS1's had locks but tbh he had nothing of great value apart from perhaps laptop and I'm not a great worrier about theft.

They probably looked around the place months ago while it was occupied by last years students. DS couldn't remember much about the place. The one thing that is a problem is the tiny plastic office chair in his room. He is 6'4" and has a bad back. He wants to take a big comfy swivel chair .

Also I don't know where your DS is but both the houses DS1 moved into were disgustingly filthy. I was glad I had taken rubber gloves and full cleaning kit when we moved him in.
In contrast DS2's place was lovely and clean apart from kitchen cupboards.

This is the sort of lockbox DS is talking about, to hang off the doorknob. One combination for the padlock and another for the box. I'm sure it could be put to other uses. But apart from that they only have a padlock on their food cupboards .

DS is the nominal head of the household and I've insisted they take out contents insurance and burglary (they all have computers, musical instruments, phones, tablets...) and Third Party for things like flooding the floor below from the washing machine. That was factored into the rent he charges his 3 mates.

Nothing like looking on the bright side, eh?

Sorry, forgot the photo. Now I think about it, it might invalidate the insurance...

I suspect less is more, at least to start with.

I am a landlord and have had a few student tenancies though not formally student accommodation. I often leave kitchen stuff that is in the flat and ask if incoming tenants want it. They often do. Pull out some of your old stuff, or if they find they need it, my experience is Asda is cheapest for kitchenware. Poor DD. She does not get anything new. Instead she gets a full set of tenant booty.

For wifi NowTV has been quite impressive. You order on-line, the box is sent and it all goes live 10 days later. No contract. The problem is that it is fairly easy to access premium services including sport and these are expensive. Who ever you choose, it helps to know the previous supplier and the landline phone number. (And avoid Virgin who need to install a box as they use fibre not landline, which needs landlord permission.)

Slow cooker
Toastie maker
Toaster
Wok

Sorted.

Loo brush
Clothes drier thingy
FIRST AID KIT!!

Our home insurance fully covers our DCs while they are at Uni even if they are in non Uni shared flats. It also covers funded phd students - basically as long as his main residence is our home they are covered. Some requirements that apply to our home such as mortise locks on external doors don't apply to student accommodation. - and yes I have all this in writing.

With Bikes, instrument and other high value items might be worth looking at specialist student insurance. ??

Wifi and telly included in the rent, as well as Bills (actually I think it would be better if they had to deal with bills but hey ho)

Will check re insurance for belongings

Do sharers really lock their own food cupboards? He can't remember how much storage is available in the kitchen or the size of the fridge: probably better to wait and do a shop locally . I just hope there's enough freezer space to allow for batch cooking.

Kitchen and food yes. But. From my student experience cleaning products and loo roll. Lots and lots of both!

Antibacterial wipes are a godsend if your DS doesnt want to deep clean but would still rather use fairly clean surfaces.

Additionally:

• washing up liquid
• cleaning cloths/dishwash brushes/sponges
• laundry tablets/powder
• disenfectant
• bleach
• duster and polish
• bathroom cleaner
• floor cleaner

After the smoke alarm went off 1 time too many I did oven pride my uni house's oven but that might have been my OCD.

None of my 4 DC use/used a printer. Almost everything is submitted online.

Chilli flakes and Maggi hot chilli sauce. Surprising how they jazz up even boring food.

Cheap hand wash for kitchen and bathroom.

A good quality extension lead, preferably one with a circuit breaker.

Interesting comments on printers- DS took one last year and used it quite a bit for his lecture notes etc as well as printing out correspondence about parking tickets I had scanned and sent to him

Hopping in on this a bit late but as I rent houses to students I thought I'd just add that I wouldn't buy any kitchen items until I arrived or spoke to the landlord. We let with a minimum amount of inventoried items but students usually leave a lot of kitchen items behind when they leave -plates, cutlery etc and we don't throw it away for the sake of it so there's always plenty. Also we don't supply small electrical items such as toasters but again these often get left behind. I would definitely take a good quality mattress protector.

When I took DS to collect the keys to his house recently there were some old pans and trays left behind by the last tenants. The landlady said she had left them in case anyone wanted them. To be honest they were so grotty I wanted to bin them as the were a waste of cupboard space. There were also lots of cleaning products left. The landlady had also provided a brand new microwave, toaster and toastie maker (all still in the boxes) and all the beds had brand new good quality mattress protectors on. She even asked if there was anything else he thought they needed!
I suspect this is the exception rather than the rule as far as student lets go.