Subscribe Feed (RSS)Thousands of new homeowners will be undertaking fresh projects for the first time as warmer weather begins to settle in over the coming weeks. That means people who purchased and moved in to their new homes since late last year will soon discover how much work is required to whip their lawns into shape.
Yes, the term “home ownership” is about to take on its true definition: the tethering of people to their lawns from early spring to late fall.
Fortunately, things don’t have to be so gloomy when it comes to lawn maintenance. Nor do new homeowners, who are getting used to making big monthly mortgage payments, need to overspend in order to bring up their yards.
What do you need for your lawn? How much money do you think that you will need to spend? Sure, you could buy everything new and find yourself struggling the following month to piece together enough funds for your mortgage payment. Or, you could consider some other sources for lawn equipment as well as putting off the purchase of “nice to have” but unneeded equipment until another time.
To that end, the following are some tips on how you can find lawn care equipment for less:
Yard Sales – Soon after the first daffodils pop up, expect someone in your neighborhood to hang out a garage or yard sale sign early on a Saturday morning. If you hit it right, you may be able to find some of the stuff you need to care for you yard such as a lawn mower, leaf blower, rakes, shovels or seed spreader. Sure, spending $350 on a shiny Honda mower at Lowe’s seems appealing, but if you can find a well tuned Toro mower for under $50, then you’ve just saved yourself a nice wad of cash.
Consignment Shops – Not every consignment shop welcome lawn equipment because not everyone wants to deal with leaking oil from a lawn mower or residual chemicals from a spreader. Nevertheless, if you have such a shop in your area and they accept lawn equipment, plan on staking the place out. Give them a call to find out when their donation acceptance days are and plan on showing up as soon as they put their latest donations out for customer display. Paying $10 or less for a leaf blower or finding rakes, shovels and picks priced from a few dollars each can make you feel that you are a lotto winner.
Web Ads – Craigslist offers a nice selection of stuff for sale and is light years better than eBay thanks to local listings. Sure, you can find some great finds on eBay, but you can’t check these items out in person before having them shipped to your home. Besides, who wants to pay for shipping for a hoe, mower or other heavy duty item. Check the online ad sites to find bargains locally.
Discount Stores – Sometimes you just have to buy new. In fact, please buy new if your grass is more than a foot tall and you still don’t have a lawn mower. There are discount stores who sell new or what amounts to be last year’s lawn mower model. Hit or miss when it comes to finding what you want, stores such as Ollie’s and Odd Lot may have what you want for significantly less that what you would pay the hardware store. You’ll still get new but you won’t get hosed. Speaking of hoses, you can usually find good deals at these types of stores too.
Lastly, do you really need an edger and can’t you borrow hedge clippers from a neighbor? With a little planning on your part, you can do realize a lot of saving—perhaps enough cash saved to buy a new bird bath, swing set, outdoor furniture, shed….
Adv. — Save money on just about everything! You can lower your bills and manage your finances, while taking control of your family expenses. Please see our wonderful budget management online tools — free too!
Photo Credit: Nadya Yasnogorodskaya
Tags: consignment shops, craigslist, Honda, lawn mower, leaf blower, Odd Lot, Ollie's, rake, seed spreader, shovel, Toro, yard equipment, Yard sales
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The early reports from the experts have universally endorsed 
