No matter how many pairs of underwear you buy, eventually, you will run out of clean undies. Unless you do … gasp… laundry.

I don’t know anyone who enjoys doing laundry. Especially if they’re not getting paid for it, and if you’re a bag monster, you may be sleeping amidst a pile of laundry – dirty or clean – right now. Assuming that one day you will have to get out of that bed, you should probably have an “underwear plan.”

Here’s an idea. Have you heard of study groups? Start a laundry group. Get a group of friends together and take turns doing the group’s laundry weekly. Here’s how:

1.   Find 2 to 4 people who have laundry. It shouldn’t be that difficult. If you’re having trouble with this step, hang out in the laundry room, or better yet, in the hallway, and smell who goes by.  Or advertise by telling everyone they will get their laundry done for free.  Sort of.

2.  The more people in the group, the less often you personally have to do laundry. The downside is the more people you have in the group, the more laundry you have to do. Work in pairs if that makes it easier.

3.   Brainstorm a list of things you can do while babysitting the washer and dryer. You can study, read a book, or continue to nap. Go to TV.com, print out the local listings, and catch up on your soaps. Be creative. Learn to crochet. Surf the internet for online MBA programs. (http://www.mycollegesandcareers.com/library/articles/online-mba-programs/).  Think of a laundry group activity each person can work on when it’s their turn, such as a 1,000-piece puzzle, a quilt, or the world’s longest gum wrapper chain. http://www.gumwrapper.com/build.htm

4.   Pick a laundry day out of the week. Your laundry teammates can pick different days as long as they are no more than one day apart otherwise the laundry chore distribution will leave someone with a larger load.

5.  Have everyone chip in, or let one person buy and take permanent of a divided clothes hamper. Whoever has laundry duty for that week keeps the hamper. The others deposit their laundry sometime before laundry day. To make sure everyone gets their own laundry back, have everyone mark their laundry pieces with a permanent marker or a piece of thread of a different color tied or sewn somewhere into the item.

6.  When it’s your week to do the laundry, it’s your week to buy the soap, fabric softener, and coins for the machines (unless you can take it home and do it for free). Sort all the clothes into appropriate piles – whites, bright, and dark colors, for example. Gather your laundry day project of choice, and stake your claim at the Laundromat, dorm laundry room, or mom’s house.  Then, go with the flow of the laundry.

7. You can decide if the group will deliver laundry to each person or if they will pick it up at the launderer’s place.

8. Keep the rules tight and the humor loose. Do not expect your laundry teammates to be crime scene investigators.  Everyone should pre-treat stains and keep the really nasty stuff for when it’s their week to wash. And if anyone breaks the laundry day code, replace them with someone who is group-worthy.