And the latest e-mail from college says...

[KTMom91]

OMG. Miss KT got a letter on Friday from college stating that she was only part-time, and financial aid is only awarded if she's full time. The admissions counselor she's working with is out of the office until Tuesday, so she's freaking out about it all weekend long. Today, she gets an e-mail introducing her to her roommates; they find each other on FB, it's all good, she's calmed down about the course load, she's waitlisted, it'll be fine.

Half an hour ago, the Earth's orbit shifted yet again. She just found out the apartment she is moving into IN TWO WEEKS is not furnished. She will need a bed, a dresser, and a desk. She can rent these items for $200 a year, or bring her own from home. She called her father, of course, he has no idea what to tell her. She calls her grandmother (from whom all monies flow), and Grandma immediately gets angry that I won't let Miss KT take her daybed, and is not willing to give her any money. (by the way, this woman's stinginess is legendary. She has more money than she knows what to do with, but anytime Miss KT needs some financial help, it is "the responsibility of your mother and her husband." Really? Your only son fathered your only grandchild, and you can't even kick in for her car registration or a flippin' bed? Not to mention the fact that we're traveling to school with her, gas, food, hotels...but anyway...)

Miss KT doesn't want to take her daybed to school. Her dressers are part of an antique bedroom set that she will not be taking. So...it looks like we will be looking for inexpensive furniture when we get her to school. I'm really afraid to see the next school communication...

 

[gcvmom]

Try Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift shops, Craigslist for that area, Freecycle, etc. Would she settle for a futon-type bed? They aren't too expensive... another thought is to find an IKEA and scout out their AS-IS department. I got a full-size futon mattress there for difficult child 2 for about $50. The only thing wrong with it was a black mark on the side.

 

[Hound dog]

What's wrong with renting the items for the 200.00 a yr??

Otherwise you're just going to have to do something with it at the end of the school year.

But I'd try salvation army and goodwill........2nd hand shops, freecycle, cheapcycle and yard sales.

 

[1905]

Maybe you can get a local paper, students might be selling their stuff from last year "cheap".

 

[DammitJanet]

I would also try freecycle now. Or Craigslist from there. Didnt I get the impression that this college is near some of our members? Maybe you could get a bed and such there.

 

[keista]

I say pay the $200 rent and be done with it. While finding second hand furniture is a GREAT idea, aren't there going to be a whole slew of other college kids trying to do the same thing? If you get the items near your home, then you have to add the cost of transporting them there and the quickie numbers in my head just don't seem to add up, and as HoundDog mentioned, you have to do something with all that stuff at the end of the year.

I'm broke, and I'd opt for the $200 rent. There's enough stress involved in getting your child off to college, don't add more by taking on this task.

 

[KTMom91]

She is on the phone with IKEA as we speak. She found a futon bed on clearance for $39.99. The downside is...the bed is in Sacramento. We are about three hours south.

Miss KT didn't want to rent, because it would cost more over the next two years plus summer sessions to do that. She's right, but still...

Oh, and she informed that she should get points for finding the bed, AND especially for waking me up to tell me before she took off for Sacramento and returned with a bed, because "that would kinda be a difficult child move, right, Mom?"