• How do you get your child's stuff to and from a far-away college?
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How do you get your child's stuff to and from a far-away college?

I'm interested in hearing how folks ship their child's ''stuff'' (and these days, there's a lot of it!) to and from far-away college. Mostly, I'm trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it. For the start of school, I know I can order new things and have them shipped (or picked up, or buy) there, but once she has the stuff, and no storage available on campus, what do people do for the summer, and/or end of school? UPS? US Mail? Storage sites? Pay extra (a lot extra) at the airport and bring it each way as ''excess baggage''? And without a car, how do the kids manage to get the stuff sent? How about the services that agree to pick up, store/ship and deliver everything? Are these a good deal, or very expensive? Thanks for sharing your experiences. Mom of college kid with LOTS of stuff

1) Try to really ask yourself whether all the stuff needs to be sent; many things can be bought at or near their college and are cheaper to buy/repurchase than to ship, in some cases. This can include things like bedding, lighting, little fans for the room, supplies, etc.

2) Send as much in advance as you can, via UPS ground, book rate, to an address at or near the school. ''Dude, you live near the school--can I send some stuff to your house?'' would be a welcome phrase to hear coming from your son or daughter on the phone. Some schools won't let you ship a bunch in advance and other schools are happy to hold the boxes for the student's arrival. Keep in mind this option can take weeks for the boxes to get to the school so you have to plan ahead, which, for many teens, is a bit on the difficult side, especially with the stress of moving away from home.

3) Consider helping your child move by going there with them ahead of time and renting a minivan or panel truck if you're shipping stuff via the airlines. If you can't do that, your child might want to connect with the above- mentioned ''dude'' who might also get access to a car or truck or van to help unload on the other end. If you go with your child to get them set up in school, please consider helping with the move and then quickly exiting. Your child, no matter how lovely, probably does not want you hanging around the school with them.

4) See number 1. In my opinion, kids do not really need a ton of stuff from home to take with them to college; really try to pare down whatever you can, and ship the minimum.

I'm sure people have other good suggestions, but those are a few! Good luck! Michael

Compare these alternatives to doing it oneself. To do so, you first have to think through the boxes and transportation issues. The transportation choices are taxis, friends with cars, or renting a U-haul van (which can be done at age 18). With any of these, your child would first get boxes and packing supplies, if needed, and then have the boxes transported to a storage locker or a US Post Office or UPS.

My experience was that for UPS and US Post Office, one should pack carefully and it can be quite expensive. For my son, the ideal plan was a storage locker he shared with a few friends. One friend had a large car, and they all used it to transfer their stuff to the storage locker. Check out costs, because those places further from campus are usually cheaper. Also, my son chained his bike to a fence in someone else's apartment building and it survived the summer. When he graduated from college I flew there and rented a car. That allowed me to find out where I could buy a bike box and have the bike shipped out and to help with getting needed supplies. And I was able to take some stuff back on the plane.

Of course the best idea is to have your child NOT take so much stuff to college or to use taxis during the school year to start sending stuff home (for example, the winter clothes after winter ends). One she starts dealing with the hassles of mailing it back and forth, the message may get through. Been there