So you’re out of the dorms and you want to be a respectable member of society. Well, if you’re still in college, fat chance of that. If nothing else, you can smell like a respectable member of society. The only problem is that it now costs a sweet $1.25 minimum. Now, if this is the first time you’ve relied on coin laundry, there are probably a few things you’ve picked up on.

First is that pit in your stomach that comes from knowing you’re paying rent every month and yet these guys have the gall to nickel and dime you over laundry. Well, I feel the same way, even though I really shouldn’t. Truth is, it probably costs them about that $1.25-$2 for water and electricity each load. If your rent (like mine) is pretty cheap, you’d probably prefer to keep your rent down and keep paying the coins. If you have standards for yourself and how you live, you might be in a more expensive apartment. In that case, feel free and safe to grab your pitchforks and take to the streets. You’re paying enough to not deal with this crap.

That pit in your stomach comes from knowing you’re paying rent every month and yet these guys have the gall to nickel and dime you over laundry

Something else you might have noticed is that quarters are now worth more than 25 cents. Quarters are made of gold. When you’re drowning in nickels and pennies like a man with a thousand spoons and no knife, quarters are priceless. When not a single pair of socks passes the sniff test and you are ripping apart the couch for change, quarters are printer ink. That’s why it’s important to keep a quarterly income. If your bank isn’t in the area, a cashier willing to change a 10 for a roll of quarters is your best friend.

So maybe you wash some bigger loads and maybe you have a devoted laundry fund of change. It is what it is. Coin laundry is kind of like heavy doors or “wrong way” signs that seem to face the proper lane. It’s part of a long list of things that I fervently hate despite having no impact on my life. Some could call it a … laundry list.