Holy dorm dollars! Hang on to your wallets, parents. The National Retail Federation predicts 2024 back-to-college spending will hit $86.6 billion this year, which may sound like a lot, but it’s actually down from last year. The average spend per family hovers around $1,360. Depending on where you live, this is equivalent to at least a couple of car payments or half the median rent price in the U.S.
As I write this, I’m about two days away from driving my one and only son to college, so I’m fresh off the dorm decor bandwagon, and I’d say that the average cost of $1,360 is not that far off when all is said and done. (My son’s dorm has a small kitchen and living room, so perhaps we felt the need to buy more than most.)
I’m a big planner known to go overboard on things like this. My son is moving to a different state, and shipping items was much easier than bringing them with us. I didn’t realize how much we were buying because the items never piled up by the door. I also bought everything piecemeal over the summer so it wouldn’t hit my bank account immediately.
If You Buy Too Much, You’re Not Alone
It turns out my experience is similar to most parents in our Paying for College 101 Facebook Group. One mom spent nearly $1,000 only to have many of the items return home unopened at the end of the school year, “[If I had to do over again,] I would send the bare minimum and give them a gift card to Amazon, Walmart or Target to buy other things they need,” says Cheryl K.R.
She wasn’t the only parent who regretted spending so much on so-called dorm essentials. “About half of it will be in the dumpster on move-out day,” says Gwendolyn R. “Focus on the necessities and add on later.”
It’s easy to forget that most colleges require students to live in the dorms only for their first year, and then move off campus. “People go crazy buying items for dorms that only get lived in for one year,” says Patty G.B.
The High Cost of Fashionable Dorm Rooms
If your college-bound child is into fashion and style, chances are you’ll be spending even more than the national average. Dorm decor in some schools has become such a big deal that there are designers who specialize in nothing but dorm decor.
Jennifer L.B. estimates she dropped at least $1,500 on her daughter’s dorm room. “We started from scratch on everything,” she says. “And what’s with the girls ‘needing’ a pretty headboard to match the roommate’s? I hope it works the way she thinks it will with the bed that comes with the dorm.”
Brace yourselves: The expenses don’t end after freshman year. Moving off-campus often means living in unfurnished apartments and spending even more money to fill them. “We spent thousands when my daughter moved into her own apartment,” says Vanessa S. “I told her she’d better live there all four years. I don’t want to move that stuff again, especially the furniture!”
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