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I’m not an envious person.  When someone experiences some good fortune, I’m genuinely happy for them.  I compliment people if they have nice stuff, or if their houses look nice.  But I think that my neighbor, The Lawn Freak, has finally gone overboard.

What the heck is THAT thing?

I wanted to spruce up the curb appeal of my home, and I thought that I was being diligent by reseeding my lawn with Scotts EZ Seed.  But my neighbor had bigger plans for his place.  This past weekend, I saw him tooling around his yard on this:

It’s a Poulin Pro 48 inch 22HP V-Twin Residential ZTR Mower.  Yep, that’s three grand worth of lawn tractor (if you don’t believe me, just click on the picture).  It’s also overkill.  He’s got a quarter of an acre of property, and that includes his house, driveway, deck, and pool.  So, how much grass does he actually have to mow?

Did you get that thing at a garage sale?

I’m at the other end of the spectrum.  I’ve got a ten-year-old generic mower that I bought at Home Depot for about $140.  It’s only accessory is the rear bag.  That’s right, it’s not even self-propelled.  Hey, I can use the exercise.  It moves under barbarian power.  It looks something like this, but much dirtier and beat-up:

Gadgets and more gadgets

I’m not against technological advancements.  Hell, I love new gadgets as much as the next guy.  I can even see blowing a bit of money if it’s going to save me time in the long run.  But get this: it takes me about an hour and a half to mow my lawn, edge it with an electric trimmer, and vacuum up the grass.  Yes, I vacuum it rather than using a backpack blower.  The vacuum is better for around the pool.  Here it is:

I’m sure that The Lawn Freak would prefer something like this (click the picture for the details):

My vacuum cost under $180.  It’s the second one that I’ve owned, and it replaced an identical one that lasted about 9 years.  I tend to use tools until they fall apart.

Maybe he’s more productive with the new mower?

So, how long does it take The Lawn Freak to do his yard?  Try about 3 hours.  That’s right, twice as long as it takes me.  He never gets finished.  Just having the best, most expensive equipment doesn’t make you the most productive.  You need to have a plan!

What’s his plan?

Apparently, the Lawn Freak’s plan is to plunk down lots of dough for more mower than he’ll ever need.  He’s got better stuff than most landscapers do.  I could see buying it if he planned to start a landscaping business of his own.  I haven’t even touched on the opportunity cost of buying his king-sized mower versus investing the money.  What a waste, of both time and money.

The Takeaway

You don’t have to spend a fortune to be productive.  You just need to use your brain and work hard.  It’ll save you money in the long run.

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