I was perusing this site
http://www.shareable.net/blog/most-shared?page=0%2C3
and was thinking about what we share and who we share it with.
Families share of course, but do you share anything else with anyone. I mean do you and a neighbour share a lawnmower? You and a co-worker a car? Relatives share a sailboat etc.
I proposed sharing a lawnmower with a neighbour the other day, but I think we need different types.
I am interested in any and everything shareable.
For a while, a few of us shared a "beater truck" - no one really needed a 7 mpg hauling vehicle that smelled like horse poop all that often, but it's delightful to have available for the few times you do. Since it was a die hard old beast and dirt cheap to run and insure, it wasn't a big risk and we all shared in the insurance and gas. - We also all paid $100 to be part owners of it.
It can be a lot harder to trust people with stuff that's more fragile - I lent a gas weed whacker with scythe in exchange for a kitchenaid mixer for a weekend, only to find the people who borrowed it had been using it to cut down small trees when it - oops - broke. I basically got handed a broken tool and a "sorry, it didn't work for us." No s**t, really?
As far as positive ideas,
I do a "brunch bunch" and own the big coffee maker, which gets loaned out for every event. Someone else has a few lovely big platters, a cake plate and cover, a punchbowl set. Three of the ten or so people doing this have really good houses for holding events. I think we all wind up contributing about evenly in one way or another, and no one has to own it all.
My closest neighbor and I share a lot of things - yard tools, sewing machine, books. We also "share" a cell phone account and internet access.
We share a cell plan with my DH's rellies but I am not in love with that because we are the ones that have to do the checks and stuff for it. But overall I think we all save money.
We borrow and lend some items to my SiL and BiL who live a few doors down but I feel awkward asking sometimes. Not sure why that is. They use our battery-powered lawn mower if their grass is too high for their non-power one, and we will use things like their grass seed spreader that are only needed once in a blue moon.
More than once they have come into our house and taken something without telling us! THAT kind of sharing I DO NOT like! Hasn't happened in a long time, though, so that's good.
DH and DFiL have a boat together and a camper together.
A coworker of mine and her husband's brother, I believe, own a cabin together. It is very successful for them. They are from the area, and the cabin is big enough that everyone can be there whenever they want to be there. Also I THINK they paid for it up front so the risk of someone bailing on their share of the payments at some point is moot. Works for them, anyway.
My DM is willing to share her Cricut with her scrapbooking daughters when we would like. I have it right now. But I have not contributed anything to it, so it's really just me borrowing it. Well, I can't say that, I suppose I did buy a new mat and blades for it a while ago.
Interesting thread. I look forward to seeing what more ideas are out there.
A neighbour came over at 3am and set up his generator to provide electricity essential for the sump pump when our generator quit during a massive storm. We share a log splitter on occasion. I provide home made bread and they provide butternut squash so we share whatever we have that is needed from what is surplus.
As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
Nothing materialistic per se, just neighbourly help/support.
We often share the big gardening things like rototiller, broadfork, etc. One neighbor and I share a pressure canner and a grain mill.
We share our gardening truck with a few friends. They have their own set of keys and know to just take it whenever the need arises.
We share our:
yard/gardening tools
Baking supplies (pans, mixers, etc.)
bikes
step stool/ladder
canoe
Really, basically anything we have is available to borrow. Friends have the key to our house and are welcome to come get anything they need. We don't need to give prior permission or be home when they come by. Neighbors are welcome as well, although they don't have keys so we would need to be home.
This is so generous. Is your whole neighbourhood like this?
Originally Posted by Reyes
My neighbors are very generous, as are our friends. A neighbor across the street and I are constantly sharing baked goods. I bake often, and never just for my family. I always make extra and share with neighbors, friends, and co-workers. As to borrowing of things, we have a friend's hand sander at our place right now, they have our wheelbarrow. We have an electronic key pad on our front door which makes it easy for others to come and go if they need to borrow something. Heck, my house is the drop off points for my kids' friends as well. There is never a day when one of their bikes or backpacks is at my place. I live downtown and near the high school so the teens will drop off their stuff here to store for the afternoon. On most days I also have at least a couple other teens at the dining table doing homework. Our house is not a quite one:-)
We share a pickup truck with my father-in-law (we pay the insurance; he pays everything else). I share a cell phone plan with my mother-in-law. I share a Costco membership with a friend's daughter.
Kara
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