Sometimes, you need to spend money to make money.  That’s definitely the case when it comes to clothes washers and dryers.

I understand that owning a washer and dryer isn’t practical or even possible for some people. Apartment dwellers may have restrictions on using the appliances and people who are living a somewhat transient lifestyle may not want to purchase a few hundred pounds worth of appliances.

If you can own a washer and dryer, however, you should. Especially if you have a family.  Those rolls of quarters spent in laundromats represent more than an expense–they constitute a pure loss.

I’ve long been frustrated by coin-operated laundries. By and large, they seem to be used by folks who are not on the higher rungs of our socio-economic ladder. That’s always irritated me because it costs so much money to do laundry at the laundromat and it seems like a shame that those who are often in the worst circumstances tend to rely on it the most.

The prevalence of laundromat use has been a pet peeve of mine for some time, and I finally decided to run some numbers, testing whether or not my concerns had any validity. I found out that they do and I’m now thoroughly convinced that anyone who can afford to purchase a washer/dryer combo should do so. It’s not just a great convenience–it’s one helluva investment.

The average family does about 400 loads of wash every year. Let’s conservatively estimate that someone can find a laundromat cheap enough that you can wash and dry a single load for a total of $4 (excluding detergent, etc.). That’s $1600 per year.

Let’s compare that to what it costs to own a washing machine and a clothes dryer. You can pick up a used washer/dryer set in almost any part of the country for no more than $400. In reality, it’s often possible to make the purchase for far less than that figure.

I calculated the electricity cost for doing 400 loads of laundry by using this calculator, and assuming 100 warm washes, 200 cold, and another 100 hot. The total? $476.

Water in Los Angeles (I chose a relatively expensive area for this test) is $0.004/gallon. The average load of wash uses 40 gallons. That means the total water cost for a year would be $64.

So, it would cost approximately $960 to buy a washer/dryer rig and to do 400 loads of laundry in your home. That’s $640 cheaper than the laundromat over the course of the first year. Assuming we can find a used set of appliances that will last for two years prior to replacement or significant repair, the the overall savings from owning your own equipment would exceed $1700.

$1700 may not be the difference between poverty and vacations on the Riviera, but it is a substantial chunk of change–especially when you consider the financial circumstances of many people who rely on coin-operated laundries.

Basically, the folks who can least afford to spend an extra $1700 every two years usually find themselves doing just that because they can’t scrape together the money necessary to purchase a washer and dryer in the first place.

My conclusion?  Everyone who can have a washer and dryer in their residence (or just a washer if you can dry your clothing on a line, I suppose), should make an effort to save the money necessary to make a purchase.  Net savings are realized relatively quickly and they are substantial–especially for those who may be struggling.

And for those readers who might be considering upgrading to better equipment, please consider donating your used appliances or selling them inexpensively to someone who could really use a little extra money in their lives.