Dotsie...I know exactly what you are going thru...my back to school budget has always been out of sight..but the college move-ins really take the cake...and it's worse with the girls...because of course they "need" so much more than the boys to "just be able to survive"<<direct quote from the youngest of my 3 daughters...aside from the necessities for school and the obvious creature comforts my girls wanted their rooms to "look and feel pretty so I don't get homesick Mom"...I found some great decorating bargains at TJ Maxx and Marshall's and even WalMart....one thing they all loved to death were their featherbeds ....because those rubbery mattresses in the standard dorm rooms are "icky"....can you tell how well trained I have become? :grin ...as far as the laptops go...my youngest daughter is in a Marketing/Business program...her laptop was included in the tuition thank goodness...Have fun with it Dotsie...it goes by much to quickly...