Web Spy: Homeslyce

By Laura Dondero

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, TFLN…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like BadDateTV; Beauty Story; and Dear Blank, Please Blank) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

It’s already August (I know, where did the summer go?!), and in just a few short weeks, most of you will be heading back to school.  Which means now is the perfect time to start your back-to-school shopping!  Sure, all you new freshmen will definitely have more that you need to buy than those baller upperclassmen, but even if you’ve been at school for year or two, I’m sure there’s still a few new things you’ll need to get before you move back into the dorms or that sick new off-campus party pad.

Pretty much every store has sales on back-to-school essentials this time of year, so you could just head to Bed Bath & Beyond or Walmart to pick up everything you need.  But that’s not always the best option, especially if you go to school in a major city like I did and you don’t have a car. (Or if the people of Walmart scare you…)  Let me tell you, lugging giant Target and JC Penney bags on to the NYC subway and bus wasn’t exactly easy (or fun).  The website Homeslyce, however, makes the whole process a lot easier by helping find the items you’ll need and collaborate with your roommate (or roommates) online.

The first step in using Homeslyce is for you and your roommate(s) to each create your own account.  Once you add each other as roommates (by entering the other’s e-mail in the “collaborate” step), you can start shopping.  Homeslyce makes it easy with a “shopping list”: a list of common items needed for a college student’s dorm or apartment, split into categories such as furniture and bed & bath.

You can use the shopping list to choose each item individually, but Homeslyce has the great option to choose one of their premade themes – lists of items based on your individual personality and lifestyle – to help you get started.  Each theme also contains some basic items that everyone will need, such as extra-long twin sheets and hangers.  And don’t worry – no matter which theme you select, you can still add, swap out, and delete items from your cart.

Once you’ve finished picking out all your new stuff, the second step is to collaborate with your roomie.  Simply choose which items you’ll pay for and those she’ll pay for.  There’s also the option to split the cost of certain items (one person will still be responsible for paying for the whole thing, but Homeslyce tells you exactly how much each person owes and sends out reminder e-mails!), which makes things way less awkward on move-in day.  When you continue onto checkout, Homeslyce personalizes the order for each of you based on how you split things up in the previous step.  Simply pay for your share for the items (through Amazon), and that’s it!

All you have to do now is wait for your items to arrive at your door…then pay some poor frat boys with pizza to help you lug it all in to your swanky new home.

Homeslyce is an awesome resource for all you lucky fools who get to call college home and will definitely make shopping for your new dorm or apartment a whole lot easier.  I only wish it existed when I was moving into the dorms!