Rent This, Not That!

September 5, 2017

Rent or Buy? We’ve been conditioned to think owning things is better than renting them (and that’s almost always true when it comes to quality homes in Southshore!) but there are somethings in life you’re better off borrowing for a small fee. Before you shell out money for items you use only once or twice, see if there’s a way to rent them for less.

Power Tools Make Sense to Rent

If you’re a Bob Vila type it might make sense to spend hundreds of dollars on circular saws, post hole-diggers or heavy-duty floor sanders – otherwise that expense might not be worth it. The average power tool only gets about 30 minutes of total use over its lifetime. So even with a four-hour minimum at a home improvement store, you’ll be spending a fraction of the cost for the tool to rent it.

Renting on an as-needed basis means you won’t need to pay for maintenance costs or feel bad about not using the tool more often. For the part-time DIYer, owning a simple set of tools like a hammer, some screwdrivers, and a few wrenches might be all you need.

Sports Equipment, Too

It makes more sense to rent water skis, snowboards, golf clubs, scuba gear and camping equipment if you’re a part-time enthusiast hitting the course, slopes or trails –once or twice a year. Did you know you can even rent exercise equipment to keep your body — and your budget — in shape? Try sites like Healthstyles Exercise Equipment for exercise bikes, treadmills and home gyms.

If you like camping but only occasionally, rent your gear from Outdoors Geek in Denver. Two sleeping bags, a tent and two sleeping pads will cost you $97. And for a couple of camp chairs, a two-burner stove, fry pan and cookpot just add an extra $39.

Can You Rent Digital Textbooks?

Since the textbooks required for college classes can be significant, renting those textbooks in e-book format can be a cost-effective option. You’ll only pay for access to the required text for one semester, which can result in a huge savings.

With the average cost of college textbooks and supplies reaching $1200 you could instead invest that money in a nice laptop or tablet to download all the books you need. Chegg.com, CheapEBook.com, and even Amazon are all great places to start browsing digital textbooks.

Funeral Caskets — Who Knew?

It’s not something we like to think about, but death is not just inevitable, it’s costly. In 2016, the typical funeral could cost between $7,000 and $10,000, with the cost of a casket totaling $2300. According to Cremation.com renting a casket for a deceased loved one will cost between $750 and $900.

Designer Duds and Accessories

For years boys and men have been able to rent tuxes for formal events, but for women scoring a temporary gown wasn’t so easy. Now, with sites like Rent the Runway and Lending Luxury, it’s easy and affordable to rent a dress for one-time wear. Why spend the dough and have it take up closet space when you’ll only wear it once?

Anyone who knows fashion could spot the difference between a real Louis Vuitton bag and a knockoff. If that’s you – rent the real thing at Bag Borrow or Steal, which offers designer purses and handbags for rent at $125 per month.

Wedding Cakes

The average American wedding costs around $31,000 and a wedding cake can take up a big slice of that price; as much as $600 for a cake that will serve 100 people.

If you and your fiancé want to save a little money, you can rent a fake cake from Fun Cakes for $200.  And while they’re made of foam, look totally authentic for the photos, and you can serve totally delicious cake slices for lots less. Some fake cakes even have a small compartment to store the real (cheaper) version to serve guests.

Let Go My LEGO®!

If you’re getting tired of buying your kids toys that are abandoned or forgotten after a few weeks, rent them instead! For $17.99 a month, Pley.com offers a subscription service that delivers sanitized LEGO® sets to your home. You can keep a set as long as you want, or exchange it once your kids start getting bored. There is no additional charge to return a set with a few pieces missing!

Borrow a Dog!

If you’re a dog lover but travel a lot or work crazy hours, you can join the Clear Creek Recreation Hiking Club to take a shelter dog for a mountain hike on the third Monday of each month. It’s a great outing for humans and adoptable dogs alike. Hikes leave Charlie’s Place Animal Shelter in Dumont (about an hour from Southshore) at 10:00 a.m.  It’s free (no rental fee to borrow a dog!) and all you need to do is sign up in advance. Aspen Animal Shelter also has a Rent-a-Pet program for people who want to spend a day with one of the animals, if you’re planning a weekend getaway to Pitkin County (about four hours from Southshore).

The Best Buys in Southshore

Owning a home of your own can be the best investment you’ll ever make and the lakeside homes in the master-planned community of Southshore are not just lovely to look at, they’re near entertainment, shopping and great schools! Tour the brand new models from Richmond American Homes and the latest home designs from Century Communities at The Hills in Southshore! These new homes are available in ranch and two-story designs, and priced from the upper $300s to the $700s.