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When to Choose a Chicago Storage Solution for Your Back-to-School College Student

August 30, 2017

The end of August and the start of September means going back to school for anyone in kindergarten through twelfth grade and the requisite back to school shopping that the start of school requires. When moving for college, especially if it’s a plane’s flight or a ten-hour drive away, students tend to accrue a lot of stuff in the form of mini fridges for their dorm rooms, televisions, microwaves, and other creature comforts that they can access at home as well.

Simply put, when a college student is returning from a semester or leaving for one, they need to decide what to keep, what to get rid of, and if you do not have the room in your home or would simply not like the extra clutters, what to put into a full-service Chicago Storage Solution.

Table of Contents

When is a Chicago Storage Solution the Right One for Your College Student?

Have Your Student Take Stock of Their Belongings

As we’ve discussed before in our article about when is a good time to opt for a storage solution from New City Moving or another Chicago full-service storage company, the most common reason for choosing to rent a storage unit is to cut down on unnecessary clutter that you don’t want to throw away. While we would ideally see students doing this as soon as they return from spring semester, many tend to just stash their belongings aside until about a week before it’s time to remove to college and they begin frantically packing anything and everything up for their return.

After all, most college students don’t tend to have much experience moving from one living situation to another, especially during their first couple years. Help them to cut down on the unnecessary items and clutter by taking stock of what they actually need for the upcoming semester. While a box fan might be necessary for the first month or so, their roommate may have one. Or that lamp they needed for reading last semester might be irrelevant since they’re moving into an off-campus house.

And this also applies to books as they can take up quite a bit of space quickly, so have your college student (or students) really think about the move in advance so that you can identify which items will be best put in storage. Keep in mind that if a student does need an item for the upcoming year, they probably won’t for the year after, but have them make the decision of whether to put an item in storage or to give it to charity.

Pack Smart

Once your college student or students have decided which items they are taking with them for the school year and which are going into storage, the second half of this process can also be rushed if left to the last moment. But by teaching your college student the importance of planning in advance and not sabotaging themselves by not allotting enough time, you can help make future moves much more painless and frustrating as the first few trips to college can be.

While trash bags are the favorite moving solution particularly for male college students, these won’t endure a long trip that involves carrying one’s items up several flights of stairs. The same goes for packing for their storage space. Give your student a hand the first couples times when packing, showing them how to get the most out of a storage bin and their luggage and how to properly pack items like electronics or plates and silverware if they are moving into a house. And if you’re helping them move their dorm room items into a storage solution, try to find one as close to campus as possible that also provides 24/7 protection to ensure their valuables remain safe.

Lastly, be sure to arm both yourself and your student with hand sanitizer as if their items have been sitting in bags all summer, they might be a bit gross, to put it lightly. When it comes to moving for college and picking a storage solution that works for you and your student, use it as an opportunity to instill in them best practices when it comes to planning ahead and packing everything they might need for the school year. Before you know it, they’ll be handling the packing all themselves!