True Life: I Made Laundry Last

“I did laundry about three weeks ago, and I ran out of detergent when I did it. I don’t have the cash to get more, so I haven’t done it since.” This was a story told to me by one of my close friends, Kevin Lewis. However, even as scary as it may sound having to go three weeks without clean clothes, it is not a story of horror. Instead, it is a story of triumph, as Kevin has accomplished a feat that most college students have only dreamed of: he went three weeks without doing laundry.

Here's Kevin getting a free cookie -- another great money-saving tip.

                Laundry is expensive. Even here at University of the Cumberlands where laundry facilities are free to use, washing clothes can become a costly luxury thanks to the prices of laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and more. Knowing this, it isn’t difficult to realize that cutting out that expense or, at the very least, lessening the regularity of its occurrence is a key proponent in frugality as a college student.

                Kevin has unlocked the secret. Here’s what he said: “I conserved my laundry by minimizing the wear on my lower-traffic items. That means things like jackets, over-shirts, and jeans.” To do this, you’ve got to be careful. It is easy to throw on any shirt, run around campus until you soak it in sweat, and then toss it into the washer later. That is, unless you can’t afford to wash anything.

                “Take your jacket or over-shirt off before you get sweaty,” Kevin advised. “That way you can wear it again before you have to wash it.” He also mentioned reusing towels by hanging them to dry instead of tossing them in the dirty clothes hamper immediately. Kevin insists that, if you are careful, you can go for weeks without washing clothes. Or, at the very least, you can minimize the amount you need to wash, leaving only the necessities (you know what these are).

                Kevin’s advice was on laundry, but it is also very applicable to our topic of saving money in other ways. The less you do laundry, the less you have to buy supplies, and the less money you waste. Pretty simple. And similarly, the less you eat out, the less you pay to restaurants, if you use plastic instead of paper plates, you will spend less at Walmart. I guess what it boils down to, though, is this: Minimize your laundry to maximize your money.