My trick is I use them more than once. That stack of dishes next to the crock pot on the counter was the "can be used again" pile, lol. So like, if I ate a sandwich with one plate, I'll use it again for a burrito; if I used a pan to make a quesadilla, I'll use it again to make French toast.
I do have the machine, but I have to scrub everything beforehand, or it doesn't come clean. I pretty much scrub with plain water and count the machine as soap and sanitize, lol.