Your first week checklist: what to buy when you land in the UK

You have just landed. You have a key, a suitcase, and a flat that has roughly nothing in it. The next seven days are going to involve a lot of online orders and a few wrong turns. Here is how to get it right.

Day one: power and connectivity

Before anything else, sort your power. UK plugs are Type G — the big three-pin ones — and nothing from Europe or the US will fit without an adapter. Pick up a universal adapter with USB-C pass-through so you can charge your laptop and phone at the same time.

Then get a SIM card. giffgaff and Smarty are both good for new arrivals — no contract, decent data, set up online in ten minutes. You do not need to walk into a phone shop.

Days two and three: sleep and eat

If your flat does not come with bedding — and many do not — this is your next priority. A duvet, pillow, and fitted sheet is all you need to start. Do not overthink it. IKEA or Amazon, pick one, get it delivered.

For the kitchen, start with just five things: a kettle, a saucepan, a frying pan, one sharp knife, and a chopping board. You can fill in the rest over the following weeks once you know what you actually cook.

Days four to seven: getting settled

A desk lamp makes any room feel more like home than almost anything else. A good one costs about twenty pounds and makes evening studying bearable. Same goes for a power strip — you will never have enough sockets.

Resist the urge to buy everything at once. Walk around the flat for a few days and make a list of what is actually missing. The things you think you need on day one and the things you actually need on day seven are rarely the same list.

The short version

• Power adapter — Type G, with USB-C pass-through
• SIM card — giffgaff or Smarty
• Bedding — duvet, pillow, fitted sheet
• Kitchen basics — kettle, saucepan, frying pan, knife, board
• Desk lamp and power strip

Everything else can wait. Get these five things sorted and you are ahead of most people who move to the UK for the first time.