Checklist & Tips for Students Moving Out of Home to University for the First Time

Is your first time moving out of home about to happen soon?

As a student sooner or later you will face the challenge of moving out to university but what should you take? 

You can do it without preparation and learn from the mistakes on the go or you can plan a checklist in advance and execute be certain of what to take long before you go.

That’s why We have prepared a thorough guide of tips for moving out for the first time, which will help you move out while avoiding any potential hiccups.

Parents and guardians, read this first.

Make A To-do List For The Move

If this is the first time you’re leaving your home, you’ll find it really hard to prioritise all the steps of the moving process. There’s also a very high chance that you will ignore or forget to take care of some essential things while in the go.

Don’t worry, there’s a simple way to keep a track on everything. Just type down all the “must do’s” and make sure this moving checklist is with you 24/7. The most comprehensive way is to save it on your smartphone. This way you have the ease of access and the option to edit your checklist whenever needed.

Moving Out Of Home For The First Time Checklist

  • Check the utility providers as you enter your new home. If there are any you’ve had a bad experience with, ask the landlord to change those prior to you moving in.
  • Ask your landlord for a thorough inventory report. This is a document which thoroughly describes the content of a rental. This includes the condition of the whole property including items such as appliances, furnishings, fair wear and tear, the condition of carpets, wall paint, curtains, window frames, doors etc.
  • Ask for an EPC certificate. This is a document, provided by a professional assessor who has inspected the energy usage and requirements of the rented property. An EPC certificate is usually valid for 10 years.
  • Consider if paying on a monthly or quarterly basis is better and contact your utility providers to change your payment plans. By default, most providers work with quarterly payments.
  • Ask your landlord if they have a plan for emergencies. If there is оne, learn it by heart and follow it strictly if an emergency situation occurs. Be extremely cautious with fires in the building, gas leaks and electrical short circuits from improperly secured appliances and installations.
    If unsure what actions to take in order to minimise damage to the property, call the emergency and stay at a safe distance.
  • Remove stagnant water from the pipes by running the water from the sinks and the shower for a few minutes. If someone has just left the property, this precaution wouldn’t be necessary.
  • If there isn’t a washing machine in the property you’ll move to, consider renting or buying a second-hand one that you can easily sell afterwards.
  • Talk to your landlord about the extra deposit you will have to pay before moving in and the requirements for taking it back when your tenancy agreement expires. Everything should be documented to guarantee the safety of this deposit.

Estimating Your Budget When Moving Out For The First Time

Managing your budget gets much more difficult when you leave your parents’ home and move to a property where you’ll be dealing with all household expenses by yourself. If you properly estimate and spend your budget while moving in your first rented property as a student, you won’t have to cut down on anything essential.

Follow these simple tips and you shouldn’t face any significant budget-related challenges when moving out:

  • Calculate your overall monthly expenses.
  • Consider your monthly budget and whether you can receive financial help in case you spend the monthly budget earlier than expected.
  • Don’t forget about the deposit and the first month of rent you will have to pay all at once before even moving in. This is the priciest thing you will spend money on when moving out as a student for the first time.
  • Mind that you will be spending at least 10% of your monthly budget monthly on entertainment when going out with other students.
  • Prioritise what is most important and what you can cross off the list with essentials. You will certainly have to cut down on various things while living as a student but rent is not one of them.

Major Costs When Moving Out For The First Time

If you’re moving with a removals company the costs on relocation will be higher but the whole move out process will be carried hassle-free not to mention being covered by insurance, which is the best thing international students can ask for.

These are some of the common things that will increase the total cost of your student move when moving with a professional company:

  • Packing materials
  • Student storage
  • Hourly pricing for the removals job
  • Parking space for the moving van
  • Furniture assembly (if you bring your own furniture)
  • Moving blankets (if you need any)

We highly recommend that you consider these moving expenses when calculating the overall cost for moving out to the university/school campus especially if your first time.

Finding A Suitable Place To Live

Finding the most suitable rented property will provide you with plenty of benefits:

  • Lower costs
  • Better location – easier access to transportation and stores
  • Easier socialising
  • More options for leisure and entertainment

Will You Have A Roommate?

One of the important decisions to make when moving out for the first time as a student is to consider if you will be living with a roommate or not. Both decisions will influence your living and each comes with its pros and cons. In the end, it’s up to you to decide what is best for the sake of your enjoyable living.

Advantages of having a roommate:

  • It may turn out to become a successful, long-term friendship.
  • You can split the responsibility for household chores such as cleaning, cooking, vacuuming etc.
  • You will split in half most of the living expenses.
  • There will be a person nearby most of the time. If you have a health condition that may threaten you unexpectedly, your roommate will be able to take action if they’re around.

Disadvantages of having a roommate:

  • Your privacy will be disrupted, especially your love life.
  • The roommate may turn out to be not as responsible as you are. If the do, you should expect delayed payments, poor hygiene, unwillingness to maintain the property in good condition and similar unpleasant behaviour.
  • Bad habits of your roommate may sometimes drive you insane. If they’re worsening your sleep, relaxation and studying process, you should definitely talk to your roommate and explain that you can’t keep living this way any longer.
  • Your roommate may turn out to be your complete opposite which will make sharing a living impossible and one of you will have to leave.

It’s a good dash of advice to set the right grounds for healthy co-living. Friend or a stranger, a helpful housewarming gift can go a long way in earning both sympathy, trust, and making your new place feel like home.

Plan A Schedule For The Household Chores

Once you start living alone, all household chores become your responsibility. Good planning is the key to save time and effort when maintaining the place you live in.

TV Licences for Students

Try not to leave household work for later, this way it accumulates and doing the chores will take an essential part of your free time.

If living with a roommate, have a discussion on splitting the responsibility of the chores, it will be beneficial for both of you. Just make sure both of you have agreed on the same schedule and follow it strictly.

A good method to not ignore the schedule is to agree on a penalty if any of you doesn’t do their job on time.

Work On Your Habits

There are good and bad habits, anyone has plenty of both. You should identify those that might be irritating to the others around you and make a strong effort to avoid them, even though you know well that you don’t do it on purpose.

Set up a new daily routine that involves preparing for all the things you didn’t have to do before moving out, be it work, different studies or attending social events.

Avoid procrastination, once you’ve moved to a university, wasting your time will work against you in any aspect you can imagine. 

Ask For Help

It’s absolutely fine to admit when you’re having a hard time while at the university, anyone who’s moved out has been there and will completely understand your concerns.

Whenever you need financial support or just want to talk to someone for relief, the first people to contact are your family. If talking to them can’t cheer you up, just go out with some of the university students you’ve already met, it may turn into a friendship if everything goes well.

If you struggle on a daily basis, then you should consider asking for regular help such as food provisions on a weekly basis, your family shouldn’t ignore such a request.

Hire A Professional Moving Company

This is probably the most important step of your move out process. If you contact an unreliable business, your student move may turn into a total nightmare with plenty of things going wrong, leaving your bankrupt before even settling in.

According to Kate Hart, a removals & relocation manager at the London Fantastic man & van company, to hire professional moving services comes with quite a few benefits and advantages, such as insurance, full guarantees, damage-proof expert packing, and zero risks for injuries of both possessions and your physical well-being.

When you stumble upon reputable movers that offer relocation services for students, you will notice any of the following features offered:

  • End of tenancy cleaning – this is a cleaning service that guarantees you will get your deposit back upon vacating the property. Ask for a discount voucher to use when moving out.
  • Insurance of your belongings – in case your items get damaged in an accident, the removal company will take responsibility to compensate you financially.
  • Storage facilities – veterans in the moving business will be able to drive your belongings to storage and keep them safe for as long as you need before you order them to be delivered to an address.
  • Trained staff – mistakes are minimised when the movers have rich experience in the field. You will also get the removals job done way faster when experts carry out the service.
  • Deal packages – with companies that have excelled in a large portfolio of domestic services, you can receive plenty of supportive services that will be completed at especially good rates, uncomparable to the rates of other businesses.

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