Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Coin laundry vs renting a washer & dryer

My apartment did not come with a washer and dryer, so my options were:
  1. Buy a set
  2. Rent a set
  3. Do laundry elsewhere, most likely the coin laundry or at family members homes

So, I ran a cost benefit analysis and decided that buying would not be in my best interest as I plan on moving out of state when my lease it up and having them would mean having to sell or getting a larger moving truck to handle hauling them. Renting would be around $35 per month plus the added cost of a higher water/electric bill. Doing laundry at a family member's home is free, and around $30 in quarters if I pay to do it.

I decided to go with #3. So far it's been working out splendidly. Then I did laundry out this week. For some reason there are more washers than dryers at the place I go to. And all but 2 dryers were full when my loads were done in the washers. This is when I realized the problem in my cost-benefit analysis. Time. I did not factor in the time I would spend at the laundry place, when I could have been at home doing other things while the laundry was going on. Now it is too late for it to be a wise decision to buy the appliances. But renting them isn't looking too bad at this juncture. I'm not sure if it is a good idea or not though.

3 comments:

Well Heeled Blog said...

Hey.. I just stumbled onto your blog... nice job! It's so great to read blogs by 20something women (like me.) :)

Anonymous said...

Boy did that post bring back some memories. I used to have to drive to a coin-op to do laundry when I lived in Tucson, AZ while my wife went to grad school there. We would even spend less money doing laundry by not drying our jeans since they were so bulky and dried slowly. And after going to the same place time after time, we learned which dryers were hot and which ones were not.

Keep up the great work - I enjoy visiting your site.

Anonymous said...

I see you're trying to save money and get out of debt.

We have coin op machines at our apartment complex. One word. Staws..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnhQNtiLKbo

instead of a cutip use stiff straws.

If you're worried about karma... just think about all the time that you've been ripped off by a vending machine and had to walk away because you ran out of monies.

Goodluck!