Day Zero Project: Buy a washing machine

This is one of my targets that I achieved really quickly. When we moved into our new home money was a bit tight so we got the most essential items first; that was the cooker and the fridge. For the first eight months or so we got by without having a washing machine but it was obviously something that we were going to need to get sooner or later.

We survived by doing a lot of handwashing, drying things on coat hangers above the bath and on airers outside when the weather was nice. My in-laws were very generous about letting us use their washing machine and dryer when we needed it. Most things could be easily handwashed, tops, underwear and socks, but things like jeans and hoodies needed doing in a machine.

There's a local laundromat, so things got taken there. In fact, bedding still gets taken there even now we have our machine because we can get it washed and dried and back on the bed within a few hours. It's silly but I didn't really like handing over a bag of laundry containing my smalls to someone else to wash. Probably the best thing about having our own machine is the fact that I'm in charge of washing my own underwear, no one else has to see it!

We very carefully saved up our money and then experienced a massive powercut that put getting a washing machine to the back of our minds. But come February, when our local white goods shop had a sale so we took the plunge and went for it. So home came Bertie the Beko.

And I love it. We've since upgraded our airers to a wall-mounted washing line outside and it's become my favourite housework job to do. There's really nothing quite like folding freshly washed and dried washing. It's the small things that make me happy.