Mike's Turn to Shop

So we're at it again - except this shopping was a little more Mike's excursion than mine. We're looking for a lawn mower. We've price-compared Menards, Home Depot, etc. and always seem to find the best deals at Menards. Also, 4th of July sales always help!

We ventured into the lawn mower section and it was like walking into the Twilight Zone. Who knew there were so many different kinds of lawn mowers?! The biggest surprise to me is there's such a thing as a "self-propelled mower." I thought all were push mowers (maybe because that's what my dad had)! Apparently I'm behind the times.

First, I tried to sell Mike on this one... vintage right?!

Clearly I knew that wasn't going to fly; then I suggested a normal push mower - more up-to-date and it's a great work out! I figured that was my best way to sell it to Mike. Still a no go. So as Mike wandered around, I took pictures - good thing the lawn mower section was tucked away and I couldn't embarass him too much.

Finally, we found a mower. It's a Brute lawn mower 3-in-1 and self-propelled. And it was on sale - and I am a sucker for sales! Especially, because we budgeted $400 for a lawn mower and it only cost us $280 with the sale.

Note: The budgets that I create for myself always tend to have upper-end estimates. This helps us get a better idea of a worse-case-scenario and cover all our bases. With this being said, the budget is still realistic for our financial situation (i.e. I know that we can't afford a $1500 loveseat). This type of budgeting allows us to buy the higher-end products if necessary (with the higher-end prices) and gives us a better picture of what the project could end up costing.

After finding the lawn mower, we had to find an employee to help us find the right boxed-up version of said lawn mower. Unfortunately, we found the one man that had about as much strength (and height) as me. Good thing I have Mike! Even when loading it into the car, Mike just bear-hugged the box and put it into the trunk. I held the cart still.... clearly it's an equal partnership.

All-in-all, a successful trip. I have a feeling if I can learn this much about lawn mowers, I'm going to learn A LOT about A LOT of other things I never cared about...

Lawn mower. CHECK.
(even thought it hasn't rained in weeks and the grass looks like hay)