Not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination but growing up poor makes you handy by necessity. Removal of catalytic converters is illegal in most jurisidictions but can sometimes be justified for "performance tuning reasons". Any back yard mechanic would be able to do it but may ask for a reason why: just tell him fuel mileage reasons.
If you wanted to remove it, just jack up the vehicle - be sure to place stands underneath - after all, safety first when working towards CTB. Most seem to be bolt on so some WD-40 and a wrench/breaker bar combo will do the trick. If yours is an integrated system, then get an angle grinder / metal hacksaw and cut it out. Then you can fit in a straight pipe, with fittings and muffler clamps. It would be louder and would no longer pass emissions inspection, but the converter will be off....Now, if you are in the US, simply leave it overnight at a Wal-mart and some one will have stolen it by the morning.
When I grew up, I don't recall having to deal with them since my vehicles were usually older than 1975. At most, I would straight pipe my cars to make them louder - in my era, more sound = more power (of course we were pretty stupid back then)...
Edited for grammar.....