View Full Version : Economic outlook
flowerseverywhere
7-27-20, 8:30pm
We hear snippets about stores closing, 14+% unemployment, farmers struggling, and so on. But I have heard very little about how we are going to economically recover from this disaster. Who is going to pay for all this stimulus? Where are people going to work if their jobs are lost? How many stores/restaurants/family farms/factories/will permanently close? How many people will lose their homes? And all those that will lose their health insurance or not be able to keep up their premiums.
Personally I have little hope that anyone but the very rich will come out the other side of this still thriving.
We can only hope that the collective "we" can make lemonade out of lemons. We were set to sell/buy a house but now don't know how or when to proceed. It is the not knowing of so many things that scares us.
Unemployment in my community is >35% now, a goodly number of the stores in our village have closed their doors probably permanently, and folks are unable to afford housing.
So, I expect there will be plenty of changes here. No clue how it will shake out.
I think some industries will fare better than others. I think any business where people congregate is extremely vulnerable. Restaurants, bars, gyms, hotels, airlines, wedding venues etc. etc. are probably going to insure many casualties.
How that will trickle down to the economy at large remains to be seen.
An article I read today had the prediction that half the people currently laid off will not be rehired. Judging from how long this may go on that seems reasonable. Lots of pain.
This seems to be a very bifurcated situation. I don’t know a lot of people who are currently at long term risk of harm. But most people I know are like me. They can work from home and covid isn’ t killing their industry.
If there are mass deaths from covid the unemployment problem will be solved. In my state I have seen amongst people I know or on the news numerous outbreaks due to packed harbor cruise boat, house parties, weddings, baby shower, cookouts, birthday parties including one for a woman in her eighties. One coworker was complaining he wishes he had just one weekend to relax instead of going to all these functions.
I am the odd person out because I have not gone to any social gatherings. To me people crowding together is the major risk factor for covid, not failure to wear or miswear some flimsy cloth mask. After a couple washings one of mine has trouble staying on. The ones we have available for customers at work are junk. One guy had the string break off three in a row when he picked them up, finally he got the fourth one to work.
If there are mass deaths from covid the unemployment problem will be solved. In my state I have seen amongst people I know or on the news numerous outbreaks due to packed harbor cruise boat, house parties, weddings, baby shower, cookouts, birthday parties including one for a woman in her eighties. One coworker was complaining he wishes he had just one weekend to relax instead of going to all these functions.
As a wise movie character once said ‘stupid is as stupid does’.
flowerseverywhere
7-28-20, 7:20am
We will soon be seeing some severe hardships. The $600 unemployment boost will be eliminated or reduced. Moratoriums on evictions and utility cutoffs will end as well. Landlords and utilities have their own bills to pay so this a damned if you do, damned if you don’t issue. Job loss =loss of medical insurance. Foreclosures are likely to increase. Food prices have already increased.
Heartbreaking when so many people will lose all they worked for. Seems like it will take a very long time for all this misery to end.
Heartbreaking when so many people will lose all they worked for. Seems like it will take a very long time for all this misery to end.
I agree.. as I've said before my symbol for the misery you speak of is my son's boss, a 33-year old who threw all his life savings into buying the restaurant 3 WEEKS before all the s**t hit the fan. I feel SO bad for him. They are open for outdoor dining, but sales are a fraction of what they were their first weeks in business. My son says his boss is obsessed with tracking sales every night. My son is making NO money to speak of. He looks at his job as, not a money-making venture, but as a way to help out his boss/owners--people he cares about. If he didn't care about them, he certainly wouldn't even bother going in. At this point he's looking at maybe taking classes to pick up a new career.
We will soon be seeing some severe hardships. The $600 unemployment boost will be eliminated or reduced. Moratoriums on evictions and utility cutoffs will end as well. Landlords and utilities have their own bills to pay so this a damned if you do, damned if you don’t issue. Job loss =loss of medical insurance. Foreclosures are likely to increase. Food prices have already increased.
Heartbreaking when so many people will lose all they worked for. Seems like it will take a very long time for all this misery to end.
The $600/week extra ended this past weekend (July 25th). There is much talk of the rent/mortgage moratoriums, but at least here in Chicago, the small time landlords, who own one or two buildings, seem to be ignored. I don't like the Chicago mayor at all, but at least she's kept bringing up these property owners.
Entire industries have been decimated. Hospitality (includes restaurants), conventions (huge here in Chicago - that includes the tradesmen who set up/take down displays), entertainment, retail, etc. Some popular higher- end restaurants here are actually doing more business via carryout than they would have with regular sit-down business (they never did carryout before), but they are the exception. I see man restaurants around me with areas blocked off in parking lots for outdoor dining. Here in northern IL, we've got maybe another 2-2.5 months before the weather starts going downhill.
ApatheticNoMore
7-28-20, 1:05pm
As a wise movie character once said ‘stupid is as stupid does’.
masks are for when you can't avoid people, obviously avoiding people is preferable. But I suspect for every one idiot infected because they are partying, there is at least one infected because they live in crowded conditions, and at least one infected because of their work.
Yes of course the economy is going to be bad, already this neighborhood is getting more shady, more and more people living in cars (with tinted windows and stuff even, 100% illegal to have tinted windows at all, I know I've fell afoul of that law just trying to keep the car cool with less A/C in summer before, but hey). It's not by and large a dangerous neighborhood but I really suspect more and more parked cars with people living in them from what I've seen, and other crazy behavior as well.
I see man restaurants around me with areas blocked off in parking lots for outdoor dining. Here in northern IL, we've got maybe another 2-2.5 months before the weather starts going downhill.
If they included women as well they might do better.
If they included women as well they might do better.
Hah! Meant MANY
Teacher Terry
7-28-20, 2:22pm
Nevada’s economy is heavily tourist dependent. The north did diverse some after the last recession. The casinos are planning on laying off half their employees.
flowerseverywhere
7-28-20, 3:11pm
I agree with everyone and what they are seeing. When the small businesses fail, who will fill the storefronts? The building owners are in for a world of hurt as well.
i was thinking of churches too. Congregations have not been gathering and dropping money into baskets. Surely many of the faithful continue to make contributions though. Our gym is urging us to come, yet they have lost many members. I just see it across so many segments of society. And each person struggling will spend less, possibly lose home, or put their educational pursuits on the back burner.
Flowers, my church had been maintaining a level of contributions equal to budget most months. Churches unfortunately lost the contributions at Easter when a lot is put in the collection plate from non regular members.
happystuff
7-29-20, 11:14am
My temple is financial established such that they do not need to depend on contributions.
IMHO
Fundamental services like grocery, hospital, transit will continue with modifications as necessary.
Re churches - more have proven that online services do attract members. Periodic visiting in small groups to maintain fellowship will be necessary.
Small stores - the personal touch will be more appreciated as human beings are very social. While striving for the best price, people do value good service whether a garage, a hair stylist or clothing store. It is all about building community support.
Restaurants have a long history of coming and going. It is the spacing that is the challenge. Who would have imagined so many donut shops or a McDonalds in each community? Or so many variety stores, etc? What changed to make this expansion evolve so extensively? Looking back at the roots of change will show a pathway ahead for the next generation of stores and services.
I am concerned about the audience-based businesses and all the dependents on their operations though. Tourism, theatres, convention centres, hotels will need to rebuild once confidence is restored.
The human being is resilient. If society can obtain shelter, food and an opportunity, it will overcome the challenges. Many have coasted along for about two generations taking life and opportunities and services for granted. A sense of entitlement has grown that was not earned. Look at the challenges around the world and see how blessed NA has been. It was not infinitely sustainable.
I think the pandemic has accelerated some pre-existing trends.
Governments were already fairly highly leveraged through pushing rates down, expanding their balance sheets and diluting the value of their currencies. All the new pandemic spending will serve to inflate the bubbles further. Canada’s recent credit downgrade may just be an early indication of more to come.
Higher education’s business model was probably unsustainable before the current recession. They may find themselves in an adapt or die situation in coming years.
We are overproducing aspirants to various elites by creating far more PhDs, lawyers and other specialties of questionable economic value than there are positions available, often debt-financed. The current situation only highlights the increase in educated, resentful members of the population.
Automation and expert systems may be seen as safer as well as more cost-effective than troublesome staff.
Teacher Terry
7-31-20, 11:38am
A third of lawyers never practice and there are definitely not enough jobs for professors.
dado potato
8-1-20, 4:14pm
Charles Hugh Smith's economic outlook can be summarized as "Toppling Dominoes of Depression".
In Smith's sequencing of collapse:
1. Pandemic triggers mass layoffs. Uncertainty is the new normal. Capital and trade flows are disrupted.
2. High-cost small business fold, money velocity collapses, as savings soar.
3. Zombie corporations rush to borrow billions, delaying their insolvency.
4. Service sector dependent on top 5% household spending implodes. Technical and managerial layoffs surprise "the protected class".
5. State/local government tax revenues plummet ... local government employment slashed.
6. Loan defaults and bankruptcies explode higher, triggering catastrophic losses in banking and derivatives. (Smith might be thinking of Collateralized Loan Obligations, owned by Insurance Companies and pension funds? End-game for zombie corporations?)
7. "Safe" sectors crushed: tech, health care, higher education, finance.
http://www.oftwominds.com See blog, July 31, 2020
The metaphor of falling dominoes may distort the reality of the next few years of value destruction. I think Smith has left out another type of severe loss, which I expect to occur, as the "Golden Age of Fraud" is detected by external auditors. And I think there will be further losses due to arson, looting, vandalism.
So, I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Thanks for posting dado. I think people have overemphasized the health consequences of the pandemic and not paid enough attention to the economic impact. I posted in the coronavirus thread that the number of people starving to death in the Third World is expected to double due to virus related shutdowns. Currently I am nearing the end of Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped To Hide the Frank Family. As they await liberation the Dutch are starving. It is horrific. When people's blood sugar crashes midafternoon and they say, "I'm starving" because they want a candy bar, no you're not starving.
For a virus with around a 1% fatality rate we have taken drastic action. And to those who say the virus causes long-term medical issues in some people, not as long-term as being dead of starvation.
Charles Hugh Smith's economic outlook can be summarized as "Toppling Dominoes of Depression".
In Smith's sequencing of collapse:
1. Pandemic triggers mass layoffs. Uncertainty is the new normal. Capital and trade flows are disrupted.
2. High-cost small business fold, money velocity collapses, as savings soar.
3. Zombie corporations rush to borrow billions, delaying their insolvency.
4. Service sector dependent on top 5% household spending implodes. Technical and managerial layoffs surprise "the protected class".
5. State/local government tax revenues plummet ... local government employment slashed.
6. Loan defaults and bankruptcies explode higher, triggering catastrophic losses in banking and derivatives. (Smith might be thinking of Collateralized Loan Obligations, owned by Insurance Companies and pension funds? End-game for zombie corporations?)
7. "Safe" sectors crushed: tech, health care, higher education, finance.
http://www.oftwominds.com See blog, July 31, 2020
The metaphor of falling dominoes may distort the reality of the next few years of value destruction. I think Smith has left out another type of severe loss, which I expect to occur, as the "Golden Age of Fraud" is detected by external auditors. And I think there will be further losses due to arson, looting, vandalism.
So, I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
I don't say I don't agree with some of this but Zero Hedge and some of the other places this guy writes for are conspiracy theory sites. Just saying.
ETA: How are you preparing?
dado potato
8-1-20, 5:38pm
the number of people starving to death in the Third World is expected to double due to virus related shutdowns.
The locusts are eating well, however.
The World Bank recently published a brief on food insecurity. Not all who experience food insecurity will succumb to starvation, but the number is staggering: " 265 million people could face food insecurity by the end of 2020".
http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/food-insecurity-and-covid-19
flowerseverywhere
8-1-20, 5:47pm
Thanks for posting dado. I think people have overemphasized the health consequences of the pandemic and not paid enough attention to the economic impact. I posted in the coronavirus thread that the number of people starving to death in the Third World is expected to double due to virus related shutdowns. Currently I am nearing the end of Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped To Hide the Frank Family. As they await liberation the Dutch are starving. It is horrific. When people's blood sugar crashes midafternoon and they say, "I'm starving" because they want a candy bar, no you're not starving.
For a virus with around a 1% fatality rate we have taken drastic action. And to those who say the virus causes long-term medical issues in some people, not as long-term as being dead of starvation.
I saw you wrote elsewhere that money spent on keeping all these old people alive could solve much of the global starvation problem.
Guess what? If tomorrow I get Covid and end up at the ER, I could be deemed too old to treat. Don’t think for one minute all the money saved will end up helping anyone starving in a third world country eat. Some insurance executive or hospital executive or even a crony of our President might get more money via bonuses or contracts, but you are dreaming if Any money would go to starving children who are not American, white and Christian. A real trifecta. Clean out the old people, those of color and the immune compromised. Remember foreign aid cuts? One of the rallying cries of Trump rallys.
Dado P, I’m not sure if the scenario would go quite like that, but your list is food for thought. Regardless it doesn’t look good.
dado potato
8-1-20, 6:00pm
I don't say I don't agree with some of this but
Anyone, myself included, is free to disagree with some or all of Smith's prediction of an economic depression. If you are saying Smith subscribes to an invalid conspiracy theory, please fill me on on where you believe he is in error.
Preparing for a depression:
Sell securities.
Secure a cash reserve.
Eliminate debt.
Put physical gold and silver in the safe deposit box.
Preparing for a depression:
Sell securities.
Secure a cash reserve.
Eliminate debt.
Put physical gold and silver in the safe deposit box.
You forgot to list "Acquire more firearms."
Charles Hugh Smith's economic outlook can be summarized as "Toppling Dominoes of Depression".
In Smith's sequencing of collapse:
1. Pandemic triggers mass layoffs. Uncertainty is the new normal. Capital and trade flows are disrupted.
2. High-cost small business fold, money velocity collapses, as savings soar.
3. Zombie corporations rush to borrow billions, delaying their insolvency.
4. Service sector dependent on top 5% household spending implodes. Technical and managerial layoffs surprise "the protected class".
5. State/local government tax revenues plummet ... local government employment slashed.
6. Loan defaults and bankruptcies explode higher, triggering catastrophic losses in banking and derivatives. (Smith might be thinking of Collateralized Loan Obligations, owned by Insurance Companies and pension funds? End-game for zombie corporations?)
7. "Safe" sectors crushed: tech, health care, higher education, finance.
http://www.oftwominds.com See blog, July 31, 2020
The metaphor of falling dominoes may distort the reality of the next few years of value destruction. I think Smith has left out another type of severe loss, which I expect to occur, as the "Golden Age of Fraud" is detected by external auditors. And I think there will be further losses due to arson, looting, vandalism.
So, I hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
I don't necessarily disagree with any of this as a realistic prediction except that the federal reserve will do everything in their power, and make up new powers if necessary like they did in 2008/2009 to stave off the worst of it for invetors. Will they be as successful this time around? Who knows. Also, Charles Hugh Smith is generally a doom and gloom kind of guy and has been predicting disaster for a long long time. Eventually he'll probably be correct, but the market can be irrational a lot longer than any of us can remain solvent. And sometimes things just change structurally and expected events never occur. For example, before the great depression it was standard for stocks to pay higher dividends than bonds since bonds promised the return of principal while stocks did no such thing. During the years after WWII a not insignificant number of investors remained in bonds waiting for stock dividends to get back to where they "should" be. Anyone following that plan would still be waiting today and would have missed out on 75 years of capital gains from owning stocks.
Anyone, myself included, is free to disagree with some or all of Smith's prediction of an economic depression. If you are saying Smith subscribes to an invalid conspiracy theory, please fill me on on where you believe he is in error.
Preparing for a depression:
Sell securities.
Secure a cash reserve.
Eliminate debt.
Put physical gold and silver in the safe deposit box.
Added self protection "tools"
I have done all of this plus topped off all food and goods supplies. I think it will get worse as time goes by. Plus already seeing signs where things are temporarily unavailable and metal/tin can shortages, not to mention, trump not allowing Mexicans across the border to pick produce. This does not bode well.
dado potato
8-2-20, 1:39am
There is a crunch on apartment renters, a few months in arrears on their rent.
Reuters 7/29/2020 "US Renters Owe $21.5 Billion in Back Rent".
I note that some credit unions (6 CUs in Washington State, for example) are making interest-free loans to members who are behind in their rent because of COVID-19. Typically the unsecured loan has a term of 1 year, and the borrower has 100 days before the first monthly payment is due... so the landlord gets paid, and the tenant has relief for 100 days. In the case of Canopy CU in Spokane, I understand that the maximum loan is $1,000.
Bravo, credit unions. There are other lenders who also may be willing to make loans to renters who are behind, but they charge a significant rate of interest.
I doubt that the $21.5 billion will be fully financed. There will be distress.
ApatheticNoMore
8-2-20, 1:45am
I find the predictions are many things that are already happening or near so. The layoffs, the small business closures, the rich not spending (it is where spending is down, it's not poor people whose spending has gone down), the local governments crunched for money.
But I just find the suggestions dubious, put all one's money in cash? Really? Eliminate debt? I don't know if housing prices go down an equally good case could be made for taking out debt to buy. I don't carry or even cosider the possibility of other debt unless I was forced into it by circumstances (which actually is how much debt is acquired - medical debt etc.). Gold and silver, have some if you want as a sort of diversification play, but how much good will they really be.
ApatheticNoMore
8-2-20, 3:48am
I saw you wrote elsewhere that money spent on keeping all these old people alive could solve much of the global starvation problem.
Guess what? If tomorrow I get Covid and end up at the ER, I could be deemed too old to treat. Don’t think for one minute all the money saved will end up helping anyone starving in a third world country eat.
the starving children in the 3rd world are being thrown in because yeppej has obviously lost the argument in any data from any modern countries or even in the U.S. (un-developing country that it is). Prioritizing the economy over the pandemic was a false dichotomy that saved neither. The U.S. economy is suffering. But China's has GDP growth again. They dealt with the pandemic far better.
And starvation NEVER needs to happen in the U.S. EVER, just give people food or the money they need to buy food period. I mean it could be said it never needs to happen in the world ever, but it's more complex. Starvation isn't an issue anyone should be worrying about in the U.S. it's completely unnecessary always.
It is not a popular idea but I believe in "balance in all things". Rushing from one extreme to the other is a quick way to crash and burn. We have always balanced our investments, really tried hard to live at a lower standard of living, kept debt to an absolute minimum, learned to do things ourselves or keep it simple so loads of repairs are not needed.
It is not a popular idea but I believe in "balance in all things". Rushing from one extreme to the other is a quick way to crash and burn. We have always balanced our investments, really tried hard to live at a lower standard of living, kept debt to an absolute minimum, learned to do things ourselves or keep it simple so loads of repairs are not needed.
I agree. The simpler life can be, the less maintenance in time and cost.
I just sold my 7-year-old riding mower that I had needed on our farm and also used a lot as I landscaped my urban yard hauling stuff to the back. That landscaping part is now complete. I bought an 21" electric mower, cordless with 2 80V batteries.
I would hate to get rid of my riding mower. In addition to mowing, we just used it to use massive brush cut off of the maple tree, and to remove a giant limb from the roof.
iris lilies
8-2-20, 10:48am
We are new to the world of riding mowers after 30 years using push mowers. We now have 1 acre in Hermann so of course we need a riding mower, but we also need it to haul buckets of mulch and compost down the hill to the Iris beds and other landscaped islands which will only get bigger as time goes on.
It is not a popular idea but I believe in "balance in all things". Rushing from one extreme to the other is a quick way to crash and burn. We have always balanced our investments, really tried hard to live at a lower standard of living, kept debt to an absolute minimum, learned to do things ourselves or keep it simple so loads of repairs are not needed.
Here, too. I don't see where many of the remedies prescribed (move to all-cash and precious metals, etc.) are helpful or necessary. While our economic systems are quite complex, many people have bought into them (figuratively and literally) and -- for better or worse -- steps will be taken to preserve status quo. Not saying there won't be more damage or that it will be kind to anyone but the ultra-rich (even that may change). But I am not planning for some Mad Max post-apocalyptic world or even an Ayn Randian world. There's too much wealth in the world at stake to devolve to that and too much of a need for "little people" to make all that happen.
I do think there are things we can do to smooth out bumps in life (have a sum of cash in the house, keep the pantry full, stock TP and some disinfectant and first aid stuff, move up prescription refills if you can, maybe grow/preserve some of your own food, etc.). We'll do that. But doomsday prep; not for us.
Teacher Terry
8-2-20, 11:53am
No doomsday prep for us either. What we do in the states isn’t causing kids to starve in other countries. We had a acre in New York so had a riding mower. Now we have a low maintenance city yard which we love.
I find the predictions are many things that are already happening or near so. The layoffs, the small business closures, the rich not spending (it is where spending is down, it's not poor people whose spending has gone down), the local governments crunched for money.
But I just find the suggestions dubious, put all one's money in cash? Really? Eliminate debt? I don't know if housing prices go down an equally good case could be made for taking out debt to buy. I don't carry or even cosider the possibility of other debt unless I was forced into it by circumstances (which actually is how much debt is acquired - medical debt etc.). Gold and silver, have some if you want as a sort of diversification play, but how much good will they really be.
Yeah, not all money is converted to cash. Did do enough though to last our lifetime if lived frugally. Scary thought.
We are new to the world of riding mowers after 30 years using push mowers. We now have 1 acre in Hermann so of course we need a riding mower, but we also need it to haul buckets of mulch and compost down the hill to the Iris beds and other landscaped islands which will only get bigger as time goes on.
A riding mower came with the house in VT, and we do need it because although we only have 1/4 acre, we share the mowing of some of the joint property which is an acre in total.
That mower was an ancient Poulin, and we used it our first and second years here but it was like beating an old mare to get the. job done. DH finally replaced it with a used Cub Cadet. He LOVES that thing. It's ridiculous. Like IL, he also uses it to cart stuff. Sometimes he'll cart things to the truck that we can so easily just carry by hand, like two bags of garbage. But he loves his toy!
A riding mower came with the house in VT, and we do need it because although we only have 1/4 acre, we share the mowing of some of the joint property which is an acre in total.
That mower was an ancient Poulin, and we used it our first and second years here but it was like beating an old mare to get the. job done. DH finally replaced it with a used Cub Cadet. He LOVES that thing. It's ridiculous. Like IL, he also uses it to cart stuff. Sometimes he'll cart things to the truck that we can so easily just carry by hand, like two bags of garbage. But he loves his toy!
I confess that I loved my riding mower. It took a lot of rational thinking and logical arguing with myself to finally let it go. It was my first major purchase ofter DH's passing and I maintained the farm property with that tractor so well.
My little lot in town does not need a tractor. But the yard was mostly a gravel pit when I moved in to my new house so I hauled needed topsoil, multi-year layers of mulch and planted trees and shrubs which were easily moved with the tractor and its little cart so I was pleased to have it. The property is lovely now and thriving.
Last year I realized that the annual maintenance costs exceeded the benefits in mowing so have spent about a year arguing with myself. But I am now at peace with the decision.
The deciding factor in so many situations is getting the emotion out of the equation which is sometimes really hard
I have always liked the idea of sharing tools but I don't know how it would work with modern day issues like liability. A shed at the end of the block with mowers, edgers etc. that can be checked out.
iris lilies
8-3-20, 11:04am
Re:sharing tool.
With the right group of people it goes well but of course that caveat is true for all community endeavors.
At DH’s place of work with the tree company, the company maintained equipment shared by all employees. Except for chain saws. Because those are fiddleY to maintain and easily goofed up, they were required to use and maintain their own saws.
We have shared tools at our community garden and we have a designated tool guru to keep them maintained.still,
I find too much stuff jammed into the tool box, as well as useless hand tools laying there for years.
I am a self appointed purger of junk donated to our community garden. Too much crap shows up there. Each year we swim in donated tomato cages, for instance. DH can add them to his metal pile, which he turns in for cash about twice a year.
I use all my tomato cages--at the beginning of the year, they are around the lilies to keep the dogs from stepping on them. Now they are around the tomatoes, but they migrate.
I do not get why a riding mower is needed for an acre. My parents have a half acre including a slope and always used a regular mower, not self-propelled either. Whoever is mowing could easily do a half acre per day as they did, just two days in a row.
I do not get why a riding mower is needed for an acre. My parents have a half acre including a slope and always used a regular mower, not self-propelled either. Whoever is mowing could easily do a half acre per day as they did, just two days in a row.I have 3/4 acre and mowed it for years with a push mower, and man does it get hot and sweaty on a 90* day with about 70% humidity. I treated myself to a riding mower when I retired and the weekly mowing became almost pleasant rather than a chore. I don't consider it a need but I'll not give it up either.
iris lilies
8-3-20, 6:56pm
A riding mower is not a need it’s a want. But DH said it cuts down on time by a factor of four.
I do not get why a riding mower is needed for an acre. My parents have a half acre including a slope and always used a regular mower, not self-propelled either. Whoever is mowing could easily do a half acre per day as they did, just two days in a row.
It's not as easy if you are in your sixties with medical issues. And as IL alluded to, this is a great example of how you may wish to spend your life energy. Mowing for hours two days a week is fine if you really like it and can afford the time. Not everyone does and can.
But in theory I agree with you. I'm not crazy about noisy machines. If it were up to me, I'd rather use a push mower and get rid of all but 1/4 acre of lawn. But it's not my chore, so of course, DH can handle it any way he wants.
I got rid of my entire lawn and now I weed amongst ground cover, flowers and vegetables which doesn't save me any time but is less strenuous.
The mowing at my parents is maybe a 2 hour job not all day BTW.
We have 3/4 of an acre and I took over the tractor mowing when I moved in. I love it, very zen for me.
My husband also enjoys the zen of mowing on the riding mower. We do hire out the meadow about 1.3 acres, but our yard about 3/4 of an acre he does.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.