I've decided that, for the next place I move, there should be a free washer and dryer. No more of this coin-op crap for me. I don't know if it's my particular bad luck with dryers or my inability to use them properly, but I can never seem to get my clothes to dry correctly. It always seems that the clothes are damp when I'm done. And because it's coin-op, I really would hate to stick another dollar (one whole dollar!) in to get my clothes completely dry--and probably shrink them in the process. The lint trap is near spotless when I start. (I've learned the hard way that clothes don't dry at all when the lint trap is clogged.) I've already tried decreasing my wash load size so that there isn't as much fabric to dry but that doesn't work and I end up having an extra load. It was like this where I lived before, except I didn't try shrinking the loads because I was just too cheap all around.

I guess having my own washer/dryer isn't going to be the deciding factor, but it would sure be nice. I think stress would drop overall since my dryer problem has a snowball effect. I get pissed about this every time I need to use the dryer so I put off doing laundry. And since my frustration is proportional to the amount of loads I have to dry, it gets worse each time and I try putting off laundry even more. Right now, the factor that decides the frequency of laundry, then, is the amount of clothes I have. But I've started buying more clothes when I'm out (usually socks and boxers), just so I can avoid laundry. That makes the limit the amount of money I have to buy clothes--and that's a scary thought.