I'm all for doing whatever you can to make things easier and less of a hassle. When I moved from the country in to this house in town 8-1/2 years ago I had a little cheapie Walmart push mower and a Weedeater that I couldn't always start. I can't afford a big fancy lawn mower or a riding mower and the little cheap ones die, sometimes don't even make it through one mowing season, so I went through a half dozen of them in just a few years. Even if I could have lifted the darn thing in to the trunk of the car to have it repaired, it would cost more to have it fixed than it was worth. My yard here is GIGANTIC! It takes up 2/3rds of a city block, street to street. Still, for the first two or three years I did it all myself with that little push mower. And this is really healthy, thick grass! To do the whole thing took me almost the entire weekend! I was out there shoving that mower around when it was 98 degrees outside, mowed till my feet and ankles were swelled to the size of basketballs, but still I did it! Then one day that mower too died, I couldn't afford to run out and buy another one right then, and I was stuck! So I called a lawn service owned by a guy I've known for years, thinking I would just have them do it till I could buy another mower. They charged me $50 but then my yard is the equivalent to two or three normal sized yards. Three guys showed up, one on a huge commercial mower and two weedeating, and in a half hour they were done and the yard looked fantastic, better than it ever had! And I had my weekends back ... and no more swollen feet! I'm getting too darned old to be out there shoving a lawn mower around in the summer heat anyway. I can't afford to have it done every week but I have them come every other week and it's worth every single penny I spend on them!
And on the carpeting ... I would KILL to get rid of it and have hardwood floors! This carpet was new when I moved in to the house and I vacuum often - sometimes a losing battle with four dogs, and old houses just seem to make their own dirt. I bought a carpet shampooer after a few months and the first time I used it, what came out of it looked like mud! This was all gunk that the vacuum didn't get! Eeeewww! And there is NO carpet cleaning service that operates in our little town. My daughter and sister in law have two big dogs and a baby and they were spending a fortune on carpet cleaning. They finally had it all pulled out and put in hardwood floors, even in the kitchen, everywhere but the bathrooms. It's lovely and it's not that hard to keep up with at all. Mostly they just run a dust mop over it every few days and they're good to go!