I get my laundry washed and folded, and my shirts cleaned and pressed, by professional cleaners. I think this allows me to buy time at a rate of about $7/hr—this is so efficient that I can’t understand why everyone doesn’t do it.
I think that eating out allows me to buy time at a rate of $10 or maybe $12/hr, by saving time on cooking, grocery shopping, and doing dishes. I also think more people should purchase time in this way, but I accept that in this case there might be good reasons to be reluctant.
Let’s say a week’s worth of laundry costs me $14 at the cleaners—that is about right on average. So my claim is that paying this saves me at least 2 hours of time.
So the question then is how long does it take to wash, dry and fold a week’s worth of laundry? Well I live in a shared house with one washer and one dryer. So even if I get lucky and both are free when I want to do laundry, which is rare, it still takes me multiple iterations, because there is only one of each machine.
Now maybe other people have mastered the art of laundry, but whenever I try it, my clothes are never sufficiently dry after the first round of drying. So then I have to put the clothes back in the dryer and try again, moving back my whole schedule. And then maybe someone else wants a turn. And then maybe I want to go meet my friend for lunch, but I can’t because my laundry is in the dryer, and somebody else is waiting. Then after the whole process is done, I have to fold the clothes. And also I’ve probably spent $7 worth of quarters to pay the machines.
I’ve lost whole half-days to my struggle with laundry. Paying $14 a week to my cleaners is the best money I’ve ever spent.
It seems like the most time-consuming part is the drying, so another option for you would be to keep using the washing machine and get a cloth drying rack, like this one. It takes about 10 minutes to hang the clothes, you wait till they are dry and then fold them whenever you have the time, maybe days later. Relative to the coin-operated drying machine you save both time and money, reduce energy consumption, and also have no chances of destroying your clothes with a wrong machine setting (as I have done in the past). Of course if $14 a week are insignificant for you then you are taking the best option, but anyone else in a similar situation not willing to spend that amount should consider this option.
I get my laundry washed and folded, and my shirts cleaned and pressed, by professional cleaners. I think this allows me to buy time at a rate of about $7/hr—this is so efficient that I can’t understand why everyone doesn’t do it.
I think that eating out allows me to buy time at a rate of $10 or maybe $12/hr, by saving time on cooking, grocery shopping, and doing dishes. I also think more people should purchase time in this way, but I accept that in this case there might be good reasons to be reluctant.
I’d be interested in the details and math behind your $7/hr figure for laundry.
Let’s say a week’s worth of laundry costs me $14 at the cleaners—that is about right on average. So my claim is that paying this saves me at least 2 hours of time.
So the question then is how long does it take to wash, dry and fold a week’s worth of laundry? Well I live in a shared house with one washer and one dryer. So even if I get lucky and both are free when I want to do laundry, which is rare, it still takes me multiple iterations, because there is only one of each machine.
Now maybe other people have mastered the art of laundry, but whenever I try it, my clothes are never sufficiently dry after the first round of drying. So then I have to put the clothes back in the dryer and try again, moving back my whole schedule. And then maybe someone else wants a turn. And then maybe I want to go meet my friend for lunch, but I can’t because my laundry is in the dryer, and somebody else is waiting. Then after the whole process is done, I have to fold the clothes. And also I’ve probably spent $7 worth of quarters to pay the machines.
I’ve lost whole half-days to my struggle with laundry. Paying $14 a week to my cleaners is the best money I’ve ever spent.
If you’re using coin-operated machines, then, yeah, that changes the math quite a bit.
It seems like the most time-consuming part is the drying, so another option for you would be to keep using the washing machine and get a cloth drying rack, like this one. It takes about 10 minutes to hang the clothes, you wait till they are dry and then fold them whenever you have the time, maybe days later. Relative to the coin-operated drying machine you save both time and money, reduce energy consumption, and also have no chances of destroying your clothes with a wrong machine setting (as I have done in the past). Of course if $14 a week are insignificant for you then you are taking the best option, but anyone else in a similar situation not willing to spend that amount should consider this option.
I would like to see your calculation for the eating out figure, if you do not mind.