As a family, we have try to have two holidays a year. Its something we budget for, something we save for, and most importantly, something we enjoy. Typically, one holiday is a beach holiday, and the other is something different. Ten years ago, we went skiing and I bought we bought of paid of skiing boots each.
I think mine were £400, and Sarah’s slightly cheaper at about £350. The point? We have used them once. We had great intentions to go skiing each year, but one thing or another has meant we’ve not gone again. That £750 is one of the biggest wastes of money, I have ever made. Yes, I still have the boots, and therefore would save money if went skiing this year, but the technology has changed so much in the last ten years, we’d probably to better to get a new pair.
Rent Vs Buying
There are things that you need to own because you use them all the time. Then there are those things that you buy to make a statement. You want to be able to say, “I have the latest cordless drill”, as you chat with your neighbours on a Sunday barbecue. You’ll probably use that hammer drill a couple of times, then it will stay sat in your garage for the rest of its lifespan.
We as consumers often buy stuff that we only use once in a while or during certain seasons, or for that one-off project. Is this a smart financial move? Buying things that you don’t need or will use once or twice is a waste of your money and storage space (if any is left). There are many benefits to renting vs buying;
- It will cost you less money
- You don’t have to worry about maintenance or storage
- It’s easy and cheaper to switch to a newer version of the same item
- Before you purchase an item, you can rent it and get a chance to experience it to see if you would want to own the item.
Renting can allow you to experience a lot more in life for much less money. Below are ten things that just make financial sense to rent, rather than buy outright.
Financial Sense To Rent Vs Buy
Specialized Tools
DIY Enthusiasts can amass a myriad of tools for their projects but let’s face it, you’re not going to use half of your tools more than once a year or in a lifetime even.
It makes more sense to rent this kind of equipment. It will be cheaper, and you don’t have to worry about maintenance or storage space for the tool. Renovation tools, power washers, chain saws are just a few examples of tools that you can rent from a local supplier.
Sports Equipment
There’s something special about having your own sports gear, and sports fans tend to be attached to their sports gear. Using someone else’s equipment can be a passionate affair, but here’s why you should consider renting it instead.
- Buying sports equipment is expensive. If you’re not practising that sport full time, you could be making an unnecessary purchase and tying up your money.
- Some sports are seasonal, and finding storage for the rest of the year can be difficult.
- When it comes to children, you may have to keep changing the Sports equipment as your child grows or if your child wants to change to another sport altogether. To avoid having a lot of unused sports equipment, you can rent the equipment. Once your child is grown or settles on a sport for the long term. Then you can consider buying their own equipment.
Textbooks
Books are valuable, but that doesn’t mean you have to own them. Once you’ve got all the information needed, there’s no need to add it to your library collection. Unless it’s one of those that you’ll refer to for years to come.
When you rent a book, you save on costs and indirectly help preserve our environment by reducing the use of natural resources used to make the books.
Camping Gear
The biggest problem with camping is that camping gear is expensive and you need a lot of it, to enjoy yourself. Think camping for one night. You could feasibly walk out and buy a small tent and cheap sleeping bag and have a night in the countryside. However, to have a comfortable night sleep, you’ll need an endless list of equipment from a breathable tent, to a blow up mattress, pillow and ideally a sleeping bag suited to the climate.
Unless you’re a career camper, you really don’t need to own all of your camping equipment. Camping can be seasonal, so you may not need the equipment throughout the year. Some items like sleeping bags are affordable and not difficult to store, but for most items like tents or bag packing gear, you’re better off just renting them when you need them.
Musical Instrument
It’s not uncommon to start learning how to play a musical instrument only to discover you don’t like it and abandon it after a few lessons. It happens a lot with children. You’re not really sure they’ll stick with learning the instrument they’ve chosen. You may end up owning a whole orchestra worth of instruments!
Why not rent until you’re sure that you or your child will commit long-term to that particular instrument. There’s also the challenge that comes with children growing up. A violin used by a 3-year-old is not the same size as that of a 10-year-old. Instead of having to buy the instrument after every few years, you could opt to rent one from your local music store or school.
Luggage
Luggage is bulky and rarely used. When you decide to purchase luggage, you may have to buy different sized luggage to accommodate different travel needs.
If you rent luggage, you only get the size of luggage you need for that particular travel. You can rent luggage of all shapes and sizes when you need them, saving you the hustle and cost of buying different sized luggage. Luggage takes up a lot of storage space, as a bonus, this will not be a problem for you if you rent.
Tech Hardware
Keeping up with technological advancement can be an expensive affair. For instance, businesses have no option but to upgrade their hardware so they can be equipped to compete in the marketplace.
Rentals have made upgrades much less of a nightmare, especially for small business owners. For a smaller monthly or weekly fee, businesses or individuals can enjoy current technology. In many cases, the responsibility of maintenance of the hardware is also removed.
Jewellery
Renting jewellery is common among celebrities who want to dazzle for a high-profile event. While it’s important to buy a few select items of jewelry, the biggest problem with owning jeweler is that it can easily be stolen and therefore you need to have it insured. While insurance is not hugely expensive, its another cost that I’m sure you could do without.
Rather than buy that new watch or expensive diamond earrings, rent it for the occasion for a fraction of the value of the jewellery, and send it back once you’ve finished with it.
Garden space
Did you know that you can rent gardening space? Just because you live in an apartment doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own vegetable garden. All you need to do is look up one of these facilities near you. An ideal location is one you can easily access so you can take care of your garden.
Some garden space rentals will charge a small fee for the rent, while others only require you to support them in maintaining the garden.
Clothes
You have a special occasion coming up, and you don’t have the right outfit for it. You know you’ll only wear it once or twice, so buying one doesn’t make sense. Renting clothes has become a viable option.
You can rent anything from dinner dresses to ballgowns & tuxedos to bridal and bridal party gowns.
Final Thoughts
With technology moving as it is today, more and companies are being set up with this rental arena. Today, within reason, you can almost rent anything you want, and for those things that you are not going to use more than a few times, it makes financial sense to rent rather than buy.
