Our new apartment has washer/dryer connections and we bought a used washer and dryer for $150. Prior to that we were doing about five loads a week at the laundromat. It is pretty easy to figure out how much it cost us to do our laundry at the laundromat. The cost was $1.50 per load to wash and $1.25 per load to dry for a total cost per load of $2.75. Taking that total times 5 we were spending $13.75 a week at the laundromat.
Finding the cost of using our own washer and dryer is a little harder to figure. I found a website that has a laundry costs calculator. Using the calculator I determined that we have a total cost per load of $0.53 or $2.65 a week. Our laundry costs are low because we don’t have to pay water and we only use cold water.
We are saving $11.10 a week by having our own washer and dryer. A little math shows that in 14 weeks our washer and dryer will have paid for themselves. It actually is an even better deal than that because I place a high value on not having to spend several hours each week at the laundromat.
The next step is to be even more frugal and reduce the use of the dryer and the volume of laundry.
Remember…washer and dryer $150, not going to the laundrymat priceless!
Ha! I actually thought of that when I was writing the post.
Newly hitched, you’re overlooking the other “priceless” element.
Domestic bliss.
There ain’t nothing like kitchen appliances to soothe the savage … princess.
You can call me sexist now. It doesn’t change the observation.
It does give us more time at home. And now I can do the laundry during the week which she does appreciate.
I have to agree that the saved time and annoyance of having to do your laundry else where is priceless, plus the convenience of being able to do a load in the middle of the night or early in the morning 🙂 you never know, it’s good to have the option.
Something I would like to add. Wearing clothes more than once (not undies) before laundering is fine. You do not need to wear them consecutive days. Each person should have their own bath towel/s, and they really only need washed once a week. Air dry them between each use.
Making your own laundry detergent will also save you a fortune, and good for the environment.
If you can dry loads right after the other, the dryer doesn’t need to take the time to heat up, which will also save money.