You can now rent items instead of buying

     Today's economy is getting tighter with people being laid off, and companies closing. This is making everyone tighten their budgets. People are looking for alternative solutions to compensate for what can not be bought. Some of the ways people are finding is instead of buying things they are finding ways to rent them. I came acrost an article "12 things you didn't know you could rent" and it intrigued me. 1. This article listed some things I knew could be rented such as power tools, party supplies, sporting goods, camping gear and bikes.  It also listed things I did not know that could be rented, such as the iPhone and college text books. Yes, I said college text books.
     This lead me to a web sight Chegg.com 2. I searched out the books we use in the paralegal program and calcuated the costs of buying them to what was listed as quarterly rental fees and found out I could save a LOT of money. The company even states that the renter could ship the books back for free. This would be an additional cost saver.
     This lead me to search more and see what else was out there to support renting items and what was being offered. I came across WHIO TV's web sight with and article suggesting we "Go Green", stating there are four R's to think about, not three.  We all know the normal three "reduce, reuse, and recycle". The writer states that the fourth R is "rent", supporting that power tools are better rented, than bought out right. The average power tool, once bought is generally used only once or twice then sits on a shelf gathering dust, if it was not bought as a business purchase. 3.
      Another sight I came acrossed gave ideas of not only renting but trading, and borrowing. 4. The writer states that the internet is a great source to search for sites that will help with the hunt for items. This article did state that among the things I ahve already stated that could be rented that one could also rent designer handbags and jewelry.
     I also found out that for the person who loves to grow their own produce but either lives in an apartment or has a "no grow" ordinance in their neighborhood, that some cities have an area where a person can rent a plot. Some also offer potted plants for terraces that can by rented in three month increments. 1.
     All these article have given me food for thought. With today's economy as it is, it gives me options to buying many items. Looking at some of the links on the articles and checking out the cost of some of the rentals shows me that there are many ways out there to save money by renting items that I am buying and not keeping.
    

1. http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/201/12-things-you-didn-t-know-you-could-rent.html
2. http://www.chegg.com/
3. http://www.whiotv.com/money/21120990/detail.html
4..http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27453710/?GT1=43001