This series took a hiatus for a while. But I don’t want you to think for one second it was because I haven’t been my usual frugal awkward self. I have. I have.
I still chirp, “You too!” when a server tells me to enjoy my meal. I still wave at strangers who are waving at friends behind me. I still take phone calls from lawn mower delivery people and get this request: “Can I speak to your mother or father, little girl?” Oh, yes. My life is still delightfully cringe-y. And sometimes those moments have to do with money.
Rather than the typical post format where I overview several financially awkward awesome moments, this post is going to be a departure. It is going to be long-form. Gather round for the tale of the frugal lawn mower that wasn’t. Frugal that is. It was definitely awkward.
I bought our house nearly six years ago. It is our dream house, especially now that I am treating it like a home and not a storage locker. But our house had a rather unhappy beginning.
RELATED POST: Do You Live in a Home or a Storage Unit?
The family who sold us the home was going through a nasty divorce. This fact, of course, was not on the listing sheet. But there were hints of angry times. Remnants of burned photos in the fireplace. Holes in the drywall. Busted door jambs. Some people wish walls could talk, but I’m glad these stay quiet.
The divorce was confirmed when our agent and their agent had to try to move the closing along even though the sellers were not speaking to one another. It was also confirmed when we stopped by the day of the closing and the seller muttered every name under his breath as he tried to load a riding lawn mower onto a trailer that was decidedly not made for lawn mowers. My dad struck up a quick conversation and was informed that the seller just wanted to be free from the house, the divorce, the entire chapter of his life. Which is when my dad oh so helpfully offered to buy the lawn mower. The seller unloaded it for $100 cash—his suggestion.
It was old. That wasn’t an issue. As a mechanic, my dad’s favorite hobby has always been taking things apart to see what makes them run. Surely, he could tune up the mower no problem.
And it wasn’t a problem. Not per se.
It backfires louder than a gunshot every time it stops. But what’s a little noise when it races through a yard at lightning speed? Truly. It is a sight to behold. Neighbors would come by and watch my husband dart through the yard in record time. I always questioned if it was possible to mow a yard too quickly, but what did I know?
This was a frugal win.
True, the mower was showing its age outwardly. Its sticker says Montgomery Ward, a now-defunct store that shuttered in 2001. There are knicks and dings and scratches, but it got the job done.
Until the day the drive shaft fell apart.
Last fall, I got a phone call that was full of muttering. The lawn mower veered off course and smacked solidly into the side panel of my husband’s car. No amount of breaking or killing the engine mattered. The momentum was just too much.
I suspect someone was driving just a little too fast. But in five years of marriage, I have mostly somewhat OK just this once by the grace of marriage gods learned to keep my mouth shut.
We both considered that maybe this was a sign to upgrade. But frugal people do not buy new mowers. Not when the current mower they have is perfectly good. It played chicken with my husband’s car and won. If that’s not solid craftsmanship, I don’t know what is.
So we fixed it. It was as good as new. Considering the cost of the new John Deere mowers I had occasionally seen my husband eye, it felt like the best money decision we had ever made.
Until this summer, when the race car of a lawn mower plowed right into the neighbor’s metal fence. Metal crumpled. Dogs barked. A bang from the backfire announced the halt of the mower. That’s when I looked at my husband, saw that he was OK, picked up my son, and made a beeline for the indoors. For the second time, I was keeping my mouth shut.
It turns out, the drive shaft had gone out again.
Awkwardly and full of apologies, my husband explained this to our neighbor. Then, my husband methodically righted the fence panel and offered to purchase a replacement. The neighbor declined but we insisted. The once-straight fence pickets resemble my hair on a humid day—not quite curved but definitely not straight either.
Now, the used lawn mower that could became the one that probably shouldn’t.
While this may not seem like a particularly frugal or awesome story, here’s the epilogue: What’s awesome is that we are the proud owners of a new riding lawn mower. It rides like a dream and stops on a dime.
What’s frugal is that our same neighbor asked to buy the race car lawn mower for some new property that his family just purchased. Mr. P will be putting that cash straight…toward the new fence panel.
So Tell Me…Has something in your life seemed frugal but turned out to be costly?
(Penny’s Note: In case you missed any of my awkwardness up until this point, let me catch you up right here.)
Can I ever relate to this. I actually wrote a post a few weeks ago about resisting the throwaway mentality, and used our 15 year old lawnmower as an example. I had paid $60 to get it repaired to try and delay the need to buy a new one for at least a couple years.
Sure enough, a week went but and the more all but exploded, and now we have a brand new Lawn-Boy sitting in our garage. Haha.
I still need to write the update post for that one. :).
Oh yes! Please write the update. I want to know more about this! I actually remember your first post and was feeling slightly guilty. Guess I can give myself a pass!
We have something called Treasure Days here, where people put stuff on the curb they don’t want and you get to keep it doesn’t free. So, when this summers Treasure Day rolled around, we scored a free and super cool old bookcase/cabinet thing that we thought would look perfect in our new house.
In fact, it needed to be cleaned (add Lysol wipes and sponges to the price). Now, Mr.TA wants to sand it down and paint it from scratch (Cha ching).
The thing is still sitting in our shed, collecting dust.
I will eat my hair if we ever end up finishing it. It’s not my proudest minimalist moment haha.
I love to go for walks the night before garbage day for this very reason. My husband usually tags along because he knows I’ve read about a million too many blog posts about flipping furniture. Just because it looks like a good idea on the curb…
😉
Every “free” dog or cat (or snake) I’ve ever had has been decidedly not frugal. Our problem is that once a pet is part of our family, they are family and get all of the consideration (and health care) required to make their lives as comfortable and as long as possible. Right now we have two dogs and 4 cats (one is a barn cat and lives outside). All are healthy and happy and we are, financially, the poorer for it, but, spiritually, the richer (or so I choose to believe).
Hooray for all the animals, Oldster! I wish more people had this mentality. It breaks my heart when I see neighbors posting new pets online to either give away or sell cheaply. 🙁
Haha, this is great! We actually got our lawnmower from our neighbor for free and it is amazing. Its a push mower so not quite as fun as a riding one, but it also doesn’t announce when it is done or run into things so I take that as a win.
HA! Excellent!
That might be our next plan. Sigh.
Lol, the lesson might be “Beware of the $100 riding mower”. We got one on Craigslist, and have to fix it pretty much every time we use it. The beast is from 1984, and currently only has one working blade. But half the time it gets the job done! Luckily we don’t have any fences to run into, and it mostly costs time & labor.
I think that IS the lesson indeed! Glad yours just costs you time and labor.
Our house also came with a bonus mower, sitting for free in the dilapidated shed. Lucky for us, it does still work and hasn’t run into anything yet. The yard is of course only like 100 yards by 150, so a push mower is fine. Its only issue is spitting walnuts all over the place in the fall. Fingers crossed it keeps trucking along for many more years.
Our neighbors have a gorgeous walnut tree behind their property. It’s lovely and I hate it. What a mess! (Plus, it kills all my tomato plants. ::sad face::)
Ayuuuuup.
My husband had the same mindset with our horrible used lawnmower. It has LITERALLY exuded plumes of black smoke. He just waits for it to clear and then keeps mowing. As you say, it’s truly a sight to behold.
He did buy it for $50ish from a sketchy dude on Craigslist, so I guess we’re saving money. But still, I do miss the reliability of a new lawn mower.
For your sake (and any fences in your vicinity), I hope you will not be writing a sequel to my post!
I wonder what that lawn mower will get up to in your neighbor’s care! It’s quite something that he wanted it even after it crashed into his fence, haha.
And your mention of the phone calls made me think of my grandmother: she’s about 4’11” and was married at 18, had three kids by 21, and my dad says that he remembers that when there would be door-to-door salesmen, etc, and she’d answer the door (generally holding a kid) the salesperson would look at her and ask if her mother was at home, lol!
Your poor grandma! I hope she had a good laugh.
And I honestly couldn’t believe that our neighbor wanted the runaway lawn mower!
Such a good story!
I have a feeling our little automatic pool cleaner, “Ward” (short for his brand, Hayward), might fall somewhat into this camp. He’s slowly draining me via $40 dollar parts (yesterday I found a bunch of metal ball bearings in the skimmer basket) but brand new he costs $400. As your mower, we got it unexpectedly when we bought the house. With all these repairs, I’m starting to see why…
Right? “Oh, these people are so considerate to leave nice things behind?” AHAH! Now I see why. The previous owners also left a flat screen TV on the wall above the fireplace. My husband was so pumped until we went to move it and practically needed to call in a crane. Thanks, pals! 😉
*Looks at Sera who was free, vaccinated, and even came with a free bag of food and then cost us over $1000 in vet bills 7 weeks later* No, why do you ask?
LOL. Just kidding, we didn’t adopt her because she was free, she just needed a home where other dogs won’t beat her up.
Back on topic I know of the potential for backfiring all too well but I need a crystal ball to tell me when a frugal win is going to become a fat stinking loser.
I read this at work, and literally almost choked on my lunch laughing. OMG! I call our mower the Hobbit Mower; the thing is so short, but at least it stops.
Our pets who have been free, or had reduced fee adoptions tend to be the most expensive. It’s almost a guarantee that they’ll have extensive/expensive medial problems, and/or some very destructive habits.
Oh, pets are great examples of this, aren’t they? But anything for fur babies (and human babies)!
I love this story!
I have a smallish yard and was determined to mow our lawn, because it felt silly to pay someone $100/m (split four ways) to do such a small task. I spent $70 on a manual mower, and then spent two hours failing to put it together. I eventually had to call my girlfriend and get her to come tell me how to do it.
That summer, my roommates paid me to mow and I got a workout. But I resented having to schedule my life around my lawn and thunderstorms. It was not a good look. Then, a friend got out of prison and was looking for work while he rebuilt his life. Yes, sir! I will pay you to make this task go away.
He is on his feet again, so I finally gave in and arranged for lawn service. I specify that they only need to do enough to keep the neighbors happy.
I still need to give away that lawnmower…