First Apartment Checklist – For College Students and Recent Grads

It can be daunting, don’t you think? Are you going to have roommates? Where will you find them? How many dishes do you need? Do you still need to wear flip-flops in the shower? Finding and moving into your first apartment after college can be an excruciating exercise. But the best thing anyone can do facing a big change with a series of complicated decisions to make is to break the whole thing down into steps and tackle them one at a time. So, before we get to our first apartment checklist with a list of essentials, where do we begin? Note: this works equally well as a college apartment checklist.

Choosing Your First Apartment  

When it comes to choosing your first apartment, there are a few things you’ll want to consider. Those considerations might be a little bit different depending on whether you’re moving off-campus during your college career or you’re moving into a first apartment after graduation. 

But whether you’re still studying or you’re jumping into your first job, the biggest thing you want to consider is: budget. 

Let’s break it down. 

Moving Off-Campus While You’re Studying 

How do you choose where to live if you’re moving out of the dorms? Start with this college apartment checklist: 

• Who’s paying the rent? 
  • If it’s your parents, you need to have a frank and open conversation with them about how much they’re willing and able to spend on a monthly basis. 
  • If it’s you, and you have a job that will support your rent, you need to make a precise budget of: 
    • How much money you’ll earn each month. 
    • How much you typically spend each month in the following categories: groceries, restaurants, utilities, transportation, entertainment, fitness, clothes, and anything else you might need. 
    • How much you reasonably have to pay rent, in addition to all those other costs. 
      • Then, you need to do research about how much rent costs in your area. Can you afford to live in the housing near campus? Do you need to find a place farther away and commute in? If so, you’ll need to factor that extra money for gas or public transit into your budget. 
      • Try to find an apartment where you will pay no more than one-third of your monthly income in rent. This might be very difficult for students who are supporting themselves. That brings us to our next bullet point. 

College Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

• • If it’s you, and you need to use financial aid money like loans or scholarships to support your rent payments: 
    • Have you maxed out the amount of federal student loans for which you qualify? If not, do you know how to reach out to your financial aid office and request more in federal aid? 
    • If you need to pursue a private loan, can you qualify for the amount of money you would need in a loan to pay your rent? 
    • Do you have a plan to pay that loan off as quickly as possible after graduation? 
    • If you’re hoping to use a scholarship to help pay for housing, are there specific rules or restrictions within that scholarship that might limit you from using the money for rent off campus? 

Moving Into Your First Apartment After Graduation 

If you’ve donned your cap and gown already and you’ve landed your first paid position, your concerns about finding an apartment might be a little different, but, honestly, it all starts with how much you want to spend. 

• What’s your monthly, net take-home pay? Divide it by 3. Your rent shouldn’t be more than one-third of your income. So, when you’re doom scrolling apartment listings, set a filter on your search for the top end of your rent to be that one-third number. 
• How do you want to get to work every day? If you have to commute, do you want to be able to: 
  • Walk? 
  • Bike? 
  • Take the bus or metro? 
  • Drive? 
  • Check out neighborhoods that will let you be within a comfortable distance for your daily commute and think about how you can minimize that time while still staying within your budget. 

First Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

• If you work from home or have the kind of job that lets you work remotely, think about: 
  • Doing neighborhood visits to catch the vibe of the kind of place you want to live. 
  • Do you want to live in: 
    • The suburbs? 
    • The city? 
    • Near family? 
    • In a walkable/bikeable community? 
    • Close to bars and restaurants? 
    • Near transportation that allows you to travel easily? 
    • In an apartment with a super-cheap rent so you can put more money toward traveling? 
• No matter where you want to live, make sure you go and check out the apartments you like before you sign a lease. Especially if you’re searching for apartments online, there are constant scams from people who are trying to get you to send them money with PayPal or a wire transfer to “secure a hot apartment.” And those people are trying to steal your money. Make sure you can go with the landlord to check out the interior of the space together before you ever sign a lease—or hand over any money. 
• How long will your lease be? 
  • Typically landlords will ask tenants to sign year-long leases, but you might be able to save money or secure your rent for a series of years if you plan to stay in one place for a few years and want to sign on for longer. Just be sure you really like the place first! 

Roommates: Do you want them or not? 

The question about whether or not to live with roommates can be broken down into a couple of different questions: 

• Do you like the presence of other people? 
• Do you already have a set of friends that you really want to live with? 
• Will it help you study, feel motivated to clean, or de-stress after work? 
• Or do you prefer solitude and alone time to recharge? 
• Do you have hobbies, habits, or preferences that you’d prefer to share—or not—with other people? 
• Would sharing an apartment or house with roommates allow you to lower your monthly rent payment, live in a nicer apartment, or live in a more expensive neighborhood where you would be potentially happier or closer to work? 
• Are you emotionally mature enough to handle the normal conflict of sharing your living space with other people? 

First Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

If you decide to live with roomies, some things you might think about doing before or directly after move in: 

• Having a group conversation about your hopes, expectations, habits, and needs while living together. 
• Drafting a “living agreement” that helps you all define those expectations and needs. Keep the document somewhere that everyone can access so that you can check back in on it as needed. 
• Draft a Chore Chart or calendar and keep it on the fridge for future reference. You’ll probably never stick to a plan, but the more organized you can be as a group about the chores that you will need to do, the better of you’ll be. Chores include: 
  • Sweeping
  • Vacuuming 
  • Dusting
  • Doing the dishes 
  • Putting away the dishes
  • Cleaning out the fridge 
  • Laundry for commonly-used items like towels and bath mats 
  • Watering plants 
  • Feeding pets 
  • Clearing or organizing clutter
  • Getting the mail 

First Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

• For both of these documents, ask yourselves things like: 
  • How long is too long to let dishes “soak” in the sink? 
  • Whose job is it to unload the dishrack or dishwasher? 
  • When do the trash and recycling need to go out? And who takes them out? 
  • Do you want to do things like have houseplants? Pets? An under-sink compost pile? How will you support or take care of these things? 
  • How will you mediate disagreements? 
  • What happens if someone can’t pay rent? 
  • How will you deal with guests? 
  • How will you split costs for groceries? Furniture? Utilities? 
  • Who gets the biggest bedroom with the best view? Do they have to pay more in rent? Or will you all pay the same amount, if the rooms are dramatically unequal? 
  • If there are parking spots outside, who gets them? And how do you choose? 
  • How will you deal with parties? Neighbors? Snoring? Roommates having noisy sex? New partners who suddenly start ‘living’ with you? 
  • How will you split utility costs, if need be? Will one person put the bill on auto-pay and will you all Venmo that person or give them cash? Or will you all chip in and take your water bill down to City Hall together as a group? 

Things to Buy for Your New Home 

Finally, when it comes to what you’ll need to fill your home, you’re going to want to think about what you already have in your dorm or childhood bedroom. What are your essentials that are going to make you feel “at home”? 

Then, you should definitely think about how much space you have. If you try to fill a studio apartment with a queen-size mattress and a three-person sofa, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Take it from me! I tried and failed to put way too much stuff into a studio apartment only to figure out later that a little bit of breathing room goes a long way toward your sense of Feng Shui. 

Bedroom Essentials

• Mattress
• Bedframe 
• Comforter
• Sheets and pillowcases (and extras for when you need to change and wash them—which is ideally once a week!) 
• Pillows
• Desk
• Desk chair
• Bookshelves 
• Books

First Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

• Photos
• Frames 
• Other art that you want to put on the wall 
• Lamps
• Blankets
• Dresser 
• Rugs, if you like them

If you’re living in a studio and you have one combined sleeping and living space, you might want to think about how you can consolidate as many of these things as possible. So, your bed might become a futon that you can fold up into a couch during the day. Or you could look into something like a Murphy Bed, which would allow you to fold the bed up against the wall and use it (potentially) as a small shelf when you’re not sleeping. 

Living Room Essentials 

If you’re not in a studio and you have a designated bedroom and living room, consider the aesthetics you want to have in your living space and how much you have to spend on furniture. Thrifting, family members, and yard sales can be great places to pick up gently-used furniture at low prices that will get you through your time in your first home. 

So, what do you need? 

• Couch or futon 
• Area rug
• Television or video projector 
• Bluetooth speaker, record player, or some way to play music when you’re in a common space 
• Extra lighting 
• Coffee table 
• Side tables 
• Extra chairs 
• Houseplants 
• Art 

Kitchen Essentials 

Do you love to cook? Well, you’re going to want to make sure you have a well-stocked kitchen with things like: 

• Large pot for boiling water for things like pasta 
• Smaller pots for sauces 
• A couple of pans of varying sizes 
• Spatula
• Stirring spoons (wooden or silicone) 
• Serving spoons and forks 
• Tongs 
• Cutting board (maybe more than one!) 
• Baking pans and sheets 
• Aluminum foil 
• Parchment paper 
• Mixing bowls of various sizes 
• Electric or hand mixer if you like baking 

First Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

• Blender (immersion or regular) 
• Food processor 
• Silverware 
• Plates
• Bowls 
• Cups
• Glasses 
• Coffee/tea mugs
• Coffee maker/tea pot 
• Kitchen scissors 
• Kitchen scale 
• Kitchen towels 

These are also things you can accumulate over time. You might want to put a Crock Pot or salad spinner on your next holiday wish list! 

Bathroom Essentials 

• Bath mat 
• Organizing containers for countertop and/or drawers 
• Small shelves to hold extra items 
• Hand towels 
• Body towels 
• Robe 
• Hair dryer and/or diffuser 
• Other styling devices: curling irons, straighteners, etc. 
• Make-up mirror 
• Toilet cleaner 
• Mirror/glass cleaner 
• Disinfecting spray 

Technology and Random Essentials 

Random needs are going to pop up all the time. What kind of stuff do you need to take care of odd jobs around the house? 

• Basic tool kit: screwdriver, hammer, wrench, nails, screws, etc. (But remember: if something big happens in the apartment, call your landlord before trying to fix it yourself!) 
• Sewing kit 
• Extra power/extension cords 
• Lightbulbs 
• Duct and/or masking tape 
• General scissors 
• Mop
• Mop bucket
• Broom 

First Apartment Checklist – Essentials (Continued)

• Dustpan
• Vacuum 
• Paper towels 
• Cleaning spray for all over the house 
• Pens
• Notepads 
• Zip Ties 
• Twist ties 
• Chip clips 

…And any other creature comforts that will make living in your first apartment special to you. 

In the end, you don’t need to move into your first apartment with everything set and ready to go. You can slowly accumulate art, furniture, and cooking supplies with time, especially if you’re moving in with roommates. The biggest thing is to find a place where you feel comfortable, safe, and happy living—that makes all the difference.

First Apartment Checklist Essentials – Additional Resources

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• 25 High Paying Work from Home Jobs 
• How to Tell Your Boss You’re Quitting
• How to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself” with Examples
• Resignation Letter Samples
• 25 Job Interview Questions and Answers