My yard takes about 1hr every 2 weeks during a portion of the year. It is so trivial and it gives me a chance to check up on the outside of the house and yard.

Yada yada yada. All this talk about time management. But yard work is fantastic functional exercise, so if you’re paying money and taking time to exercise but outsourcing lawn mowing and claiming that you’ve made some smart prioritization, well no.

You’re all just spendy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't have the time. I don't want to waste weekends doing yard work. I'd rather pay someone to do the yard while I take the dogs for a good long walk.

How big is your yard that it would take weekends? I have about 1/4 acre and it takes a couple hours a week at most to maintain in very good condition including mowing. I spend about four times that just working out each week.

It depends if it's just grass or involves weeding, gardening, etc. My yard is a tiny city postage stamp, but keeping weeds between pavers and sidewalk bricks under control without pouring roundup all over (which I refuse to do with little kids), and making the border garden beds look nice, is...well, way more than I had time for. I wish I had 1/4 acre to mow and nothing else!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't have the time. I don't want to waste weekends doing yard work. I'd rather pay someone to do the yard while I take the dogs for a good long walk.

How big is your yard that it would take weekends? I have about 1/4 acre and it takes a couple hours a week at most to maintain in very good condition including mowing. I spend about four times that just working out each week.

A couple of hours a week is a lot! I can't outsource someone to work out for me, but I can outsource the yard work and spend that time on other stuff - mainly spending time with my kids. I work out when they are sleeping, yard work would need to take place during the day. I don't judge people who do their own yardwork, but it's something I can outsource with no negative impact on my family, so I do.

Anonymous wrote:Don't have the time. I don't want to waste weekends doing yard work. I'd rather pay someone to do the yard while I take the dogs for a good long walk.

How big is your yard that it would take weekends? I have about 1/4 acre and it takes a couple hours a week at most to maintain in very good condition including mowing. I spend about four times that just working out each week.

Anonymous wrote:Don't have the time. I don't want to waste weekends doing yard work. I'd rather pay someone to do the yard while I take the dogs for a good long walk.

Same. The last thing I need on a weekend is having to clean up the yard and mow and weed looming over me. There are so many other chores I absolutely have to do that eliminating this one is a no-brainer. It would fill me with dread and then if were going to rain / not rain / be scorching hot would just make me crazy with anxiety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the entire neighborhood. Is this upper middle class or a higher up the socio economic ladder? Noticed this in a neighborhood I like and have been sort of stalking. Is this a tell I won’t be able to afford to maintain a house in an area even if I might be able to pick up a house in my price range?

My neighbor is a millionaire with half a dozen properties and mows his own lawn but he is the only one on my street who does.

That is probably part of the reason he is a millionaire. (See The Millionaire Next Door.)

My neighbors are multi-millionaires, some worth more than $500 million, and none of them mow their lawns or do their own gardening.

Anonymous wrote:Barely anyone in my neighborhood cleans their own house or does their own yard work. It’s a sign that most households have two adults with full-time jobs and small kids. We prioritize paying for services like gutter cleaning and window washing so we have more time to attend our kids’ activities and pursue our own hobbies. I would guess it’s UMC to have that choice.

Everyone has their limit. My neighbor pays someone to come wash and detail his car in his driveway once a month and that seems crazy to me.

Your expenses grow to fit the time restraints you place on it. You have to spend money on service providers because you're out making money. But a good chunk of that money you make will go to plug the holes that would spring a leak in your life, to pay the people who do the things that need to get done while you are gone making that money. These are all choices in life. The stay-at-home-parent doesn't make any money, but they are the landscaper, the gutter cleaner, the window washer, the restaurant chef, the nanny, the housecleaner, the well-researched shopper, the transportation manager, the Jiffy Lube visitor, the central scheduling desk and the contact point for the family all rolled into one person every day. The stay-at-home parent's job is not to make money it is to save a lot of money. Their "financial" contribution goes unseen because it is about saving instead of making, but it is there.

You can either make money or save your family money. Everyone picks one. It's a choice. Neither is wrong, just different. It's about how people want to spend their time, and what they value most.

If you like doing your own yardwork, then do it. I do! My neighbors use service providers, but I'm out there mowing front and back, trimming my own trees (within reason, there are limits if the tree needs major work), using hedge trimmers, planting flowers, pulling all weeds, mulching, making the edging look nice, etc.

I do it because I love to do it, it clears the head and is good for the soul. I feel a nice sense of accomplishment because the rewards flower immediately. I did this. It's also good exercise. We live in an upper-middle class neighborhood, too. I don't care what other people think of it, either. They can think what they want of me, but I'm doing it because I love to. That helps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather be homeless than have to clean my house or keep the yard up.

You sound depressed PP. You should maybe look into this.

PP here: Nah, not depressed. I’m enjoying my day knowing these tasks are being taken care of. Finding time to take care of these things is stressful for me.

The fact that you said you'd rather be homeless - your words, not mine - tells me there is something going on here. Or were you just using a tasteless and crass adjective to emphasize just how much you detest taking care of things yourself.

Barely anyone in my neighborhood cleans their own house or does their own yard work. It’s a sign that most households have two adults with full-time jobs and small kids. We prioritize paying for services like gutter cleaning and window washing so we have more time to attend our kids’ activities and pursue our own hobbies. I would guess it’s UMC to have that choice.

Everyone has their limit. My neighbor pays someone to come wash and detail his car in his driveway once a month and that seems crazy to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather be homeless than have to clean my house or keep the yard up.

You sound depressed PP. You should maybe look into this.

PP here: Nah, not depressed. I’m enjoying my day knowing these tasks are being taken care of. Finding time to take care of these things is stressful for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the entire neighborhood. Is this upper middle class or a higher up the socio economic ladder? Noticed this in a neighborhood I like and have been sort of stalking. Is this a tell I won’t be able to afford to maintain a house in an area even if I might be able to pick up a house in my price range?

My neighbor is a millionaire with half a dozen properties and mows his own lawn but he is the only one on my street who does.

That is probably part of the reason he is a millionaire. (See The Millionaire Next Door.)

Anonymous wrote:I would rather be homeless than have to clean my house or keep the yard up.

You sound depressed PP. You should maybe look into this.

I would rather be homeless than have to clean my house or keep the yard up.