Is the young adult in your family going back to school soon? If so, this is a very busy time for you. I remember somewhat fondly when our boys would get ready to go back to school. What they needed to do to prepare often depended on their upcoming living situation. In other words, if they were going back to a familiar dorm and had put some things in storage nearby then we had less to do to get ready. If they were moving into a house or an apartment with some friends in a completely new town then we had lots to do. Usually, my guys would put off asking me for help until the eleventh hour, when they were scrambling to collect everything. Then there was the issue of how to get it to school. It was no big deal if we were driving – assuming it all fit in the car. Once or twice, I remember, we shipped some things via UPS to the UPS store nearest the school. That worked out really well. The duffle bags were waiting for us to pick up at the UPS store – we just had to get them up into the dorm. Enlisting a few of our son’s friends to help was never a problem.
There are other things to do to prepare your young adult. Talk about budgeting money. How do you work within a budget? What do you have to do to create that budget? These are really great topics of conversation. Give your young adult some strategies. Tell them to use cash. One of the most effective ways to stay within your budget is to have only a certain amount of money in cash to spend each day/week/or month. Once the cash is gone – it is gone. Advise them that using a credit card is similar to renting money. Unless you pay the balance at the end of each billling cycle you pay rent on the balance in the form of interest – at a very high rate. Boy, does that interest ever add up! Need more tips – check out Chapter 4 (Organzing Your Budget) in my book: Flying Solo: A Guide to Organizing Your Home When You Leave Your Parents’ Nest.