Whether it is for a trip or a new home, packing may be a stressful task for some. If you’ve even looked once, there are lists upon lists of ‘do’s and ‘don’ts’ that may be contradicting or seemingly stupid to you. However, we all know each college dorm varies from school to school, so here is a compilation of things you do not need to worry about bringing  when coming or returning to Iowa State on-campus living.

Bookshelves, tables, seating, many organizers

Rooms at Iowa State provide just about everything you may need as far as furniture goes. You may be able to bring a small coffee table, but larger tables or storage units are unnecessary. Be sure to check the floor plan of your room before purchasing furniture items. The Department of Residence does a good job of listing exactly what each room in the different residence halls and on-campus apartments already have.

If you live in―or will live in―Wilson or Wallace, mini fridges and microwaves

The towers provide these appliances. Make sure you don’t accidentally end up with two.

Toaster, other kitchen appliances

You may be going through a juicing phase or eat toasted Pop Tarts every morning, but the meal plan you have will keep you covered for that. Odds are you’ll be staring at the toaster half way through the school year, wondering why you’d think you’d go through the hassle to make a smoothie every morning when it’s 12 degrees outside.

A printer

Printing on campus is easy, and you probably won’t run out of printing credits. Even if you do, buying more printing credits is cheaper than buying ink and paper.

Out-of-season clothes

When packing your clothes, don’t pack your winter gear. Bring your warm weather and some fall clothes. Once you go back home for fall and winter breaks, take your warm-weather clothes home, and bring your cold-weather clothes back to school.

Too many or uncomfortable shoes

Walking across campus everyday and occasionally missing the bus, you may not want uncomfortable shoes or shoes that you don’t want to get trashed. Be real with yourself; If you don’t think you’d wear high heels on a Monday, or more than twice a month, leave them at home.

Excessive food

Odds are your meal plan and dining dollars will keep you covered for food. It may not seem like it, but not all college students eat ramen for dinner every night. Save the money and space in your car and room and hold off until you actually want to buy the food of your own. Even at Iowa State, it is easy to do so because you can easily but whatever food you probably want at a close-by convenience store with dining dollars, or you can hop on a bus and take a trip to a grocery store.

Plastic cutlery

Bring metal utensils instead. It’s worth washing them after every use as opposed to running out of plastic ones every other week.

A lot of plates, bowls and mugs

Bringing more than you need takes up sacred space and may prompt a large pile of dirty dishes sitting in your room for who knows how long. It would be better to bring one of each and wash them after each use.

Too many decorations

While packing for college, you may constantly tell yourself you’ll hang certain things up, but you’ll probably only hang up half of those the things. Limit yourself to two or three easy things. Keep in mind that wall space is very limited, and moving in can be stressful, so you could be discouraged after a while to hang stuff. And the stuff you don’t hang up is just going to take up space in your room, sitting in a drawer.

Multiple blankets

You may think cozying up with five blankets is the only way you’ll get comfortable at school, but you actually won’t need them. Limit yourself to two so you won’t be wasting space. Besides, if you bring more, what are you going to do with them?

Excessive body lotions and beauty products

Only bring the essentials. As hard as it may be to choose your favorite eye shadow palette, bring the one you use the most. This way you’ll avoid clutter of junk. Tip: whenever you go home, switch things out for others if that makes it easier on yourself.

More than one game console, more than 10 games

You may or may not know, but school and extracurricular activities are going to take over your life, so unfortunately, you may not have as much time to game as you used to. Bring your favorite/most used game console and 3-10 games. Whenever you go home, switch consoles and/or games out so that you can play other games without them lying around your room.

Sports gear

Don’t bring your sports bags and clothes unless you know you’re going to play or participate in the sport during the school year. Do your research beforehand, and if you think you’ll have the time and are convinced to bring it, only bring the essentials.

Bulky luggage

If you’re an out-of-state student or need to fly when you go back home, this may be tricky. But don’t bring more than one piece of luggage. Also, think about where you’ll store it―so that it won’t be in the way of things―and what you can store in it to save space. Tip: Bring duffle or tote bags. They are collapsible, easy to store and less of a pain to handle.

Pets

Most places on campus only allow fish. It may seem like a cool idea or that it will be fine, but the next thing you know is that it’s time to clean the tank, or the fish dies. It’s just another thing you’ll have to deal with to clean and get rid of everything. Plus you have to take fish out of the room and make arrangements for it over break, so have fun holding a fish tank on your ride home.

You may be able to relate to some―or all―of the things on this list, so if you agree, advise your friends and incoming freshman that something they may swear they’ll need, they probably actually won’t. Overall, though, Iowa State housing does a really good job of equipping rooms of the essentials, and if you forget something or simply choose not to bring yours from home, Ames has plenty of stores and shops to grab things you may have forgotten, right on campus or within two miles. Again, move in can be stressful; Hopefully this list gives an idea of what you can easily live without.