Yesterday we spent a wonderful New Year's with great friends. They're the kind of friends that you can enjoy sharing time with, without the need to put on appearances or impress. It's incredibly relaxing.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we scored some great Mr. Rebates savings with our purchases at The Disney Store for our daughter's Christmas (and birthday) presents. Well, after taking inventory of her doll collection, she's gotten to the point where some of the dolls she used to play with aren't being played with much anymore. There's nothing wrong with that, but it happens nonetheless.
So, with some very mild encouragement from her mother — it didn't take much at all — our daughter shared some of her collection with her friends. (Our friends have two daughters around our daughter's age; one is only nine days older.)
Looking back, there had been a number of times that we've shared things that were of limited use to us, but much greater use to them.
Sharing saves. It saves in a couple of ways:
- Sharing saves money. If the sharing works both ways, then it saves both parties money. Both parties get use out of the same item, and it doesn't have to be bought twice. Spending less is one of the basics you can fall back on to get your finances under control.
- Sharing saves landfill space for a while longer. Most things eventually end up in the trash, but passing stuff on to other people — especially plastic things like dolls — pushes that day into the future. Giving it to someone that you know can use it is even better than giving it to a thrift shop, because they might already have twenty of what you're giving them, and they don't need twenty-one. It's the green thing to do, if nothing else. (Personally, I think we'll run out of cheap oil far more quickly than we'll run out of space to throw away the plastics, but no reason to trash the planet just because we can, right?)
- Sharing saves a measure of sanity. Getting rid of stuff has its own advantages: some of the visual noise goes away, and some of the stuff that's weighing you down gets lifted off of your shoulders. My parents-in-law are far better at this than I am at the moment, and it creates its own peace in their home and in their lives not to have boxes and boxes of things.
I wouldn't be mercenary and eye all of your friends' possessions to see if they want to part with them 🙂 but looking for mutual opportunities to trade stuff on occasion is a good way to save in a number of important ways.
That’s why they say sharing is caring, no? I know that after I moved out of the house my mom “shared” a bunch of my stuff with other people (ahem, without notifying me). I personally find borrowing things from friends (borrowing, not buying or receiving) very stressful, because I never want to accidentally lose or break the item. I’d almost rather buy it second-hand.
I’m a huge proponent of sharing, from handing down clothes to splitting up a bottle of that odd ingredient that only requires a tablespoon per recipe. I have been watching as the US comes around to more collaborative consumption and I’m looking forward to seeing it happen even more.
Unfortunately, our social systems aren’t really set up to foster such community. Why does every person on my street need to own an extension ladder? Because we don’t know each other well enough to share one comfortably. I envy those few communities who have organized official sharing lists: I have a springform pan but you have a paint sprayer sort of deals.
I’ve been trying to do the same, where try to get rid of items to friends and family, rather than throwing it in the trash. Helps keep my place clean, but also keeps from wasting useable stuff.