No. Again, the financial responsibility things - we are staying in a fairly bare-bones apartment (although we do have some nice touches in it that make it feel homey) so we can save mucho dinero on rent and actually BUY something in 1-2 years...no small feat in CA. But the apartment is tiny - kitchen w/ little dining area off to the side, living room, tiny bathroom, two bedrooms. No spare space to be found anywhere. And no dishwasher...or as Sarah says, "Amanda is the dishwasher".

I am trying to convince myself its better to be inconvenienced for a few years and then meet my financial goals...but part of my brain is screaming "but if you spent some of the money you're saving each month on rent, you could rent a 3 br house with a yard, dishwasher, fireplace, and washer/dryer"...but the extra 500 a month would be money I couldn't save...so its inconvenience for 2 years for us.

When DH and I moved here to CA, we rented a duplex for a while. We had our own washer and dryer that we had brought with us (we bought it used/refurbished and they were already 15 years old!). But the duplex had no place for us to put them (it was very small) BUT it did have one of those stackable washer dryers in one hall closet (sure took up a lot of storage space!). It was tiny--I couldn't even wash all the bedsheets in 1 load! But it was tons better than going to the laundromat.

And I hear you about housing costs here. We moved in 1990 and sold our house in Utah for $68,000 and when we finally bought here, we were LUCKY to find a house for $120,000. I was so scared thinking we'd never be able to make the payments. Well, we sold that 4 years ago and made almost $100,000 on the sale and built our current home. Now I almost can't wait for the kids to move out so we can downsize! LOL

Originally Posted by lizziness:
A month or so ago I ran an experiment to just see what would happen... he always leaves his clothes to rot in the washer and dryer and every time he uses the dryer he pulls the fuzz out of the fuzz catcher thinger and tosses it on top of the dryer. There is a garbage can in the laundry room! So I put that garbage can on top of the dryer and left it there for three weeks, and every week I still had fuzz sitting on top of the dryer, right next to the can. UGH!

that is still better than my dh he will NOT EVER clean the lint trap no matter how much I gripe. Our lint trap is the kind that is in the back of the dryer, only accessible by reaching in to the back. I definitely prefer the top accessible

Well, anyway when I was 9 months preggo I could no longer reach the clothes in the bottom of the washing machine so I would start laundry and have him transfer to the dryer. After awhile I was noticing that my clothes were taking FOREVER to dry. Sure enough he NEVER cleaned the lint trap. I crawled in there and there was a rainbow quilt with layers of lint showing each load. I think it was 7 layers deep at that point, and completely solid- It could have been used as a cleaning rag at that point without disintegrating. I removed the compressed blanket of lint and showed it to him and he said. "I dont remove lint" ? It wasnt a disgust thing, more an "Its not important and I'm too busy to bother with such an insignificant detail"

This is the man who gripes at me if I leave a light on in the laundry room while I gather up the laundry because it wastes energy, but running the dryer for 3 hours to dry 1 load is ok with him. :?:

My parents always told me lint buildup in the dryer was a fire hazard. I don't know if it's true, but try that angle on your husband!

Originally Posted by Luminous:
My parents always told me lint buildup in the dryer was a fire hazard. I don't know if it's true, but try that angle on your husband!

Serious fire hazard! He won't have to worry about a light bill if he burns down the house....

I told my brother and his wife that not emptying the lint tray was a fire hazard. They were staying with my mom and she kept going off about them not cleaning the trap and they thought she was being picky. Well, they finally got on their feet, moved out of her house and into an apartment with washer dryer connections. 3 months later, they set the apartment on fire because they HADN'T CLEANED THE LINT TRAP!!

Tiki

I hear ya on the whole sharing of the washing machine and dryers. When I was living in the dorms at college, I quickly learned that if I wanted to avoid the "rush hour" in the laundry rooms, to pick the times most folks were either partying or sleeping. That means I usually did the laundry on a Friday night (only time possible since the mornings and afternoons everyone was trying to get that one piece of clothing clean for the partying!), or in the wee hours of the mornings. And yes, I usually stayed in the laundry room either studying or reading a book while I waited for my clothes to be dried. I can't stand for folks to touch my clothes. I've seen folks take clothes out of the washing machine or dryer and just drop them on the floor or even in the trash can! I could never do that!

Arrrgh. I totally know how you feel!! I have to do our laundry at the laundromat, since we're saving for a washer/dryer. Last weekend, this old woman had ONE blanket in every dryer in the whole laundromat!!!!

Hi Mandalinn!

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles with the laundry and washing machine/dryer and the people that you have to deal with regularly! All through college laundry was a challenge for me, but the PEOPLE with their laundry were the biggest challenge! The laundromat was better, but still a pain. When we were married and moved into our first apartment there were just two washers and two dryers for THIRTY UNITS of families! I used those once and found that I was heading back to the laundronmat AGAIN!

Several times since we moved into our home thirty years ago, our washer has broken down, and I have needed to load everything into the car and once again head to the laundromat. I can't believe how expensive it is these days! I spent $27.00 doing one week's laundry of five people several months ago! When I was in college (1970s!!!), it was just 50 cents to wash a load and 10 cents to dry one!

A friend of ours has one of those neat units where the washer and dryer are stacked together. They are specifically made for apartments. He LOVES not having to head to the apartment washers and dryers in the basement, and says buying the one-piece unit was SO worth it. When he gets his house he plans to keep it IN ADDITION TO the regular washer and dryer he will buy. Maybe that would be something that would work for YOU, too. It could save you money, too, if your current one requires $$$$ to do your laundry.

Cheryl

I still go to my parent's and use their machines. In my apartment building, we have one set of machines for 8 units -- and of course everyone does theirs on the weekend, so I don't even bother. And I'd have to pay anyway, so I drive 40 miles every two weeks to do my laundry for free (it's not the only reason I go home) My next apartment is going to have full size washer/dryer in the unit, so I won't have to mess around with crappy pay machines (which are incredibly tiny) ever again!

I still wash my clothes at my mama's too. I live in an apartment complex that has washer/dryer connections in every unit BUT the washer has to be in the kitchen and my kitchen is VERY tiny so no dice.