5 Basic Essentials You Don’t Realize You Need Until You Leave Home

Cookware

Pots, pans, bowls, cups, and silverware are among some of the first items you’ll get when you move out. However, there’s a lot more cookware you’ll probably overlook. Things like a colander, measuring cups, muffin tins, mixers, and baking sheets are less used but equally important. When you find yourself wanting to bake or making more complex dishes, you don’t want to discover that you don’t have the necessary equipment.

Fans and Space Heaters

Not every dorm room, apartment, or house is going to come with heating and cooling built in. Temperature control is something we take for granted, and it’s something that will be sorely missed if you don’t have access to it. Renting a place that does have heating and cooling may be out of your price range, but buying cheap, portable heaters and fans are much more financially manageable.  

Flashlights and Candles

Every smartphone has a flashlight app nowadays, but you don’t want your only light source during a power outage to rely on electricity. Flashlight apps quickly drain your battery, and you might not have a way to recharge your phone if it goes dead. Storing a flashlight, some candles, and a book of matches in case of emergency is bound to come in handy at some point. Plus, candles just smell nice, and you don’t have to wait for an emergency to use them. If you’re sharing a relatively small space with several other people, everyone will appreciate a scented candle to freshen up the room every now and again.

Medicine

No one remembers that the medicine cabinet exists until they need it, and you don’t want to open yours for the first time in your new place only to find it empty. Stock up on your aspirins, cough syrups, antacids, and vitamins long before you get sick so you won’t have to make a trip to the drug store when all you want to do is lay in bed and sleep all day.

Toolbox

Maybe you won’t need a power drill or a saw for your first apartment, but it’s always a good idea to keep a few different sizes of screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, and other common tools around. Basic tools come in handy for more things than home improvement projects. You never know when you might need some duct tape to put something back together or a hammer to nail something into the wall. Even if you don’t know how to use tools, when you first move out might be a good time to start learning.

If you live in a dorm, there may be restrictions on the kinds of tools you’re allowed to bring with you to college. Things like screwdrivers are usually fine, but if you want to bring that power drill with you, you may be out of luck. Make sure to check with your residence halls before buying anything too fancy.