To Borrow Is To Be Frugal!

**Shell** · 10-14-2005, 11:55 AM

On my quest to be frugal, I found one thing that has saved me a lot of money . . . borrowing. For three years in a row, I have borrowed my dd halloween outfit.

Of course I always return things as quickly as I can.

If you are making something in the kitchen & you need a certain type of cake pan only once, why not see if you can borrow it from a friend? This also goes for tools!

I am now trying to borrow books from my Mom rather then buying them. What ways do you borrow so you can save some money?

**homesteadmamma** · 10-14-2005, 12:28 PM

We found this to be successful in some ways and in other ways not so successful. We're now very careful who we lend items to. We've had a number of items not returned.

I seldom borrow from anyone outside our family. Dh does borrow a ladder every now and then from the neighbour and he has been known to borrow a few tools as well. He is very good at returning them as soon as he is finished with them.

**forestdale** · 10-14-2005, 03:53 PM

We do this too, but only with family and close friends. We borrow my step son's high pressure cleaner, he borrows our lawn mower. We tend to borrow things that we only use occasionally and find that if we lend our things to those close to us, we all save money because we have a pool of things that we can all use.

**Valerie in WA** · 10-14-2005, 06:27 PM

I lend my sewing machine to my mom. I had thought about buying her one of her own for Christmas, but then realized that it would be foolish not to share. I do sew frequently, but she just does occasional mending and alterations. When she has my machine, I can focus on x-stitch or knitting/crocheting.

I have occasionally borrowed a baking dish from a friend.

I also borrow a digital camera once in a while. My cell phone takes decent pictures, but it costs 25c to email a picture to my computer

One time, my dh was helping the neighbor's dh fix something in their house. The wife came over and asked to borrow a cake pan. I didn't think much of it at the time, but she was alwaysbaking...why wouldn't she have her own pan? Well, about an hour later, she returned my pan, full of my dh's favorite cake!

I don't find that many friends/neighbors are 'into' the idea of sharing a pool of occasionally used tools. It's kind of 'not nice' - you know, like shopping in thrift stores.

Oh, I'm cracking myself up today...