Things You Need in Your New Apartment

Everyone thinks of the big necessities when moving into an apartment: repainting, buying furniture, getting along with roommates. These are all important, of course, but then there are the little things that really matter in a pinch – tools you should keep handy in your kitchen drawer for when the need strikes.

You may not be grateful for this list today or tomorrow, but you will be someday. So be prepared, like a good scout. Your local hardware store should carry everything except the last item:

Screwdriver, hammer and wrench
Realistically, every home should have a small toolbox, but at bare minimum you need this trio of tools. Just think: How will you hang your framed pictures without a hammer? How will you assemble your Ikea furniture without a screwdriver? How will you adjust your bicycle seat without a wrench? (Warning: Just because you own a wrench doesn’t make you equipped to handle plumbing repairs!)

Tape measure
If you are shopping for furniture, you’ll want to know exactly how much space you have to fit in a bed, couch or dining table. And when you’re hanging pictures, you’ll want to make sure you’re centering them. What miraculous item will allow you to accomplish all of this? Why, a tape measure, of course.

Scissors
Scissors are highly underrated. You can use them to cut open boxes that are shipped to you, cut tags off your new clothes, cut open that irritating plastic vacuum-packed container on the headphones you bought – in other words, scissors come in handy quite often. Therefore, get a sturdy pair rather than a flimsy one. They might cost a little more, but they will last you literally decades.

Light bulbs
Say the light burns out in your windowless bathroom. If you have light bulbs in a drawer, you can solve the problem in about three seconds. If not, you’ll have to shower in the dark until you can run out and get some bulbs. So get some now before it becomes an issue.

Calculator
Maybe you can use an app on your phone or your computer, but whatever it is you need some way other than using your head and your rusty grade-school algebra to do math. For example, it’s unlikely you want to do your taxes without a calculator. And will your roommates trust your long division when you split the common expenses with just paper and pencil? Not likely, unless you’re a certified public accountant.

Flashlight
If the power goes out, you’ll be glad you have one. Enough said.

Sewing kit
Let’s say you have a big date, and just before you leave, you pop a critical button. Without a sewing kit, you’ll have to change your entire outfit or run around frantically looking for a dry cleaner with a tailor. With the proper kit, you can simply sew the button right back on in about two minutes. Which one will it be?

And one final thought: Keep these items in a place where you can find them when the emergency strikes. This is especially true about the flashlight! Don’t let the zombies catch you unprepared.