What to Take to Uni

Before I get stuck into this meaty blog post, I first want to congratulate all of you who received your A Level results this week. A Levels are tough as heck, so you have done incredibly just by surviving them!
To those of you whose results are enabling you to move on to what you want to do next, I am proud of you and hope you love it.

If you clicked on this post, I assume most of you will be going to university in September and are about to embark on the desperate rush of buying cutlery and bedding and tin openers. I also assume that your biggest question in life right now is "what on earth do I need to pack?" If so, look no further!

I may even have some people reading this who, like me, have already done at least a year at uni but can't remember for the life of them what they need to take! It's been a long year guys, I understand..

This is a reflective list. By that I mean, this is not what I followed last year. It's a list of things I NOW know you need, missing out the things that a year on, I know you don't.

Are you ready?

Probably not.

• Only your FAVOURITE clothes. Start off with mainly winter clothes, and not many summery.
• Lots of pyjamas (Although most of you will wear shorts and t-shirts to bed)
• Fluffy socks and hoodies (you will end up buying a uni hoodie and living in that though)
• Underwear and socks (probably quite a lot if you aren’t going to do your laundry regularly - Katie Goude I’m talking to you)
• Waterproof shoes and comfortable shoes for walking around in
• Going out clothes. Those of you who like going out clubbing then wear whatever you wear (I wouldn’t know)
• One or two coats. I say this from experience. I had about 10 coats at uni last year and my uni room just wasn’t big enough to hold them all!
• Slippers/slipper boots. Great for walking around your flat/halls/house because all the floors tend to be dirty as, funnily enough, students don’t like to clean.

• Cutlery
• Tea towels
• Plates and bowls
• Glasses
• Baking tray (I took 3 and didn’t need them)
• Cake tins if you’re a baker (although saying that, I think I only used mine once in the whole year and I AM a baker)
• Scissors (always come in really handy)
• Sauces spoons
• One of those flat scoopy things to move chips from the baking tray to your plate
• A GOOD PAIR OF TONGS. This is in caps because I had a RUBBISH pair and my sausages kept slipping out of them and onto the floor :( #cry4steph
• Tin opener
• Masher
• Vegetable peeler
• Sieve
• Saucepans (1 big, 1 small)
• Frying pans (1 big, 1 small)
• Cling film
• Bin bags (you get through more than you think)

• Oven gloves
• Block of knives
• Kettle
• Toaster
• Washing up liquid
• Hoover

• Bedding (that would be a good start, right?) TIP: make sure you know the size of your bed e.g single, small double or double.
• Decorative things to make your room feel homely - posters, photo frames, fake flowers in a vase, fairy lights, photo prints of you and your parents so you don’t forget they exist…
• A bin
• An extension lead (honestly one of the most useful things you could buy, you’ll have a lot of plugs and not many places to put them)
• Drawing pins if you know you have a corkboard in your room
• Stationery (but I went overboard and bought a stapler, all kinds of pins and paper clips, every kind of stationery you can think of… and I regretted it, so don’t go too mad stationery freaks)
• A lamp (not a necessity but really nice to have if you can find an inexpensive one)
• A FAN (yes even for the winter term - you WILL need it, unless you want to live in a sauna)
• A MINI HOOVER (your future best friend, trust me on this one)
• A laundry bag (so useful to firstly put your dirty washing in and then to transfer it to the machines which will probably be the other side of your building complex, typical)
• Hair products
• Hair styling equipment (e.g hairdryer)
• Clothes hangers - an absolute essential! Your room won’t be fitted with any
• Door stop - although you’re not allowed to leave your door open when you’re out (it’ll be a fire door), propping your door open when you’re in makes it easier to socialise with your flat/housemates! (and all those trips to and from the kitchen become easier too)
• Your favourite DVDs
• Tissues - you can always buy them when you get there (and you will have to throughout the rest of the year) but saying goodbye to your parents is an emotional time. 

• Shower/bath mat
• Soap
• Shower gel
• Dental care - toothbrush, toothpaste etc
• Washing machine powder/tablets (I always kept mine in the bathroom)
• Towels and flannels
• Cleaners. Toilet cleaner, shower/sink cleaner (etc…)
• A bin
• Toilet roll

• Laptop - if you don’t have one already, now is the time to really invest in one.
• Printer - buying a printer saves you so much money from printing at uni and is far less complicated. This is THE student printer - inexpensive, easy to use and small - click here for a link to it 
• A key ring - when you get your room key, well… everyone’s room key looks the same and with all the excitement in the first few weeks, you’re guaranteed to lose it somewhere so make it recognisable
• First aid - painkillers, plasters, any medication
• Hand bags - you can either choose to take a big one for uni to put your laptop and books in, or like I did, take a small one for your phone, keys, pens and then carry your laptop separately
• Make- up and toiletries
• I.D

• Printer
• Handheld hoover
• Fan
• Extension lead
• Clothes hangers
• Laundry bag

• Don’t buy textbooks unless you’re doing a really, really academic course. I bought 4 media studies textbooks and only used them once. Even if your lecturer says YOU MUST HAVE THIS TEXTBOOK, don’t listen to them. Or if you do decide to listen, don’t buy a brand new one.
• Take less than you think you’ll need because you will be right! You won’t need as much as you think you do. My parents will tell you that.
• Your room probably won’t have much storage space if you’re living in halls - another reason not to take too many clothes. But if you do run out of space, buy a flat pack chest of drawers and you’ll be rad.
• Don’t be fooled into buying FRESHERS WEEK WRISTBANDS/PACKAGES. They charge you so much to buy them in advance but you should buy them on the day as they’ll always have some available and you know you won’t be wasting money if you buy in advance and then don’t want to go.

• You don’t have to buy everything now. I tried to be as prepared as I could before I started uni and so many things I thought I’d need, I didn’t. Buy the basics on this list and you can always buy anything extra, as and when you need it, to prevent wasting money!