Lisa Woodruff, director of Organized365, shares what college freshmen actually need: disposable plates to skip dishes, quarters for laundry, a jar of coupons to teach budgeting, and over-the-door organizers. She stresses medical prep: insurance card, prescriptions, and basic OTC meds.
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A few weeks ago we talked about getting your kids ready for school, whether it be elementary, middle school, high school, but now getting them ready to go to college and some things, key things that they have to have before they head back or they're going to be making a phone call, right? Lisa Woodruff, director of 365 Organized. Lisa, good to see you. I'm always very envious when you come and I think, shoot, I forgot to write that down. What I love that you do most is you make a list. I am a list person. Sometimes I just forget where I put the list, you know, to make sure that I'm getting the right stuff. You had some great ideas for kids going back to middle school and high school, but here's some key things in going to college because if it's your first that's going to college, you think, oh my goodness, you know, what do I need to have?
Right. Once again, you're going to do the normal. They need to have a futon. They need to have a refrigerator, all that. I tried to think of things you wouldn't have already thought of, and then I put those lists on my blog so you can search the blog for whatever list you want to look for. Wonderful.
Tell us where your blog is first before we get deep into this.
It's organized365.com.
I love that. She has some great advice, so if you have a moment today, go and visit Lisa's blog. Okay, so let's start here. So plastic silverware, I mean, what a great idea. We even here at work, we think, oh my goodness, do you have a spoon I can borrow or a fork or something? That's a good thing to send your kids with.
Yeah, because where are you going to go wash your dish?
Right.
You're not.
They're not.
Yeah.
And if I've often— I remember going to college and I would have roommates or suitemates that they would have one plate, one bowl and silverware, but they would never clean, ever. So this is easy. Plastic silverware, paper plates, throw it away.
Especially in the dorms.
You don't want it.
I mean, if they aren't in a house, it's really impractical for them not to have some paper.
Great idea. I didn't even think about that. Some snacks. We can pack them some snacks.
Yeah, you know, when we went to college, the cafeteria was closed. I think they're 24 hours now in most places.
I wouldn't know about that.
But if you're studying, I mean, you just need peanut butter and crackers to get you through the night. You're not going to leave, go to the cafeteria and come back. So just some snacks that will get you through to the next meal.
And that's actually a great idea. So when parents or grandparents or just friends are sending care packages, right, think of these snacks, you know, that they can pass them back up and just grab when they're a little hungry at night.
And if there's protein, it's better. Yeah, anything with protein.
I love this because the jar of quarters, when we, a couple of months ago, when we were sharing gift ideas, graduation gift ideas, it was giving a student going off to college a jar of quarters. Who doesn't need a jar of quarters, right?
Right. All those washing machines still run on quarters.
Yeah. There you go. What a great gift. So send your kids off with a jar of quarters. That's good. Dryer sheets. Not only can you use them to wash and dry, right, but you can stick them in the drawer so their clothes smell fresh.
Yes. I love dryer sheets. There are so many uses for them.
I do too. That's wonderful. What else do you have here?
Well, you know, as a mom, I try to use coupons. We were talking about that earlier. I'm not the best, but now's a great time to start, especially your daughter off. They're going to college. Give them— this is a cute little couponizer from Thirty-One— just enough coupons for their great coupons for bath and body products and makeup. And that's what your college student's going to buy anyway. So teach them to save a few dollars on that.
That's a good idea because I think the more you send, it's going to feel so overwhelming to them, they're never going to use them.
Right.
But that's a good idea. So if it's just makeup and then body products, those are things you know they're going to use. That's a great idea. Okay, good. What else do you have?
Medical is a big issue in college. This is when your child is probably first in charge of their own medical. Make sure they have your health savings card. Make sure they have their insurance card. Make sure they know their doctor's phone number. You've always called it, but make sure it's in their phone. Make sure they have full prescriptions and they know when to tell you that they're going to run out or how to order more. And also make sure that they have what they would normally have if they had the flu or a cold or whatever. What would you give them? Give them that so that they can, again, treat themselves. Instead of having to go to the doctor for a sore throat, see if they can get through it.
Wonderful idea. And I love this organizer you brought, so it's not like stuff's all over the place. I mean, they can actually keep everything they need in one place.
Right. This one's over the back of the door. This is a mini. They come long. I recommend the long. And I usually start children about 12 when I organize 12-year-old girls. We start with one of these on the back of their bathroom door and one on the back of their bedroom door, and then they just take it to college and on.
Oh, good idea. So they're already in the practice of using them and they know where everything is. Okay, so cleaning products, you're actually sending cleaning products.
I love Windex. I mean, you're not going to clean the dorm, like you're not going to scrub the floor, but you would like to clean the desk maybe once a month. So Windex will really do just about anything. I love Windex.
I love this. So I love the plastic silverware. Throw away the stuff and maybe even some garbage bags, right, to send with them.
That's a good idea.
Yeah, I've always thought of that because they can put their dirty clothes in them, right, and bring them back home.
To you?
Yeah, and then throw their garbage away. It's a great idea. So where can we find your blog?
Organized365.com.
I love that. Lisa, good to see you. Thanks so much.
