$160-$200 per month for professional lawn care?

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

So you don't enjoy the things you do on your days off? Maybe you are headed down the wrong life path?

I ask myself that same question from time to time.

Basically it all boils down to my obsession of paying stuff off, I rarely can justify "having fun" in the sense of blowing money on a good time. It makes me uneasy and I feel guilty after.

I hate being in debt, I feel restricted and tied down so I dump every last penny I make paying down on stuff or projects, I live paycheck to paycheck on purpose besides my 401k which I put 8% in.

I refuse to pay someone to do anything for me, I feel like it's a waste of my hard earned money when I am capable of doing it myself. after awhile I had more projects to do than I do time or desire to do them.

I think about doing things differently but where I'm at is where I want to be, it would bother me to rent when I could own ext.

So I'm happy about where I am in life but get overwhelmed with projects sometimes not to mention the thought of 40 more years before retirement lol.

I just hope one day it will be all worth it and I can relax a bit more and as some put it, "spend money on experiences".

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I grew up in the Oakland area of California and never knew of anybody who hired somebody to mow their lawn. The only lawn mowing crews I ever saw where at commercial buildings. When I moved to Tyler 15 years ago, one of the things that shocked me was how many lawn mowing businesses there where, and how they where everywhere. Seems like most people here do not mow their own lawn. I'm talking inside city limits, quarter acre to half acre lots, and a lot that are much smaller. The noise is what bothers me, I don't care if people want to hire it out. I guess that's good for the economy by creating jobs. I'm told they spend anywhere from $40 on up a week to have it mowed. Lady I'm working for right now pays $500 a month to have her 2 1/2 acre yard mowed, trimmed and taken care of once a week. When I do the math, figure out cost of equipment including trailer and vehicle to haul it around, time to each job, I just don't see why anybody would do it for a living.

I wish that was my neighbor lol, I would gladly mow her grass for $500 per month .

**** I mow .25 acre of my neighbors now that's on a steep hill every week and don't charge them anything, there elderly and really don't have any business mowing it (too dangerous), they mow the rest of there yard twice a week lmao. There lot is the same size as mine, about 3 acres.

 

[ovrszd]

I grew up in the Oakland area of California and never knew of anybody who hired somebody to mow their lawn. The only lawn mowing crews I ever saw where at commercial buildings. When I moved to Tyler 15 years ago, one of the things that shocked me was how many lawn mowing businesses there where, and how they where everywhere. Seems like most people here do not mow their own lawn. I'm talking inside city limits, quarter acre to half acre lots, and a lot that are much smaller. The noise is what bothers me, I don't care if people want to hire it out. I guess that's good for the economy by creating jobs. I'm told they spend anywhere from $40 on up a week to have it mowed. Lady I'm working for right now pays $500 a month to have her 2 1/2 acre yard mowed, trimmed and taken care of once a week. When I do the math, figure out cost of equipment including trailer and vehicle to haul it around, time to each job, I just don't see why anybody would do it for a living.

In my County (population 8,500) there are half a dozen lawn businesses. The average age of homeowners is probably 55. One guy has 75 regular customers. He mows every day. I've saw him mowing in the rain. He seems to make a living at it. Has a snow blade for the front of his X model JD so does small driveways in the Winter. He's been doing this for at least 20 years. He ain't getting rich. But he's creating a living for himself. I'm with you Eddie, I wouldn't want to do it.

 

[ovrszd]

I wish that was my neighbor lol, I would gladly mow her grass for $500 per month .

Maybe stop for a second and think about what Eddie described. I wouldn't take on that job for $500 per month.

 

[EddieWalker]

I wish that was my neighbor lol, I would gladly mow her grass for $500 per month .

**** I mow .25 acre of my neighbors now that's on a steep hill every week and don't charge them anything, there elderly and really don't have any business mowing it (too dangerous), they mow the rest of there yard twice a week lmao. There lot is the same size as mine, about 3 acres.

She fired them last week. They left a broken shovel wedged into her window sill that I had to fix. She has a fence and gate around her property, they where there that day when she saw the shovel wedged in there. She could see it from inside her house after they had left. When she called, they denied doing it, and refused to fix it. I'm doing other things for her around her house already, so I just fixed it for free.

She had a new guy out there yesterday that did a nice job. Just one guy instead of a crew and he used her riding mower. I have no idea what she paid him, but think it's less. He just mowed and edged along the driveway. He was there two hours.

 

[ovrszd]

She fired them last week. They left a broken shovel wedged into her window sill that I had to fix. She has a fence and gate around her property, they where there that day when she saw the shovel wedged in there. She could see it from inside her house after they had left. When she called, they denied doing it, and refused to fix it. I'm doing other things for her around her house already, so I just fixed it for free.

She had a new guy out there yesterday that did a nice job. Just one guy instead of a crew and he used her riding mower. I have no idea what she paid him, but think it's less. He just mowed and edged along the driveway. He was there two hours.

Yeah, that's kinda weird, I would have fired them too.

Ya really gotta think about this project. 2.5 acre property that I'm sure she requires to be completely manicured. Doing it once a week they are there at least 4 times a month, some months 5. At 4 times that's $125 to manicure 2.5 acres. I'm out.

We'll see how long the new guy lasts. Report back with the followup Eddie.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Yeah, that's kinda weird, I would have fired them too.

Ya really gotta think about this project. 2.5 acre property that I'm sure she requires to be completely manicured. Doing it once a week they are there at least 4 times a month, some months 5. At 4 times that's $125 to manicure 2.5 acres. I'm out.

We'll see how long the new guy lasts. Report back with the followup Eddie.

If she was a neighbor, I would gladly do it for that kind of money, it would double my mowing per week but I would be fine with that.

Lawn work isn't hard, I wouldn't want to do it everyday, but it's not likely I would turn down a job so close.

That's an extra 3k per year for roughly 48 hours of my time, that's a no brainer. Honestly I would be willing to do it for less, I would prob feel like I took advantage of her at $500 a month for no more than I would have in it.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

The way I see it, is it would be a form of entertainment and I would get paid to do it.

I would save money by paying down on stuff (less interest paid out) and usually I end up with a good bit more experience than I had before which helps the next job go that much easier and more efficient. Win win

My philosophy used to be the American Dream, getting a good job, buying a house, paying taxes, being a contributing member of society.

I did all that and now it's "work will set you free" (not a holocaust reference and idk of a better way to word it)

I have everything bought that I set out to buy, I only have years of work and payments ahead, the more I work the quicker I will be freed from debt.

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree that if I lived next door, or really really close, it's a good deal. But if you have to load up a trailer and haul your equipment there, unload it, then load it up and haul it back home, the numbers are not as attractive.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I agree that if I lived next door, or really really close, it's a good deal. But if you have to load up a trailer and haul your equipment there, unload it, then load it up and haul it back home, the numbers are not as attractive.

If that was just one of 5 or 10 lawns you cut that day it wouldn't be bad, would be pretty profitable. If I was in the Business and it was a nice day out, I would put in 10-12 hour days weather permitting, that's about a $600 day maybe more depending on the pay of each site.