OFF TO COLLEGE: Finding the BEST deals on college essentials!!!

Okay Ladies,

Heading off to college can be SO stressful! I’m sure I’m not the only one, but my number one stress reliever is.. you guessed it! Shopping.

As a soon to be college freshman, I spent most of my summer (okay, all of my summer) searching the web for the cutest, most colorful, trendy dorm accessories.

Also, as a soon to be college freshman I am on a budget! My main focus when shopping for my dorm was finding the best deals I could possibly find. A lot of my time searching the web was looking at different sites with the same products to see who wanted less money from my poor bank account.

Whether your’e spending your own money (like I was) or your parents were kind enough to help you out, it’s very important that we stay focused on what really matters. That being our very, very, expensive education which, after all is why we’re here!

Let’s talk pillows!

Throw pillows can really complete your whole bed. They are the first thing people notice on a bed. So, they need to be an absolute vision! but remember, we’re doing this on a budget.

My favorite place to look for pillows is Target.

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The pillows in these photos ranged anywhere from $15-$25 dollars in price. Now to some, that may seem a little excessive but when you’ve done your research like I have, you’ll know that places like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie sell similar pillows with the minimalistic, boho style for anywhere between $40-$65 dollars in price. Now THAT is crazy town!!!

One of my proudest, pillow shopping tools I used, was a coupon code from one of my favorite YouTubers, Jaclyn Brooke. With her code I was able to purchase one of these pillows for just $15.

SO, let’s talk blankets! Everyone has a favorite, and throw blankets are mine.

With the throw blankets, this is where I tended to “splurge” and by splurge, I mean I still did not spend over $50 dollars for a blanket. In fact, I believe the most expensive blanket was $42 dollars and some odd change.
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If you counted correctly, YES, there are five blankets shown. This is only because of the great deals I found.

The top two quilted, fringe, beige blankets have their own story… let’s just say I got very lucky and happened to get them both for free upon the companies mistake.

BUT, beyond that, I made sure to take advantage of the large number of department stores closing within the next month i.e. Bergners, Yonkers, J.C Penny, etc.

These stores had plush, dreamy blankets for 60% off. YES, 60% off. So, that $30 dollar blanket turned into a $12 dollar blanket with the wave of the cashiers magic wand! *poof*

In total, for those five blankets shown, I spent about $60 dollars!!! Which, if bought at high end stores, with no deal shopping at all, could have added up to be HUNDREDS of dollars.

Decor is next! This was a hard one for me, believe it or not. I had no idea where to start or how to shop cost friendly for the cute things I wanted.IMG_0409

For Decor, I tried to keep most of the things in my room now. Meaning, I designed my dorm room around the aesthetic of my room at home. This saved SO much money.

I repurposed a picture frame and made is something very meaningful. At my graduation party I had all of my guests and family members take a polaroid picture and sign the bottom. This way, I could align them inside of a frame I already had and make this super cool, very meaningful, piece of art!
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Aside from using things you already have, or repurposing things around your home, I do have a few store recommendations to shop at for Decor!

HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, and sometimes Target will have the perfect, affordable, little gadgets that will make the perfect finishing touch to your dorm room!

Okay SO, if you are lucky enough to have a bathroom and/or sink in your dorm room ( I luckily fall into that category) we need to talk bath items, soap, late night Walmart runs, etc.

Bath and Body Works, if you catch it in the right season can be very affordable AND, in my opinion they have the best products when it comes to hand soap, body wash, and those very convenient wick less candle scents you need for your dorm room.IMG_0406.JPG

Bath and Body Works almost always has some type of deal going on! Especially in between seasons. On the day I paid a visit the deal was 5 for $23 on the hand soaps. Now, this germaphobe, hand washing enthusiest was SO HAPPY. It was an offer I could not pass up. Of course I had to throw in Some WallFlower Inserts in my favorite scents; Salted Carmel and Mahogany Teakwood.

My next secret tip (if you are spending your own money on all things college) pay a visit to Walmart every two weeks and slowly begin to check off your toiletry items in bulk.

For me this meant, one week I bought an excessive amount of toothpaste, a huge bottle of mouthwash, three sticks of my favorite deodorant, and four toothbrushes.

The next couple of weeks it was a value pack of makeup wipes, two lint rollers, three of my favorite Hask Dry Shampoo and, a large storage bin to hold everything that was now sitting on my bedroom floor.IMG_0424IMG_0423

This, maybe didn’t save as much money but, it saved money for me to eat out with my friends or see a movie in the new LDX theatre in between paychecks.

That’s all for now!

Time to get back to online shopping for new deals because what else would I do?

xoxo, McKenna Rose