Tenner Week March 2023: Day 6

Finally, it’s the weekend! We’ve made it as far as Day Six and I hope you’re still going strong.

Today we’re doing something I’m calling ‘Borrow, don’t buy‘, and it’s all about borrowing, lending, swapping, hiring and renting. Most of it’s free or very low cost, and as well as potentially keeping the bills down it also tends to be much better for the environment.

Here are a few ideas to try today:

• If the weather’s nice, hire a rowing boat or pedal boat in a park with a boating lake.
• Go to the local library and borrow or reserve some books, or try BookCrossing or micro-libraries to give or receive.
• Use the Libby app or whatever else your local library offers to download ebooks, audiobooks, and so on. It should also enable you to use PressReader which allows you to read many magazines and newspapers from the UK and around the world for free.
• Do a temporary swap or loan with a trusted neighbour, friend or relative: gardening equipment, DIY tools, baking equipment, carpet washers, karaoke machine, board games or anything else you can think of.
• Try organised borrowing with Streetbank (free, includes skills as well as physical items), a local toy library, or Library of Things (small fee).
• Go to an organised swap event: seeds, books, clothes, toys and so on. Check local listings sites, give the search term a quick Google, or try apps such as Eventbrite for something near you. If you can’t find one you like, how about setting up your own?

There’s nearly always something local or fairly close by, you just have to hunt it down.

What’s happening here

Yesterday was quite a busy one because I attended a couple of training courses. It’s always good to learn new things and keep your skills up to date, especially in today’s pressured workplace. Fortunately I managed to get out in time without needing to cut it short, and made it along to a book launch party too. I bought a copy of the book (rude not to, right?) and they gave everyone who attended a nice glass of wine gratis. It’s been a good week for free wine, and even better for the culture. Will let you know more about the book soon.

Today I’ll probably download a couple of free magazines via the Libby app because I haven’t read any for ages. Maybe some tech news, interiors, science, fitness and fashion to mix it all up; something for a Sunday morning lie-in tomorrow if I’m lucky enough to get one. I’ll probably look for interesting swap events to add to my diary too, you just never know what might be coming up.

We’re running low on a few different groceries, so I might need to get out to the shops for one or two basics this weekend. If it’s only bread on the shopping list I’ll probably end up making a quick no-knead loaf or some simple bread rolls instead, but we’ll have to see.

Spent yesterday: £8.99 (signed book)

Total spent so far: £13.99 (out of a £25 budget)

What are you going to borrow, rent, lend or swap this weekend?