For Rent: The Stuff That We Rarely Use

The economy is turning many of us into renters, and I'm not talking about apartments.

A number of Web sites have sprung up encouraging people to look around their houses for things they can do away with temporarily -- for a fee. Conversely, people can rent items they only need once or twice.

It's a strategy many seem to be embracing: using public libraries, driving around in Zipcars.

"The old paradigm of buy and use it once and store it forever is shifting to an economy based on usage and accessibility," said Jeff Boudier, co-founder of Zilok (http://us.zilok.com).

The peer-to-peer renting site came about like this: In the fall of 2007, a couple of friends in France were trying to hang something on a wall and didn't have a drill. They thought about buying one but somehow calculated that a drill is used only an average of 12 minutes in a lifetime. It made no sense to buy one.

Zilok first launched in France and Belgium. Once it took off, the founders expanded to Britain and the United States. Boudier, who is the U.S. general manager, said there are now 100,000 items for rent in the United States alone, and not just drills but infant car seats, camping gear and digital cameras.

To prevent fraud, users have to register. The owners of the items set the prices and the renters have to pay deposits. Both parties sign rental agreements.

Rent-instead.com works in a similar fashion and offers a variety of electronics, books, clothing and other items. Other Web sites are more specialized. At Chegg.com, for instance, students can rent textbooks. At BabyPlays.com, parents can rent toys.

I can think of several items in my apartment that I have used only once or twice. What a waste of money. Anyone need a crock-pot?

-- Nancy Trejos

Online today: Frugal ideas for Father's Day