{"id":94922,"date":"2011-08-12T04:00:32","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=94922"},"modified":"2019-12-04T23:35:20","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T07:35:20","slug":"when-renting-is-smarter-than-buying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/when-renting-is-smarter-than-buying\/","title":{"rendered":"When renting is smarter than buying"},"content":{"rendered":"
In my article on Spotify last week, a couple of commenters took me to task for suggesting that subscribing to access for music could be better than buying your own permanent copies of the songs you love. A few thought that, as a personal finance writer, I should be urging people to buy their stuff instead of throwing money away renting access to it.<\/p>\n
That’s an interesting idea. I think it’s often the case that renting or subscribing for access to something is better than buying it outright. Buying stuff can be great, too. Ultimately, I don’t think the question is whether to rent or buy; it’s how to find the solution that gives you the best value for the thing you need to use.<\/b> Sometimes, you’ll spend more money renting access to an item than you would just buying it outright. Other times, the reverse is true.<\/p>\n Most products aren’t investments. They lose value the moment you take them home from the shop, and continue to depreciate the longer you own them and the more you use them. This is true of everything from cars to designer shoes. There are a few things that can appreciate in value: collector’s items, houses, jewelry. For most of our stuff, though, we can hope to recover some of what we spent on it by selling it when we no longer need it, but we’re kissing the bulk of our money good-bye when we make the purchase.<\/p>\n Given that, there are plenty of times when it makes more sense to rent<\/b>. Anytime you’re buying something you have a limited use for, you might want to pause and consider renting instead. High-end designer handbags<\/a>?Specialized power tools for a home improvement project? You can rent this stuff for a fraction of the cost that you’d spend buying it.<\/p>\n There’s a whole movement of people who call themselves “transumers”<\/a>. These folks make an effort to own as little as possible, renting what they want or need and then swapping it for new rental items after a short time. They’re not crunchy hippie types: They’re young professionals renting cars and furniture \u2014 and even their clothes. They just want to always have the latest trends, so instead of buying their stuff they rent it and turn it in every few months for the hot new item.<\/p>\n<\/span>The Rise of the Transumers<\/span><\/h2>\n