Morning!
So I’ve been spending a lot of money on something lately, and after weeks of trying to figure out why I’ve been so perfectly fine with it I’ve finally figured it out :)
These things I’ve been dropping money on??
- Electric lawnmower
- Electric hedge trimmer
- Electric weed wacker (that came with an electric snow blower!)
- And then most recently – an electric chain saw ;)
Total spending = roughly $700, minus some coupons.
Now at first I thought I was just being a good home owner and picking up the necessary tools to maintain a lawn since I hadn’t owned any in years, but the part that really got me was that I wasn’t just going out and buying the cheapest base models I could find like I typically do, but instead I was picking up the more expensive – and modern! – versions packed with rechargeable batteries and all!
My wife laughs because she expected me to take my time and scour yard sales every weekend for the best deals which is usually my m.o., but something about that shiny new equipment spoke to me and turned me toward a different course…
What were they saying??
“Pick me up, baby, and let’s get this party started!! You know you’ll have way more fun using US every weekend vs those environmentally nasty tools from last century! Charge me up and let’s start prettying up that lawn!!!” Haha…
And for the first time in a while, I listened to those brand new items wooing me over and do you know what started happening??
I ACTUALLY STARTED GETTING *EXCITED* TO MAINTAIN THE LAWN!!
And now I’m out there approximately 10x more than I ever have been! Haha…
Of course, it also helps that we’ve got a beautiful landscape to be poking around in and a hella fun riding lawn mower left by the previous owners, but picking up these tools has turbocharged my motivation which is generally pretty hard to do.
I’m not a garden/lawn guy in the least ;)
But that’s the thing with money sometimes. Sure it’s good to stack and invest it, but other times it can be harnessed to improve areas of your life as well! Especially with those you struggle with, like for example lawn care or perhaps cooking or organizing or grooming or 100 other areas we have to tackle in life as an adult. It might take a little more money up front than you’d normally spend, but if it enhances your life noticeably then it just may be worth it!
Here are other things I’ve caught myself spending on over the months that have gone on to increase my productivity levels:
- Brand new measuring cups and spoons (my old mismatched/non-complete sets inherited over the years drove me crazy every time I went to use them!! To the point where sometimes I wouldn’t even bother cooking because it was such a hassle to find exactly what I needed!)
- Higher-end pens that actually work all the time and feel good on the fingers! (and by higher-end, I really mean those that cost a couple of dollars each vs a couple of cents ;) Like my all-time favorite Uni-Ball EYE Rollerballs!
- Faster laptop upgrades instead of eeking them out to the point of frustration (Wow what an impact this has had on my daily life!! Even just laptops that are 20-30% faster due to age completely improves your efficiency!)
- Non-cheap electric razors… (very important for the ‘hawk ;))
And these are just a few I can think of off the top of my head…
Point is, it’s perfectly fine to spend money on things that enhance your life vs hoarding it all the time. You don’t want to go overboard and enhance EVERYTHING as you’ll be left penniless, but do your best to not be so hard on yourself or lie awake riddled with guilt just because you picked something up that’ll go on to make your life better.
Other things that fall in this category btw are books, self-improvement courses/classes, certain foods or beverages that fulfill your soul, quality shoes and clothes, date nights, and pretty much anything else that helps make you a better YOU over time and/or increases your quality of life. Again, all within reason.
We may be $700 less rich now w/ all our fancy equipment, but my goodness do I now enjoy getting out there and tackling God’s green earth more! I might have been fine without it, but it definitely wouldn’t be as exciting… And if my interest waned, who knows – maybe we would be more tempted to hire it out and go well beyond the $700 one-time spending! The couple of estimates we got from landscapers said they’d charge around $75/pop, and that was just for the mowing… You tack on the weeding and whacking and trimming and sawing and I’m sure we’d be in the mid-$100’s. For something I can now happily just do myself with a charge of a battery :)
So all that to say that I’m now a proud lawn maintenance guy, and I’m not going to feel bad for splurging a little to get to this point. The more annoyances you can cross out of your life just by spending a few bucks, the better!! You can’t buy yourself out of everything, but the few things you can – so long as you can afford it – the better.
Here’s a pic of my lovely (matching) equipment if you’re curious… They’re all from Greenworks and you can interchange a lot of the batteries which is cool (UPDATE: Forgot to include the chainsaw – d’oh! But it basically looks like the rest – bright green and black, haha…)
(Probably not good to buy them used, fyi though, since you wouldn’t want to get over-worked batteries that you then have to replace which cost half the price of the actual tools themselves! So that’s the only downside I’ve come across so far with these… That some day you’ll need to replace them. But again, since you can use the same batteries for many of the tools it should help prolong that if you do pick up more than one… Oh, and you’ll also want to make sure that whatever batteries/tools you do get that they last long enough for the job you’re trying to tackle, which for the most part should be fine if you have typical-sized yards and needs… Ours last more than enough to get the job done in one charge.)
When was the last time you picked something up that greatly improved your life or productivity?? Even though it may have been expensive??
Are you sleeping okay at night from it?? :)
*****
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Kudos for buying those tools electric and not gas. In my neighborhood we have small to modest-sized yards, and there’s no need to have toxic fume-spewing gas tools but most folks do. Plus the electric versions are so much easier to care for, no oil, no park plugs, no gasoline.
Yup!! Super easy to use and much quieter too :) (which definitely takes some getting used to as sometimes I can’t even tell if the mower is on?? Haha…)
I LOVE my chainsaw, and I am a 60 y/o female. I live on several acres and my chainsaw that I bought for under $200 has saved me money and stress time and again. Do you know how much it costs to drop a tree or cut up and move a tree? (several hundred to several thousand). I have big and tall ( 50′ +) pine trees (soft wood) galore and the ability to clear my driveway ( very important) and yard myself not only saves me a ton of $, but I have been known to sing the “Lumberjack Song” from Monty Python on occasion.
You are my new favorite person of the day, haha…
You saw and sing away, my friend!!
The best part about electric lawn tools isn’t the savings, or how futuristic and cool they are, or how eco-friendly they (may or may not) be.. No… The BEST part of moving to electric yard tools is how easy they are to start!
That’s exactly what my wife said! Who mowed our lawn for the first time last week while I was sick and actually enjoyed it :) She always had trouble with the older pull starts and then even pushing them was harder on older gas mowers… So she’s all about the new toys too!
Last night I ordered a Mac desktop :o
Lol, I’ve been considering it for awhile and it is definitely going to improve my time blogging, editing videos, and working on courses. I consider it a business investment :)
Plus I am getting free wireless Beats with it valued at $349, which I plan on selling for at least $200-250!
Heyyy that’s something! Could also write it off I’d imagine, giving you even more savings :)
Hope you enjoy it!!
I’m a sucker for metal measuring spoons and glass cups. You won’t find plastic versions of those in my house. I don’t know why but they feel so steady and strong and I’ll pay more for them every time!
Haha… I had a hard time choosing between those and plastic myself, but eventually went with plastic due to the pretty colors :)
J,
Great efficient eco-friendly DIY spending for $700. I am not a hardware specialist (though grew up in a hardware store owner family). My husband is salivating over your purchases and wants to go shopping with you.
Were they all purchased in same location. Great article!
Linda
Hah! I think it’s time for him to upgrade, then! :)
I got half of them at Lowe’s with my father’s military discount (10% off I believe?), and then the other half right off Amazon… w/ the Amazon route though it’s best to keep an eye on them over a few weeks as I noticed they often do specials or add little perks to them (like an extra chainsaw chain or something) so the more patient you can be the better.
Personal trainer 2x a week. Best money I’ve ever spent, I know I wouldn’t workout on my own. My next purchase will be a good large enough food processor, doing my research now! Enjoy your yard work!
YESSSS!! To both!! Can never go wrong keeping yourself as healthy as possible! Even if it does cost you a little money!
Literally just bought the same bunch of tools—Trimmer, wacker, and blower. I have a small home (1150-ish sq ft) that we will just have owned for 2yrs this coming December. After trimming all the bushes around my house (15ish) by hand last fall with an old school clipper probably older than I am, I vowed to get the tools ASAP in the spring. Ended up coming across a combo deal on sale around July 4th & I jumped on it. Still ended up being a ton of hard work getting the trimming done but it was less labor intensive overall and kinda fun plowing through those shrubs with that power tool. We have 2 large maple trees out back and 2 trees in the front that drop bags upon bags of leaves and that blower will be a godsend this fall too. Since it’s just my daughter and I, I made sure the tools were manageable for us to maneuver without too much of a struggle but we sure are loving them! We recently purchased a small, used electric grill we saw posted on Facebook for $30 from someone in town and are loving that too!!
Heyyyyy you are doing well over there!!! Love that y’all live in a smaller house too! More time to live and hang out with each other and less time towards cleaning :)
I have an electric blower and a small electric power washer both with a cord. I don’t do battery operated items well I forget to charge or forget to unplug them so they charge for too long. My yards also .35 so I need something to last. I probably use 5 gallons of gas a year so it’s really not much compared to what people put in their cars. I ride a bike most of the time and we are a 1 car family husband works a mile away from our house so we are pretty green in that aspect.
Yeah you are! And healthier too with all that bike riding! :)
I hear you, friend. I’ve been spending on writing tools (Grammarly) and travel. The way I see it, this is my signal to myself that I’m a writer and there is no way around it. Have to say though that you buying an electric chainsaw is a bit disturbing :).
Haha why is that?? Think I’ll accidentally chop my mohawk off? :)
We just bought new couches for the first time in…. ever? A lot of our furniture was perfectly good hand-me-downs from family that we inherited when people moved or downsized. But our old couch was pretty ratty – three dogs will do that! – and not super comfortable. So we finally decided to buy new couches and OMG – they are so much better! Hubby and I both spend more time in the family room together because they’re just so nice. Plus I look at them and feel happy that they are something I picked out and truly love and not just something to fill the space.
They weren’t cheap though!
Heyyy that’s cool!!! I don’t remember the last time I owned a new couch either! And the wife is REALLY ready for a new one that fits our house better – as well as all our growing kids :) So I’m glad you’re finding it worth it so far!!
We recently bought similar equipment, but the Ryobi interchangeable stuff: mower, blower, weed trimmer, pole saw (branches were grazing our roof). I personally didn’t think we needed ALL of it but my husband insisted. I can say that it’s not worth getting cheap equipment. We had cheap hedge trimmers that we managed to bend after a month.
My big purchase is a new suitcase. I did spend $250 on a fancy heavily-marketed one that though attractive, in reality isn’t as functional, so I’m returning it and getting another similarly priced one. I could go cheaper, but when you travel a bit for work, not having to struggle to get the luggage through the airport and having all your stuff organized makes a difference. It’s funny because I still had a functional case when I started shopping—one I had for I estimate at least 14 years—but on one of my trips a few weeks ago, the extension handle fell apart. That helped me feel better about it!
Haha that’ll do it!!
Ryobi is an awesome brand too from what I hear… Next on my list is figuring out if we need a pole saw too or if the branches are low enough for the chain saw. Don’t want to get too crazy with it though as it’s my first time having/using one so gotta make sure I play by the rules at least for now :)
I probably spend more on my hair than the average person but it makes a HUGE difference for me in terms of time and effort. And for me, having nice hair boosts my confidence so it feels like a win. I could be having a bad skin day, wearing sweats, etc. but if my hair looks good, I feel good and like I’m crushing it.
I get keratin treatments 3 – 4 times a year, which means I can air dry my hair after showering at night and I’m good to go for work the next morning. Before I had to spend a lot of time at night blow drying my very long and thick hair or waking up early to style it after letting it air dry. Honestly, sometimes I used to avoid the gym when my hair was looking good as I didn’t want to have to wash my hair and go through the pain of re-styling!
I spent $35 on a shower head water filter which takes all the crap out of the water before it reaches my head, which INSTANTLY after 1 use made my hair softer and healthier looking. That is replaced every 6 months.
Then lastly I buy good quality shampoo and conditioner that is silicone free, sulfate free, paraben free, etc. which has also made a huge difference in the management of my hair.
These are regular purchases so I offset with other areas of frugality but I’d rather save in other areas than save on my hair!
Nice one! I spend £30 two to three times a month on my nails and feel great every time I look down at my hands :))
Nice!! That sounds like money well spent – I definitely get that same feeling when I have manicured hands. It’s the little things! :)
Love it!!
And also glad my ‘hawk doesn’t require as much to maintain, haha.. (though I do cycle through quite a bit of hairspray ;))
Haha yes def be glad about that! I do recommend that shower head filter for everyone though if you live in an area with hard water! Make that ‘hawk silky soft before attacking it with hairspray ;)
Check out Away luggage but if you go for it, it’s worth doing the Bigger Carry-On option. I bought it earlier this year and it’s been on several trips with me (and survived a 7 day Europe trip across 4 cities). A friend of mine travels constantly and recommended it and so far I’ve been happy with the durability and it doesn’t help that it has a sleek look as well.
Well, I will save my scolding a bit since you bought electric versions of all of them. I prefer muscle over motor, one of my favorite Mr. Money Mustache terms that described a behavior I already tended toward. You’re right about buying used electric equipment. I bought an electric lawn mower from a friend for $20, but both batteries were toward the end of their lives, and the blade needs replacement (dinged beyond replacing). Instead, I bought a mechanical push mower, which gives me a workout and is quiet enough I can hear my podcasts while I mow. All my yard tools are non-powered. I like using my muscles to get this work done.
That being said, I totally get the point – there are times when spending money makes a lot of sense. I spent a little fun money on an electric guitar amp a month ago – allowing me to play my Les Paul again. It’s a good feeling, and it was well worth the money!
Way to make us all look like cheaters! Haha… I think it would take approx 7 hours to cut our lawn going that route though so I won’t feel bad about it :) Good job picking up that amp!
We have an electric lawnmower, hedger, and blower. Unfortunately, they’re all corded. Ugh! I hate dragging the cord around. Next time, I’ll get the nicer stuff. It’s not a big deal, though. I only mowed twice this year. The secret to avoiding mowing – don’t water the grass.
Haha….
Corded is a little annoying, but at least it’s still electric, because dealing with gas powered stuff is even more annoying.
Look at those beauts!! I’m so proud of you for picking up environmentally friendly equipment, we all have to do our part to make sure this earth is still around for us and our kids, right?
I finally caved and decided to replace my aging and slow as molasses computer last month. Sir. It has been a REVELATION. I cannot even believe how awesome it is to work on a computer that works well.
RIGHT????? You get so used to the old stuff that you totally forget what it’s like to have something working at top efficiency!! Good job taking the plunge!! Now you can double your blog output for all us readers! ;)
Yeahhhhh double … :D :D :D
I recently (finally) got around to upgrading my mom’s older computer. It’s about 7 years old now, but in the grand scheme of what she does a newer processor (and the necessity of moving up to Windows 10) a full upgrade wasn’t necessary. I quadrupled the RAM (overkill, but whatever) and swapped her HDD for an SSD. The SSD was the HUGE change I was expecting.
Maybe it’s just delaying the inevitable for a few years, but whatever.
Also it helps that YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!!! :)
If everything goes as planned, this very Friday, I’m trading a €2,500 check in exchange for the ability to see clearly without glasses.
I’ve been badly near-sighted since I was 7 and have worn glasses day in and day out for 24 years. And it might be over by Saturday morning. That might be the biggest life enhancement I’ll EVER purchase :)
Wowwww good luck with it all!!! That sounds amazing!!! (and too funny about “exchanging a check for..” haha… good way of putting it ;))
I got Lasik almost 2 years ago and I absolutely love it! I wish I had done it years ago!
Excellent example of $$$ well spent.
Good for you! Why make money if not to improve your life and the lives of the people you love. I recently spent money having a handy man repair a hole in the drywall and a stair rail that had come off the wall. Of course I looked up on line how to do this myself before hiring someone but the skills and materials I’d need to do it myself were overwhelming and I kept procrastinating! So nice to have someone do this for me and now I don’t have those problem areas staring me in the face everyday. Well worth the cost.
Another thing I’ll spend money on is gear for outdoor activities such as backpacks, sleeping bags, etc. If you buy good ones, they last for years and many many enjoyable nights out in the wilderness – a vacation I enjoy infinitely more than lining up for a buffet at an all-inclusive and a vacation that really costs nothing once you’ve got the gear.
You’re good at this game :)
This. Hands down the best $25 I’ve spent in the last five years. We have a heavy door that connects our garage to our tiny laundry room and it automatically swings shut. With 3 kids under 6, diaper bags and groceries, and loading/unloading from the van, this thing is a direct investment in my happiness and quality of life.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MUX6SL4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_L6fzDbSNTTE6C
OH wow – I’ve never seen anything like that before!! Nice find!!
I started buying Stihl when I moved into my newest house. With 3 acres, I cant afford something that breaks frequently. Only thing with electric is you need to make sure you go with a brand that warranties their batteries (not sure if lawn and garden manufacturers do) but I by all my power tools RIGID since they warranty batteries that come with stuff for life (i.e. batteries that came with my drill). New batteries generally run $100 by themselves so it does become important.
Totally.. and with that many acres you gotta make sure they last okay too so you can do what you need in one sitting/cutting!
Last week I bought a fancy 2-in-1 Lenovo laptop. Our benefits and payroll provider has a discount program so I saved a decent chunk even compared to the normal markdowns. Using the stylus in tablet mode is a joy, it’s 2.6 lbs so traveling with it will be a piece of cake, and it’s my first non-work computer since August 2009. Heckin’ magical stuff!
…and I just mowed the lawn yesterday, since the weather’s nice around DC. So glad we have a tiny little postage stamp of a yard.
2009 – wow!!! Didn’t they have AOL back then??? ;)
I think I am going to need to upgrade my taxes laptop. I got the old one from my dad and it is only used for doing taxes (can’t get the version of turbotax I need for Mac) and ebay label printing. It is painfully slow. I’ll probably deal with it for one more tax season then it is time to go.
You have my permission if you’re looking for it ;)
My recent spend that improves life? Calendars, whiteboards and day planners. Yeah, we could do the Google Calendar thing, but with my work schedule, Rob’s business and Kenny’s school schedule (and the fact that we’re juggling babysitters instead of daycare), the physical reminders work better than digital. It’s just much easier to update physical calendars and have those reminders. I think I spent $75 for all the stuff I bought, but so far it seems worth it.
AGREED…. Doesn’t matter what you use / how you use it / just that IT WORKS!
Electric yard tools were the big dilemma I’ve had. Diidn’t want gas… for many reasons.
If you get cordless, you really need to get ALL the ones you need at about the same time. Changing technology, packaging, various brands… etc, and you’re otherwise looking at a different battery/charger rig for each tool.
I’ve managed to stick to corded so far. Fortunately my property is pretty small and a 50′ (with an additional 20/25′ occasionally) will get everywhere I need to go.
Another nice thing about corded is that it’s a fair amount cheaper too :) Though you’ve got a lot more patience than I!
I picked up a refurb Ryobi 40v mower for $200 five years ago and have added the string trimmer, leaf blower, and chainsaw to the collection. Love how quiet and maintenance-free they are. Congrats on your purchase (looks like the more robust EGo collection) and welcome to the club!
There’s still not an electric snowblower powerful enough to handle the winters where I live, although mine will mostly be stored as we plan to spend very little time at home in the winter months now that I’ve earned my freedom.
Cheers!
-PoF
Upon closer inspection, I see it’s the Greenworks 60v collection. Very nice!
Wait! Did you plug the chord??? I must have missed it – congrats!!!! I wanna hear more about it next week at FinCon if you’re going :)
“Higher-end pens that actually work all the time and feel good on the fingers! (and by higher-end, I really mean those that cost a couple of dollars each vs a couple of cents ;) Like my all-time favorite Uni-Ball EYE Rollerballs!”
You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.
Jay,
Nice write-up – this is exactly what I did a couple years ago. I bought a series from Black & Decker that offered 40v batteries that are plug-n-play between all their tools. I got a weed whacker, chain saw, and blower. It’s great to do everything and not have to deal with wires or realizing you don’t have extra gas laying around.
Nice site overall too. I like the mix of short and long-form posts ::thumbs up::
John @ The Money Ninja
Hey thanks!
Welcome to the community – will have to go check out your site now too :)
You’re more than welcome to check around. Let me know of your thoughts!
It’s not my first foray into this. I was part of a much larger site (5M monthly) that got sold – now going independent :)
Oh wow, awesome!!
Same space here (financial) or another?
Lots of perks going on your own, but lots more work too :)
Different space, travel and points, you would know it if I mentioned it… I was a quasi-shadow owner :)
It’s definitely more work… I have to do contact news reporters and work on back-linking myself now?!? It’s a throwback to 2008!
Congrats on the sale of your site and glad it wasn’t one of those uh, bad parent companies. Kudos to you J Money!
Appreciate it!
Slow-close toilet lids are worth every penny
You know, with 3 little boys in our house I will have to agree with you on that :)
Nice work and congrats on your recent success. For me, there are a couple things worth spending money on. Buying the right tools to do any job totally makes the experience not only better but FUN. I feel like such a mentsh when I fix my lawnmower or install a ceiling fan. The best tool that I purchased in 2019 has been an electric power washer. This tool has changed my life. I power wash everything. It brings immediate pleasure as the grimy patio is instantly refreshed to looking almost new. Best $100 spend ever. Now, my favorite thing to spend money on is bikes. I turn 60 this year and am shopping for a nice premium road bike. I will drop between $3,300 and $4,000 on this purchase. It will take me three months of test riding to pick the right ride. I see the whole process as part of the value of the money I am spending. I’m diving into the nuts and bolts (literally) and having tons of conversations. This is 3 months of joy leading up to the purchase. And then I get years of enjoyment riding after that. Tools and Bikes. That’s all I need. Thx
Sounds about right! :)
Super healthy too!
Would love to pick up a power washer in the future… didn’t know they only cost $100?!
My friend often asks “Is this a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it?” An example might be something like not sleeping well. Would buying a warmer duvet or a better mattress solve the problem? I recently went to visit my daughter who moved to a new apartment with some friends. It had great bones (high ceilings, wood floors, a great location) but it turned out to be disgustingly dirty with lots of little broken, missing things. My daughter was heartbroken and wanting to move again as soon as possible. Instead, we went out to the hardware store and I bought a whole bunch of really good cleaning products, lots of paint, hole fillers, tools, etc. And then we got to work. And in the evenings we got cleaned up and went out to some really nice restaurants and bars. By the time I left it was looking great and she had relaxed about it. As the credit card ads say….
Tools and cleaning products and fancy meals: $400
Happy in new apartment: priceless.
Love it!!!
You’re such a great parent :) I am so bad at the *detailed* stuff so hopefully I can grow by the time my kids are moving out on their own, haha…