Cheap thrills that make me love this city

New York City is a money sucker. Two dollar ATM fees at places that don't take cards. Five dollar boxes of graham crackers. Six dollar well drinks--I could get the same taste and effect for cheaper with a bottle of Windex. I occasionally get resentful that groceries and the subway cost money, usually the week when rent's due. I hear people on the real estate porn channel say they pay $1,200 a month for a mortgage on an actual house, and get a little bit jealous. Then I remember the homes featured are usually in the boonies of Montana, Wyoming, and other states where there are less free concerts in parks.

And despite the high cost of living, there are still so many things that make me want to yell "I love New York" at the top of my lungs, like I'm on some cliche poster of a cityscape set in Times Square. Drop-off laundry service is number one on my list of loves. I set my overflowing bag on the scale, and it's in a neat little, huggable cube when I pick it up the next day.



They even match socks and put underpants in stacks...I would never do that on my own.



"What a lazy sod," you might say to yourself. "Wouldn't having peopled do your laundry be more expensive than washing your own damn clothes?" It's not! Drop-off service is the same price! Laundry has always been my least favorite household chore, and it's worth every penny spent to avoid waiting for towels to dry while sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair while watching E! News.