Spending money on weed mats, cloth, landscape fabrics, etc. could mean control of any "weeds", and other plants, growing where you place them, provided you cover that material with enough mulch to block any of those plants access to the sun. However, as many people discover "weeds" will then simply grow in the mulch material. Easier is to plunk down enough mulch material to keep any plants from getting the sunlight they need to grow so that in the future you will not need to try to pull the landscape fabric up only to find that it is stuck in place by roots growing into the bottom of that fabric.

Your situation sounds exactly like mine! I'm facing another summer in this house and I'm so overwhelmed with house projects that the garden just makes me want to cry! I have exsisting beds and major landscaping that was put in by the previous owner, but neglected for several years. I also don't know where anything is plantd, so I don't know what's a weed and what's a plant when it comes up.

I too was told that weed cloth is a mess. I've been considering doing what you were thinking. I was going to actually use plastic or tarps to kill all the vegetation in one large area, and keep it plant free until I'm ready to deal with it. I don't see why that wouldn't work, and I'm considering doing that this spring in some areas.

I've also just purchased a small, cultivator/tiller that is gas powered and I can till under the weeds in large areas and start from scratch.

I was advised to give Preen, a pre-emergence a try to in areas that have exsisting plants that I don't want to kill.

I'm going to try a combination of those things, but no weed cloth in the beds after I have worked the area, I hear its just a pain to deal with.

I too, would like to use newspaper, but don't get a daily paper either! I'm thinking about posting an ad on craigslist asking for free newspaper, or just asking everyone I know to save their papers for me!

If you want to be rid of everything, lay down 6 mil black plastic. It will be cheaper than landscape fabric. Roots won't grow into it to make removal more difficult later, and you can lay it back as you want to start working up the yard. If there are some things you want to save, you can cut holes or X's where these plants are.

Another easy way to be rid of everything is to just hit it with glyphosate. Repeat treatments will be necessary every 2-4 weeks as new weeds start to grow. Leaves no damaging residual in the soil when you are ready to work the ground, unlike some other options.

Any "weed" control spray can get to be quite expensive, especially if you need to use it every 2 to 4 weeks which indicates that it is not doing the job you were told it would do and if it is not doing the job why keep using it?
Pre emergent poisons can also keep the plants you want from growing. Instead of spending money on products to keep plants from growing I would rather spend my money on plants I want and use less expensive (or free) products to control the "weeds" in my planting beds.

You need to get a dual-layered landscape fabric that has a layer of low permeability (which means weed seeds can't grow roots through the fabric) and the other layer draws water and air through. WalMart sells this kind and it has a guarantee to have no weeds for less than $15 a roll. I've had it on my natural areas for years and have no problem with weeds. It is a thinner fabric than most but it works (get garden staples to hold it in place).The black side faces up- it won't work if you put it in upside down.