My husband had the opportunity to attend a 2 week seminar at a Christian college in Michigan and to bring his family with him. The college provided a furnished 2 bedroom apartment (of the type normally designed for resident college students), with one bathroom and a full kitchen. We were on our own for meals.
First, what was provided for use by our family of 6:
Facilities:
- 2 bedrooms
- 1 bathroom with 1 toilet, 1 shower, and 2 sinks
- full kitchen with cabinets, full size fridge, double sink, garbage disposal, dishwasher, range, microwave, and toaster
- free high efficiency laundry machines down the hall (we provided our own detergent)
- central air
- ground floor room with sliding glass door to concrete patio
- access to vacuum, brooms, and cleaning supplies
- Also in the utility room down the hall: ironing board and iron, table tennis table with paddles and balls, picture tube TV and DVD player
- 5 stackable twin-size beds, 6 mattresses (2 mattresses were on the floor)
- 5 small dressers
- 4 closets
- 5 student desks with chairs and built in lamps
- built in entertainment center type wall with book shelves, cabinets, etc.
- 2 phones
- ethernet and cable hookups (no TV or computer provided)
- 1 collapsible chair
- 1 floor lamp (ceiling fixtures in every room)
- kitchen table with 6 chairs
- 6 thin bath towels
- 6 thin wash cloths
- 1 hand towel
- 6 sets of bed sheets (2 flat sheets and 1 pillow case per bed)
- 6 pillows
- 6 mattress pads
- 6 circa 70s (orange and brown plaid) nubby “blankets” (really repurposed thin bedspreads)
- a never-ending supply of toilet paper (woo-hoo!)
- 6 earthenware plates with the Ikea tags still on (;0)
- 6 small earthenware bowls, ditto on the Ikea tags
- 6 mugs
- 6 cups (4 glass, 2 plastic)
- 6 forks, 6 knives, 6 spoons
- knife block with 4 sharp knives
- manual can opener
- 1 plastic serving spoon
- 1 plastic spatula
- 1 8” frying pan
- 1 nonstick cookie sheet
- 1 2-quart saucepan with lid
- 1 2-cup saucepan
- 2 hot pad and 2 cork trivets
- 1 1-cup measuring cup
- 1 plastic serving bowl
- 1 plastic colander
- 2 small earthenware serving dishes (we used one as a butter dish)
We were also able to sign out things like games, DVDs, puzzles, some additional cookware (yes, I was able to borrow a larger pot!), and even bags of Lego.
Now, we were warned that the furnishings and stuff would be basic, so we did bring additional towels and even a few kitchen implements. Let’s take a look at the things we brought.
Household Stuff:
- 6 beach towels (we knew we would be swimming)
- 4-5 additional towels
- 1 hand towel
- 2 wash clothes
- 1 ice cream scoop
- 2/3 cup measuring cup (for making oatmeal)
- 1 knife for slicing bread
- 1 manual can opener (didn’t know one would be provided)
- 1 vegetable peeler
- 2 adult size collapsible chairs and 2 child size
- laundry detergent
- laundry basket
- dishwasher detergent
- dishwashing soap
- 2 bottles of liquid hand soap
- paper towels
- paper napkins
- 1 roll of toilet paper (because hubby always brings a roll of toilet paper---his motto: no one is ever sorry they brought a roll of toilet paper.)
- Swimsuits
- 5 changes of clothes for most people (extra for the 3-year-old and the 6-year-old), plus 1 set of church clothes
- 5 sets of underwear for everyone (2 brassieres for me---that ended up being important)
- at least 1 pair of socks for each person (some of us don’t really wear socks in summer, but you never know when it might rain)
- 2 pairs of shoes per person (plus flip flops for me and Mary), except for Em, whose other church shoe decided to hide when we were packing---so she only had her Crocs (that ended up being important, too ;0)
- Floppy hats for Peter and David
- Peter’s cooling vest
- Hubby’s laptop, cord and mouse
- a netbook and cord
- ethernet cable
- 2 Kindles and charger cord
- 1 Android Tablet and charger cord
- Hubby’s MP3 player
- 2 cell phones, the old fashioned kind, not smartphones (but no charger cords because they both magically disappeared at packing time)
- A couple of books per kid
- stuffed animals (more than I would have liked)
- Mary and David’s MP3 players
- paper, pencils, crayons, a couple of coloring books
- Mary’s purse and all the stuff she stuffed into it
- a couple of favorite DVDs and some audio books
- frisbee
- diaper bag, sippy cups, straw cups
Toiletries:
- Shampoo and conditioner
- Baby shampoo
- 2 bars of soap
- toothpaste
- 5 regular toothbrushes plus a the Sonicare for the appliance wearer
- Waterpik for the appliance wearer
- 2 keys to turn the appliance screws
- flossers
- tweezers
- nail clippers
- 3 combs
- various hair clips
- various hair elastics
- hairspray
- cotton swabs
- Hubby’s electric razor
- disposable razors
- his and her deodorants
- sun block
- Peter’s creams, ear drops, and ear scoop
- Peter’s eye patches
- Various sized Band-Aids
- antibiotic ointment
- vitamin supplements
- ibuprofen
- thermometer
- children’s tylenol
- allergy tablets (adult and children)
- TUMS
- disposable diapers
- disposable training pants
Other stuff:
- maps, directions, instructions for our trip
- Hubby’s materials for the seminar he was attending
- books
- cloth bags for carrying things
Yes, we made a list, checking everything off as we packed, and everything easily fit into the car. You’ll notice this is mostly just stuff you need to get by ( or end up running out to get if you for get it), with a few added luxuries.
We did buy a few things after we arrived (other than food):
Paper plates, disposable cups, more paper towels, and
Bottled water!
Because we used filtered at home and there was no way I was going to survive drinking “bathroom” water for 2 weeks. We drink a ton of water. Yuck!
I’ll add that these last items are things that we never ever buy at home (except the paper towels) unless we are having a huge party and don’t have enough plates to go around, but constantly washing dishes wasn’t working too well for me (and I learned an important lesson from those disposable plates that I’ll talk about later in this series).
We eventually bought a car charger for the phones, which was ok since we didn’t already own a car charger and it works for both phones, even though they are different brands.
Next up in Finding a Simple Mean, I’ll be looking at what having a limited wardrobe taught me, and how a few simple changes in our clothing is going to make my life much simpler.
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