Must-Have School Supplies for Every College Freshman

Confession time: I love shopping for school supplies. Every year, I look forward to back-to-school shopping to prepare myself for a new and successful school year! 

Since I've started college, however, I am becoming more frugal and am getting used to the idea of reusing some of the same supplies for more than one year. I've found that binders have a longer lifespan when they aren't being thrown in lockers and piled on top of one another and carried around the halls!

When I started my freshman year at Temple, I wasn't sure what I would need and what supplies should be left back in high school. Here is my must-have college school supply list for all of you who are starting to get those school supplies together! If you already have these items lying around the house you should definitely use them! Any way to save money helps, trust me.

The List

• 1" Binder, one for each class (depending on your schedule)-- I don't like to use one master binder because I find it too bulky and heavy to carry around in my backpack all the time. However, if you scheduled a lot of your classes back-to-back, it might be helpful to combine one or two classes into a single binder. 
• College ruled notebooks with sturdy spirals (1 for each class) -- I can usually use the same notebook for at least 2 semesters which is great. Some of my notebooks have lasted up to 4 semesters of classes!
• Pencil case to hold....
• Plenty of pens -- Go with colors if you can, it makes note taking much more interesting!
• Highlighters, various colors -- Again, note taking is much more fun in color!
• White-out -- Trust me, if you like taking notes in pen... you'll need this
• Mechanical pencils + lead -- I've found that most classrooms in college do not have a pencil sharpener... so mechanical pencils are a must-have (or, if you're like me, just use pen!)
• Pink pearl eraser -- If you're using mechanical pencils, you'll probably want a separate eraser because the erasers on those are crappy.
• A good, functional planner -- this is IMPORTANT... I couldn't have gotten through my freshman year without it! Check out this post to find the best planner for your needs!
• Sticky notes, whatever size/colors you please. These are useful for note-taking and sticking in textbooks!
• Index cards -- for studying purposes, of course
• Stapler -- Obviously you'll need to put those 5 page papers together somehow... a mini one for your pencil case might be helpful. 
• 3-hole punch-- this one is optional, but if you're like me you'll hate having a binder pocket full of handouts. With this, you're able to easily organize everything so you can actually see all those papers!

That's my list! Hopefully with this you're able to get a feel for the things you need and the things you shouldn't bother wasting your money on. Also, if you have a dollar store around, a majority of these items can be found there... don't spend more than you need to!