Laundry and Dishes Tips - Save Time and $$$$$

Do you wash load after load of towels every week?  Do the dishes pile up in the blink of an eye?  If you have a large family the two answers to these questions are probably a dreaded yes.  I have four children and it is like pulling teeth to get the kids to reuse the same bath towel or cup more than once.  Towels normally end up somewhere in the house on the floor.  Just think four kids that shower daily using one towel each equals twenty-eight towels per week!!!  And think how many more towels your kids use during the summer for swimming and water activities. 
I have an easy solution to cut back on the towel usage in your household.  Buy each person in your household two towels for showering.  Each person gets the two towels in their assigned color.  Let your family know that you have assigned two days a week as laundry days for towels (Wednesday and Sunday for example) and they are responsible for getting them to the laundry room on those days or they don't get washed.  Also let them know it is up to them to hang their towels up after use because if they both end up on the floor they will not be washed till towel days.  If you have guests over I would consider buying a handful of white towels for them.  White is great because they can be bleached when needed to keep them bright.  Just make sure the rest of the household knows they are completely off limits.  Use this system and you'll cut back your towel washing from 28 towels to only 8 towels weekly.  WOW!!!
You can use this same system for swimming and water activities.  Buy one or two beach towels per child and again let them know when laundry day is for them and that they have to use the towels until that day.  Just a little money out of pocket to buy everyone new towels and you will be on your way to saving time, money, water, and energy.
If you dishes are piling up this same system can be applied.  Buy everyone one and I mean only one each of a matching plastic colored plate, cup, and bowl.  The bowl, cup, and plate can be used for breakfast and lunch.  Dinner is optional, but I prefer to set a table with regular dishes at dinner time.  Each child can reuse their cups all day long...if they switch their beverages during the day it only takes a minute to wash and rinse the cup.  It can be up to you if you want the kids to wash their bowl and plate or load them into the dishwasher.  If you choose not to, you're still saving yourself on tons of dishes because each child isn't pulling out several dishes each day to eat and drink out of.  Plus think of the added benefit...now when a cup is left on a table or somewhere else the color tells on who left it there.  No more kids denying responsibilty for leaving dishes out.
Hope these ideas help keep you sane.  Hopefully the only hard part in all of this is assigning who gets what color.