College Students: Beware the Back-to-School Shopping Monster

Big chain retailers like Wal-Mart and Target call them "dorm room essentials." Best Buy dubs itself the "back-to-school destination." And college students fall for it every year. "It" is the promise of big back-to-school shopping savings on all your classroom and dorm room "essentials." What it really amounts to is a lot of money going into the store and overstuffed dorm rooms that aren't really enhancing your education.

If students check out Target's Room Essentials line of products, they will find many items they probably shouldn't go without, including blankets, pillowcases, and other bedroom and bathroom necessities. But look closer and you'll also see them offering up lamps and string lights, entertainment stations and TV stands, desks and night stands, decorative pillows, poster frames, and a whole assortment of sundry items that are anything but "essential." Online, Target offers checklists of "everything you need" for college. Yet these all-inclusive lists include things like bed risers and halogen lamps--which many college campuses forbid--chairs and desks--which almost all campuses provide--and tons of electronic equipment that fall more into the category of "want" than "need."

Similarly, Best Buy is offering bundled deals to help college students "save," with the hopes students don't notice that they're saving on things they probably don't need. Seeing as most college freshmen who live on campus are required to have an on-campus meal plan, and many dorms provide common lounges with refrigerators and microwaves, students should be wary when chains like Best Buy offer packages on fridge and microwave combos that save them around $70; sure, you've saved $70, but you've also spent around $150 for two things you could have lived without. While Best Buy offers great support in choosing the right back to school desktops, laptops, or tablets, they also gently nudge students into overspending by suggesting that there's a chance you might actually need more than one of those options. Best Buy also offers a back-to-school checklist of "essentials" like cellphone accessories, video game systems, air conditioners, toaster or pizza ovens, and blenders.

According to USA Today, folks are looking to spend an average of $808.71 on back-to-school shopping; this figure includes necessities like clothes, but also includes things like electronics and dorm furnishings. The savvy shopper can save money, time, and disappointment by skipping items on the unessential "essentials" list. Students can probably skip items like computer chairs and bedside tables that are likely included in their rooms already. Likewise, a fully equipped sound system may sound great, but when it comes to space in a supplemental triple dorm room, you can probably live without it. The same goes for iPods, smartphones, and more than one computer, no matter how big a "deal" the stores are offering if you buy them all!

Students might be surprised to hear it, but another back-to-school "essential" item they can likely skip is a full list of textbooks. More and more college campuses are offering rental programs that will save students more than buying their books in advance, even if they buy them used. Students can also usually share--and split the cost of--the pricier text books for math or science classes. For classes in the Humanities, students can usually find a copy or more of a text book in the campus library; many books for Literature classes can also be found online for free if they were published before a certain date.

So ignore the ads promising the best back-to-school deals on the top back-to-school essentials, and take the time you'd spend perusing print and online ads making up a list of what you'"or your college student'"really needs. College students, remember: the financial aid money your school gave you, including the extra loan money, is for your education, not your entertainment. Save some cash, and spend time preparing for class with the real essentials; your brain, and your bank account, will thank you for it in the end!

Sources

Oliver St. John and Jayne O'Donnell, "Off-to-college kids can go overboard on 'essentials'", USA Today