It’s 1 p.m. on a Sunday morning and you’re washing stir fry sauce-stained pans in place of a faulty dishwasher that your landlord won’t fix. But it’s okay because the Scrub Daddy is here to save the day — or once was. Its bristles are on their last straw and your favorite kitchen staple is now a far cry from the sponge warrior it started as. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it's gone. Joni Mitchell’s (or Janet Jackson’s) words speak true to the pillars of college apartment living.
When college students and their families are expected to spend over $100 billion on back to campus supplies across the nation this year, it’s important to know what is worth your buck when picking out the must-haves, especially for students living alone for the first time. For a smooth transition out of the dorm halls, here are some essentials for moving into your new apartment, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison students.
Finding the Right Apartment
Before they can spend hours browsing the aisles of HomeGoods or GoodWill, students at UW-Madison face a difficult task when trying to find their first apartment, often scrambling to sign their first lease with people they’ve known for only a month their freshman year. Most students will sign as early as October or November.
“You don’t even know who your friends are at that point,” Brianna Martinson, a rising junior at UW-Madison told The Daily Cardinal.
Considering that less than one third of off-campus housing can be considered “affordable,” one of Rue’s apartment essentials isn’t something you can’t search for at the store — a cheap lease.
“You’re probably gonna be at school most of the time anyway, so I wouldn’t spend too much money on a really nice apartment unless you know you’re gonna be home all the time,” Rue, a rising second-year master’s student at UW-Madison said.
Cooking
A significant change for first-time apartment renters leaving their dorms is losing easy access to meals (and ice cream) at the many iconic UW-Madison dining halls.
“You’re gonna have to learn how to cook pretty quick,” Rue said.
Rue recommends a cast iron pan, which is “easily [her] favorite thing in the house” as well as a Dutch oven to make cooking easier. Lodge offers more budget-friendly options for both cooking staples.
“Most recipes require that you just throw everything into the pot,” Rue said. “Then you just cook it and it's done.”
However, as the semester goes on and midterms take up more and more of your daily schedule, finding time to cook can be tough and your grocery runs may begin to consist more and more of Trader Joe’s frozen meals. Rue said that she really likes her air fryer to enhance these dishes.
“It makes the frozen food that you do buy that much better,” she said. “It comes out crispy and you don’t have to worry about it.”
Tools to Coexist
Off-campus living often means having roommates, and Martinson has a lot of them. Martinson lives with six other people in her downtown apartment, but said the living experience “ended up working really well” thanks to “good storage systems.”
“Trying to save space is a big deal,” Martinson said.
To maximize the amount of room for seven people to live in, Martinson and her roommates use lots of cubbies for the pantry to “divide up space” and have lots of mini fridges, for storing as many sparkling waters as the heart desires.
Storage solutions, such as cubbies and containers can be found new online or used at one of Madison’s many thrift stores.
Even after getting advice from older siblings and friends who have helped pave the treacherous path of first-time college apartment living before you, there are some lessons that can only be learned through the living process. Maybe it’s the three-in-one vacuum you thought would work perfectly, but actually requires a deep clean after each use, or the TV stand you waited too long to get so the low coffee table had to suffice. You’ll get better at it next time, though.
“It’s gonna be a chaotic experience, but you can make the most out of it and be a good roommate,” Martinson said.
