Hi all! Spring break has just come to a close, and I don’t know about you, but I am already getting the summer jitters! I hope to be as prepared as possible for moving out so I can enjoy my last few moments in Iowa City with friends, spend time showing my family IC, and take in all the graduation moments I want to remember. I have been a Residential Assistant in the dorms for a few years now, so I feel pretty good about some of the tips and tricks I have picked up for the move-out season. Keep reading to hear some!

1. Clean as MUCH as possible as SOON as possible
   I hope you are keeping a clean dorm or apartment anyway, but especially near the season of moving out, it is important to keep it tidy. You want to avoid getting charged a cleaning fee for things that could easily be avoided like picking up the dust bunnies in the corners or stains that you could have worked out of the carpet/furniture with a little bit of elbow grease. When I first got back from spring break, I deep cleaned my room by pulling all my furniture from the walls to mop and sweep the entirety of my floor, including the nooks and crannies I don’t normally reach.
2. Pack your winter and unused stuff up now
   In my post-spring break deep clean, I also pulled out some storage bins to start storing some things I don’t anticipate using anymore. When preparing for move out, this helps to already have things packed because move out gets busy! You don’t want to be packing instead of enjoying your last moments with your friends.Also, if I end up going home before moving out, I can easily throw these bins in my car and take them home early so I have more car space during the actual move-out time. I am anticipating doing this over Easter weekend, and bringing back the bins to reuse them for my move-out needs again!
3. Don’t use a bin for your clothes on hangers
   As you are getting boxes, bags, and bins for move-out, get one for everything you store in drawers, but for clothes on hangers use a trash bag. By using a trash bag, and grouping about 10 hangers and corresponding clothes, you save bin space and can keep your clothes wrinkle-free. Simply take the trash bag from the bottom of your clothes and work your way up to the hanger portion. Put the handles of the trash bag over your hangers in a criss-cross fashion and BOOM your clothes are protected from any dust or spills during move out, you don’t have to waste space using a bin for hangars and clothes, you don’t have to worry about folding your clothes and wrinkling them, and you have the choice to continue to hang your clothes during the move out process or lay them flat.
4. Stock up on plastic wrap (specifically the dollar store kind)
   Getting boxes with lids for everything you are moving out can be a reach. Use bins you already have without lids, like those little fabric cubes or 3-tier carts, and just pack them full! Plastic wrapping these so your items don’t fall out is a great solution to save time and material of repacking these items into different boxes for transport. It also makes unpacking a whole lot easier, you just have to cut the wrap off! I love using plastic wrap from the dollar store because I have a lot of these open-top bins in my room. Using the plastic wrap meant to mail packages is the best because it comes on a roll with a handle and makes for a much more efficient packing time.
5. Get rid of your food (and flex meals!)
   Eat as much of your own food as you can, aka start working on that pantry stock ASAP. Transporting food during move-out tends to be a waste of precious car-packing space, so think about only packing the essentials. If you have unopened and unexpired food (even perishables!) there are many food pantries around that would love to receive them as donations. It is really easy for anyone living in the dorms to donate to the UIowa Food Pantry because there are donation drives towards the end of the year hosted in the residence halls (normally outside of marketplaces or at the front desk). Other than that, the drop-off location for donations to the UIowa food pantry is at their location in the IMU on campus, so even apartment people can donate!I like to start cleaning out my pantry after spring break. Without fail, I always have a handful of soups from the winter. I also like starting to work on my flex meals after spring break. I never use all my flex meals by myself, so I always go to Clinton St. Market in Burge and get some non-perishable entrees, sides, and drinks to donate to the food pantry with my extra flex meals. Again, towards the end of the year, it is super easy to do this because a donation box is right outside of the market. However, don’t wait too long to do this, because if you have a lot of extra flex meals like me, you can only spend 5 a day, so plan accordingly so they don’t go to waste. Flex meals do not roll over into the following semester.

Hopefully, you found these post-spring-break tips helpful! We are in the last stretch of the academic year, Hawkeyes!