As the summer comes to a close, I am reminiscing on cutting grass…because I am bored?
Anyways, I have cut my own grass since I was a wee tot cutting my parent’s grass with a push mower (it wasn’t even a self-propelled mower, and conveniently after I moved out they bought a riding lawnmower…interesting). I began wondering how much money I have saved over the past 7 years that I have been cutting my own grass?
My yard is around a 1/2 acre, and it involves edging, “weed eating” and of course cutting the grass. If I paid someone to cut my grass for me, I estimate it would be roughly $75 per cutting (based on what I know local services charge). Assuming that it has to be cut 30 weeks out of the year (because yes, it grows that quickly), I would be looking at ~$2250 a year for yard care services; meaning over 7 years I would pay $15,750 for someone to cut my grass.
But it isn’t all “sunshine and rainbows”. I have had to initally purchase and then maintain my own equipment (edger, mower, “weed eater”, blower). By my calculations though, all of that comes in at under $800 (because I use a push mower). I have to pay for fuel (maybe 2 gallons a year at $3 a gallon comes to $42). And I have to consider how much my time is worth to me. But, all things considered, I am coming up to a savings of $14,908 over 7 years.
To be honest, I never thought before I started crunching the numbers that that would be the amount that I had saved. That is astounding, and that is just over 7 years. If you break that down to a “per hour” savings (and it takes me 2 hours to do everything in my yard every week), you are looking at $35.50 per hour that I am saving myself to cut my own grass…amazing!
So my conclusion is that if you have grass, cutting it yourself can save you a ton of money after the initial equipment investment. If you want to make money on the side…maybe try cutting someone else’s grass; it adds up.
I am going to be much happier pushing the lawnmower the next time I cut my grass as I am thinking about my savings!
Road to One Million 