1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

Thursday Rant: Rocky Mountain Turd Wranglers*

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Renaissance man: A person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.

Hi there, Mrs. 1500 here.

IMG_4306Longtime readers know of our disdain for our neighborhood. On top of being extremely wasteful, no one does anything for themselves. Every week, trucks drive in, pulling trailers loaded with lawn mowers, leaf blowers and all the other things you need to take care of someone’s lawn. The chemical lawn companies are here on a regular basis. Cars filled with women and vacuums arrive to clean the homes. People even have their dry cleaning delivered. I see these things and shake my head, but these all pale next to what I saw last week…

Walking to pick up the oldest little 1500 from school last week, I passed a car advertising Rocky Mountain Turd Wranglers*.  For those of you not familiar, there is a growing market for hiring out the dog-log pickup in your backyard. Yes, you read that right. You can actually hire a person who will drive their car to YOUR house, pick up YOUR dog’s logs from YOUR backyard for a fee, and then leave, only to return again at an interval of your choosing, to do the same thing all over.

Really?!? I can see farming out some things around the house. Electricity. I personally wouldn’t touch electricity with a 10-foot-pole. However, Mr. 1500’s dad is an electrician, and he taught Mr. 1500 a lot about electricity, so we don’t have to hire anyone to do this sort of thing. Ditto plumbing. I wouldn’t do it (water causes a LOT of damage in a very short amount of time) but again, Mr. 1500’s dad taught him about that, too.

What happened to the Renaissance Man?
Is the Renaissance Man extinct? This is (was?) a person who can change the oil in the car, help the children with their homework and perform basic fixes around the house. In our society, no one wants to do anything anymore. They are either unwilling to learn or in the case of the pets, they are just too lazy to bother.

The thing is, these tasks are easier to learn now than ever. Mr. 1500 had an earlier post about using YouTube.com to learn new skills. We started flipping houses way back when, and one of the first things he learned was how to lay tile. This skill seemed pretty daunting at first, but he took his time and did it right. It still takes him a little longer to do than a professional, but the tiles he puts down are level and straight. He has done at least 11 tile jobs since then, saving us a TON of money. They will even teach you how to do this at your local Home Depot, using THEIR tiles and supplies. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it after that, then you can hire someone, but if you can do it yourself, (and it is super easy) you save so much money.

There are many things around the house that I would not pay someone to do, however. I can slap paint on the wall fairly easily, and if I mess it up, I can just paint over it. I know how to sew (that stupid Fashion Design degree does come in handy for some things) so I can make curtains, decorative pillows, pretty much anything.

Look around your life right now. Do you send out your shirts to be laundered? You can learn to starch your shirts at home. It really isn’t difficult, and a quick query on YouTube yields 644 results. Do you change the oil in your car yourself? That is something you can do for a lot less than paying someone to do it. And it isn’t all that difficult to do. Mr. 1500 does it in much less time than it takes to have someone else do it. Bonus! Have someone you know show you how to do it. Make them dinner afterwards as a thank you.

Does someone clean your house? You can do that yourself. Does someone take care of your lawn, do you pay someone to shovel your snow? Physical limitations are one thing, but just paying the kid down the street to do it because you don’t want to is throwing money away.

A friend of mine has three children. She bought a Rainbow swing/play set at Costco for them to play on. When she purchased it, she was asked if she wanted to have someone from the store put it together. For $500. She happily paid it, because it takes such a long time to set up the play set. The guys at the store do it on their days off, and it takes them 12 hours to set it up. OK, I concede it would take a long time to set one of those things up. I have to put together all the Ikea stuff we buy. But you can get your kids, if they are old enough, in on the work. Show them how long it takes to put together something like that. Have them help with counting the screws and nuts and bolts. This can be a learning experience for everyone, and they will have such a sense of pride when they can finally play on the play set they built.

I live on a corner lot in deer country. We have a nice-sized yard. Apparently, the deer had a convention recently, and decided my backyard is where they will poop. I have TONS of deer poop in the backyard, and I have to go pick it up soon. I keep putting it off, because that is a disgusting job, but I surely won’t pay someone to do it. What a waste of money.

But hiring someone else to pick up your dog’s poop just blows my mind. You CHOSE to have a dog. There is no law stating you must own one. You allow it to go into the backyard to do its thing, rather than walk behind it with a bag which you must then carry home. I don’t blame you at all. Who wants to walk carrying a bag of poop?

But paying someone else actual money to pick up the dog poop for you? Really? How lazy can you possibly be? If you don’t want to pick up dog poop, then don’t have a dog.

*Not their real name. I so despise this idea that I refuse to give them free advertising. I was also thinking of using the name Rocky Mountain Crap Cowboys, Colorado Poop Police, Douglas County Doo-Doo Disposal or Sh*t Shovelers for the Super Sloths. Perhaps they started thinking of names and had such fun they turned it into a business. ARRGGHH!!!!

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Comments

  1. Mrs. 1500,
    Have you ever thought about putting that “useless degree” of yours to good use by selling things like clothes, headbands, etc. on etsy?

    • Hi Sweta.
      I have entered the world of etsy several times, and I either do not have a grasp of what people want, or I get lost in the endless listings. I think there are just too many people on etsy now. Add in a 3-year-old and suddenly all the time in my day is gone and it is bedtime. Maybe when she gets in school. I have some great ideas (of course, I think they are great) so we will see if they pan out.

      Thanks for reading!

  2. My sister and her (now ex) husband used to pay someone to come pick up the dog poo in their yard. For them it was $5 per week and my sister looked at is as the ultimate luxury. As long as you think of it as a luxury and know you still feel like its worth it, then it’s your business. I think it becomes a problem when it’s viewed as a necessity and you lose the ability to depend on yourself.
    Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…He Said She Said: Moneyball Book ReviewMy Profile

    • Well said, Mrs. Pop.

      $5 a week is a minimal expense, but still that is $260 a year. Did they do anything else that was considered a luxury? Every little bit adds up.

      I think it’s $30 a week here, which is just way too much. Unless you have a great dane. Nope, still too much. Plus they would probably charge extra for those extra large sized logs.

  3. Anna,

    I completely agree with you. We live in a part of Colorado where EVERYONE has a dog, and that dog is their furry child, and if you can take a child into Home Depot, why can’t you take your furry child in as well? Nevermind that he is a rottweiler with a choke collar on, looking at you like you could be lunch… But if you love him so much, you should be willing to pick up his poop!

  4. Yeah, I would agree with you for now. But I think there are folks who would argue that you’re wrong based on the numbers. Lawn care is a good example, and I don’t see a huge problem in farming it out. If it takes 2 hours to take care of the lawn and I can pay someone $30 to do it, that might not be a bad investment. Especially if I make more than that running a business that brings me personal satisfaction.

    Time is really important. How important? To each their own…
    Jacob@CashCowCouple recently posted…Save Money With a Low Flow ShowerheadMy Profile

  5. Sh*t Shovelers for the Super Sloths AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

    Madly in love with this rant. Just shared it with a bunch of my friends. While I totally agree, people’s laziness knows no bounds…I have to give props to the dog shoveling company! There can’t be much start up costs there and they’re getting people to probably pay a good chunk of change pay for minimal labor. Gross job, but sounds like it’s paying the bills.
    BrokeMillennial recently posted…Confession: I Avoided the Millennial CurseMy Profile

    • Yeah, if I wasn’t so afraid of dogs, I would start my own company. Disposal fees? Um, garbage can in front of my house. Slap a sign on the top of the car, give a discount to anyone who would get their neighbor to sign up, too. Easy money. Super-gross money, but easy.

  6. Yup sounds like the same area we live in. We see the same sorts house cleaners galore, lawn mowing, driveway sealing, aerating, travelling pet spa, massage and nail in house, but some people live for these conveniences. The other reason is they simply may not know how to do it, can’t do it, don’t want to do it. Believe it or not there are people that are rubbish at cleaning, cooking, mowing the lawn. washing windows etc.

    One lady we know has 3 kids and is a stay at home mom and has a weekly cleaner come to her house. Some people opt to value their own time more than their money so they will pay people to do the work for them. I could care less how they spend their money but to me at times I also shake my head. We have that poop n scoop business in our city as well, or at least I’ve seen the truck. There’s no way our property would get littered with poop. I work too hard to keep it beautiful. Cheers
    Canadian Budget Binder recently posted…Do You Really Need Cell Phone Insurance?My Profile

    • It shouldn’t bother me how other people spend THEIR money. It isn’t my business. But wastefulness just makes me crazy. Just like the neighbors who are tossing perfectly good things in their trash – although that is not only wasteful, but also filling landfills on MY planet with things that can still be used. We only get one planet.

      I digress…

  7. The specialization of the medical profession is a prime example. To do things better, we have hyper-specialized roles. The cost is that we don’t have many doctors anymore who have complete mastery of the human body. That being said, very few cases require the latter. Interesting food for thought. Great post!

  8. I love using the internet to find ways to fix things around the house. One of the most recent things I’ve done that most would hire out is to replace the heating element on the dryer. The last thing I paid to have fixed was my computer and if I had the ability to research the issue and fix it myself I would but I only have one computer so it made it hard for me to look things up 🙂

    • I am jealous that you were able to fix your dryer yourself. Our washer broke, and I was unable to diagnose the problem, and when I did think I figured it out, I was unable to install the part. Turns out the washer was just toast. Boo.

      Funny about not being able to research the computer problem due to a broken computer!

  9. We have found that using a more natural dog food makes the poop biodegrade faster. We didn’t put our dog on this because we were trying to be all uppity about what she ate, but she has a corn allergy and almost all of the major brands use this as filler. I pretty much never see her poop in the back yard after a few days, so I can’t fathom paying someone to take it away.

  10. Oh Jake, you saved way more than $300. When we sold our last house, the buyers insisted we use their plumber to install an air vent for the dishwasher. $900 and about 2 hours later…

    Youtube is amazing to learning how to fix or do almost anything.

  11. Sadly, you did not grow up in the typical family. Good for you! I remember my dad doing all the things you said, and more. He changed the oil in the cars, he fixed all the bikes in the neighborhood, he built our deck, he dug the hole for the pool. The list goes on.

  12. 2 big dogs and a long Canadian winter means I will be spending an hour this weekend dealing with all my problems now that the snow is gone. I dig a hole and rake all the offensive material in to the hole and cover it up with dirt. Fast end to the problem.

    Having someone do all the manual labour in your life while you pay for a personal trainer must be a way to demonstrate your status in the community.
    jane savers @ solving the money puzzle recently posted…Is The World In An Economic Funk?My Profile

    • I finally did go pick up all the deer droppings. It was super gross and took about an hour, but way better than looking at it!

      Good for you for picking it up yourself, and finding a solution to the problem.

  13. There are two things we do around the house that I would gladly pay for other people to do: paint and lawn care. I haaate painting with a fiery passion. I painted last night and I wish I hadn’t. Even though the room came out looking pretty awesome in the end. Our lawn is another story. It’s pretty dead and I always miss the week when you’re “supposed” to fertilize and whatever. How the hell am I supposed to know when that is? Maybe there are lawn care commercials on TV to remind my neighbors, but I don’t have cable and all of their lawns are like beautiful thick green carpets 🙁
    Johnny Moneyseed recently posted…A semi-rant about other people’s spendingMy Profile

    • I hear you. Our house is on the market, and with last year’s drought, it looks like hell. Massive dead spots in the front and back yards, super-thatchy because the people who lived here before us didn’t really take care of it like you are supposed to.

      All of the neighbors have the most amazing, green lawns imaginable. Almost as if they are spray painted. Makes our patch of dead look even worse!

  14. I live in a part of Colorado where I think all my neighbors work for your neighbors lol. They all have landscaping trucks and what not. I too banked on lazy neighbors and had a pet sitting business a few years ago. I made very good money at it.

    I do all my own home renovating, because my father owns a construction company. On weekends we wouldn’t hang out watching T.V.; from an early age I would be on construction sites helping with everything. I know how to build a house from the ground up, and can use all power tools just to name a few specialties. It comes in handy since I love fixing anything around the house. I joke with Mr. FBS that I know more about construction than he does, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

    I wonder if someone would pay to put together IKEA stuff. I love doing that too hmm…
    Financial Black Sheep recently posted…Name Brand Products I LoveMy Profile

    • People DO pay other people to put together their IKEA stuff. I am trying to find out how you can become an IKEA-furniture-assembler, because that is a super easy job, and I could totally do that.

      If you figure out how to become an assembler, let me know…

  15. This post cracked it up! It is so true though…how lazy some people have become. We own a condo and EVERYONE aside from us has their own weekly cleaning lady. Plus they hire out for painting and other things like that. The funny part is that most of our neighbors are retired (but in amazing health) and have grown children. Or some are YOUNG single women who tell me they are bored and have too much extra time on their hands. My husband is a pediatrician and works a zillion hours and we have 2 young children. We are so much busier than they are, yet my husband does all the painting and together we do all the cleaning. And when we finally bought snow tires for the first time, my husband made the time and figured out how to put them on by himself. And one time when we couldn’t get any hot water, my husband googled it, figured out the problem, bought a part, and googled how to switch out the part. I guess we are just a lot like you: We just don’t like to pay out for things we can do ourselves. There is also a lot of satisfaction when you do something yourself, especially if it’s something you have no knowledge about but you research and figure it out, and save yourself some money.

    • Why can I find like-minded people on line, but not anywhere to live next to? Seriously, our house is on the market because we moved into the worst neighborhood possible to teach children about responsible finance. We are willing to lose money to sell the house right after we bought it, because we so hate this neighborhood.

      It hurts to see my lazy neighbors throwing away the recycle in the trash because they don’t want to hold on to it during the week that recycle doesn’t get picked up. And I know they are doing it because I can see the cans through the bags!

      I don’t know anyone in the neighborhood that cleans their own house except me. And they get it cleaned every week! How dirty is your house that you need it cleaned every week? It is something like $90 a week!!!

  16. Lol. We don’t have a lawn, so we pick up our own poop (well our dog’s #2- we don’t poop on the sidewalks). I wouldn’t personally pay for someone to pick up our dog’s business, but if someone else wants to I’m fine with that. I pay $15 per walk for someone to take out dog out for a mid-day walk. I don’t love writing that check, but I chose to have a dog and with the hours we work it’s not fair for him to “hold it” all day.

    • Hi KK, thanks for reading.

      I don’t have a dog (was bit as a child and never got over it) and just see them as a responsibility, rather than a pleasure. (I am sure some people see children this way as well.) But I still feel that a dog shouldn’t be harmed. I love that you love your dog enough to pay for someone to let him go halfway through the day.

      I have a relative who works some pretty ridiculous hours, and she just keeps her dogs in a cage (they are tiny little dogs, so they still have plenty of room to move around) and I think that is just wrong.

      Good for you to recognize that you CHOSE to have a dog, and you need to do right by that dog. (That sounds preachy. I don’t mean to be preachy. There are just so many people who don’t get dog ownership.)

  17. I have to say, on one hand, I’m horrified at the idea of paying some one to come pick up my dog’s poo; on the other hand, I salute that saavy individual with the strong stomach willing to make a business off people’s unwillingness to do the doo doo deed.

    One other point, I have no problems do-it-yourselfing. I’ve had Youtube walk me through a number of simple mechanic fixes on my Honda to avoid repair shop bills. I replaced my own driver side mirror for $45 and 30 minutes of my time – the repair shop quoted me $250 to do it.

    But, I will never ever move myself again. I will happily fork over $900 to have people come over and do the heavy lifting. I am sure I’m horrifying the masses when I say that but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I cut costs in some places to allow expenses in another.

    Good article, thanks!
    Lindsey
    Lindsey @ Cents & Sensibility recently posted…Talking about money: Beautiful Togetherness!My Profile

    • I completely agree with the dog doo thing. I can’t believe people pay for it, and I cannot believe someone came up with the idea. Probably had a friend say “I hate picking up the logs. I would pay someone to do this.”

      As for the moving, there is a hybrid solution. We drive the U-Haul ourselves, but pay professionals to pack the truck. We used Two Men and a Truck, and they did an AWESOME job. The guys came over, looked at our stuff and looked at the truck, then did some amazing Tetris-stacking of all our stuff. Nothing broken in that truck. It didn’t all fit, so we went back and rented a trailer, and packed that ourselves. Stuff broke in the trailer.

      I would absolutely use Two Men again. I think it cost $250, and was worth every penny. Not only did they pack it so nothing broke, but they packed it so tight that we were able to get almost everything in. Never would have happened with us doing the packing, plus some of our stuff is really heavy…

  18. I’ve found my next job if the whole optometrist thing doesn’t work out! I actually don’t mind picking up dog poop. It’s not pleasant, but you use a shovel, so it’s not like you’re touching it. Just goes along with having a dog. I bet those people also pay to have someone give the dog a bath and paint it’s nails. I do have to say I have been considering a maid. I probably won’t ever be able to go for it, but house chores are the one thing I find myself loathing every week. If I could do something worthwhile with those extra hours, it might be worth it, but I’m still a long way from deciding as I need to go get my mop bucket right now.
    Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted…Why I’ll Never Move to FloridaMy Profile

  19. There are people who NEED this service;

    1) People with disabilities who want the companionship of a dog but are unable to scoop the yard.

    2) Single parents who work all day, come home and do all the household chores and would rather spend the remaining time with their children rather than cleaning the back yard.

    3) People who work all day and in winter, get home when it’s dark outside but still don’t want things to “pile up” until they can clean on the weekend