First, find out what kind of lawn you have, take samples to a good nursery. And weeds as well!

Our Ace in FL had a great nursery crew, lots of knowledge. My DH knows more about lawns in FL, but most nurserys will have a monthly chart of what to do to you yard for any particular month.

A good lawn program will pay for itself in beauty and health, but it will take time. I haven't even worried about my lawn until now, cause I own it, lol. Finally!

Cheri, who will be interested in this thread for sure

AND, be sure it IS crabgrass, I tried to get rid of my "crabgrass" for a few years, then I found it was Bermuda Grass--the grass from hell, for gardeners.
When I owned property across the road, I planted Bluegrass, its still beautiful and thick.-and as a aside, be careful of any grass they tell you that is spreading.(on its own)

I am not a lawn gardener and it shows. If it grows, I mow it.
Sad, but true.

You might try your local county extension agent too and he will probably have liturature for your area also.

Are you in a subdivision where your neighbors' lawns look like green carpet or are you in an area where most people have an assortment of green things that they keep mowed? There's more peer pressure to have a perfect lawn in some neighborhoods and also less weed seeds blowing around. I'm in an area where there are hay fields and weedy ditches and fence rows. Trying to have a perfect lawn would make me crazy. Occasionally (not every year) we go over our front yard with Weed and Feed and then wait a couple weeks(?) and spread fescue grass seed to fill in the spots where a few of the weeds actually died. That would be done in early spring or in the fall. Some people put pre-emergents on their lawns to keep new weed seeds from sprouting. Lowe's would have seed spreaders that you can roll back and forth across your lawn. That's what we use for the Weed and Feed and also the seed. It goes pretty quickly.

I agree the lawn care companies are too expensive but if I lived in an upscale neighborhood where neighbors would gasp at the sight of a dandylion, I might consider it. : )

Congrats on your new home and welcome to Gardenweb.

Here's a thread from the Midwest forum that might be helpful to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zoysia

Crabgrass is a warm season annual grass. It will sprout around April. You can use a pre-emerge herbacide on your lawn BEFORE it sprouts. Ferti-loam makes a weed and feed for crabgrass. Make sure you mow any crabgrass before it can put out seeds for next years.

Not knowing where you live, I can't make any grass recommendations. In Arkansas/Missouri we can grow either cool season or warm season grasses. In Arkansas warm season ones work better. Choices include bermudagrass, zoysia, centipede, and st. augustine (not reliably winter hardy north of Central Arkansas). Bermuda is easiest grass to establish if you have good sun. Zoysia can take some shade, and Centipede and St. Augustine can take more shade. No grass will grow well in deep shade.

Cool grasses include turf type tall fescues, ryegrass, and bluegrass. Some people in north Arkansas/Missouri have some success with fescue, but it must be well watered during the summer to stay green, and usually re-seeded every fall. Ryegrass is an annual grass that will die out when summer gets hot. I don't know much about bluegrass as it doesn't do well in Arkansas.

Bermuda can be sodded anytime, or seeded in May and will establish if you keep the water on your lawn. Ryegrass, bluegrass, fescue are sown in October. Zoysia, St. Augustine, and Centipede are usually laid as sod.

If you have dense shade, I recommend ground covers instead of grass.

I'm sure these are all good suggestions, but after fighting Bermuda for 40 years, and its improvement, Zoysa, I shudder to think she might plant the stuff on purpose, and expect to have flower beds, and gardens. I think if she hates crabgrass, she would Bermuda, but perhaps not.
Of course, I suppose it would make a good lawn, with the exception its brown for so long.