As many of you know, by the end of this week, many college students like ourselves will be heading back out of the nest to return to college. For some of us, this is exciting, but for others, this is terrifying, especially for first-year students who have never spent more than a week away from home at a time before. Truthfully, all of these concerns are valid and none of them are ridiculous. No matter how you’re feeling about move-in, there’s plenty of steps that you can take to make for a smooth transition from your at-home summer haven, to your college crib.

Packing for back-to-school is perhaps the biggest struggle about going back to college. It can feel overwhelming, there's just so many things that you'll need to bring. Depending on whether or not your space will have a kitchen for the first time or not, you might also have new things that you'll need to purchase, or meal-plan adjustments to make. You might be sharing a space with a brand new person, perhaps a good friend that you've just never lived with before, or someone completely new.

The true first step to overcoming back-to-college packing probs, is to take a deep breath and acknowledge the fact that you'll probably forget some things and you'll probably bring some unnecessary stuff and have to send it home. You'll probably have to share things that mean a lot to you. It's all part of the game. But, keep in mind that living away from home during college is an excellent way to skill-up on how to adult without your rents. It can be a very rewarding experience to have and maintain your own living space.

1. Start packing your stuff one day at a time

I know that this sounds incredibly boring, but if you start packing ahead of time, you won’t feel as stressed when you only have a few days left before you leave. This is especially awesome if you’re working a full-time job and you aren’t able to take time off from work just to pack and prepare to move back to school. On one day, pack your toiletries and make sure everything is there, well-wrapped, and all set. If possible, stack things that are already packed in the same place. The next day, pack other items. I would wait until just a few days before you leave to pack clothes.

2. Don’t buy unnecessary dorm stuff just because it seems like a good idea

This sounds kind of harsh, but believe me, you’ll see crazy sales/deals on dorm stuff for weeks before it’s actually time to move in. if you’re a returning resident student, make sure that you don’t buy anything that you already have. (Even if Walmart has a clothes basket on sale for 96 cents, don’t buy one if you already own a clothes basket). If you can, wait to buy new food and toiletry items until the day of move-in. This will mean that you’ll have a lot less packing/carrying overly heavy stuff to do.

3. Wrap breakable items in clothes/scarves/hoodies/knit hats

This is a little trick that my Framingham State College bestie (whose solid advice you can seek here), shared with me recently (all resident college students become packing experts by their senior year of school). To save space, avoid wrapping things in newspaper and bubble wrap. Instead, wrap any breakable items in scarves, hoodies, sweaters, knit hats and any other soft materials that you’re already bringing. For example, I always keep my perfume bottle wrapped in sweaters in my suitcase. This solves two potential moving issues with one idea. Go to it!

4. Get yourself cute and easy-to-use containers/bags for packing

This is a big one. If you have something that you enjoy using/think is cool to pack your stuff in, you'll be far less likely to want to avoid packing and far more likely to want to jump in and start finding things to stuff in every pocket/corner of your storage stuff. There's often great deals on fun storage stuff during mid-late summer/early fall as stores prepare for back-to-school. Target and Walmart often are great stores to hit for these items, as they're usually competing on price/quality/selection they offer. There's always going to be some extras that you've got that just WILL NOT fit in anything you've already bought to store/pack things in. For these items, use shopping bags with handles, old backpacks and grab boxes from BJ's/Costco/Sam's Club and label/decorate them (paper boxes and boxes with flaps are the ones to snag).

Storage Solutions Worth Splurging on:

*Plastic milk crates (in fun colors, these are awesome, sturdy & great for food storage, especially if you're cheap like me and love getting deals on pasta/soup in the off-season)

*Foldable storage bins (great for packing stuff you use during the summer)

*Duffle bags (great for clothes & accessories packing)

*Clear plastic bins (great for stacking, holds lots of odds and ends, easy to find stuff with)