Want to save money on appliances?  Unless you live next door to Homer Simpson – there’s no reason you shouldn’t consider borrowing instead of buying!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets and appliances. Hence, we have a top of the line juicer, a bread maker, several sandwich makers (jaffle and focaccia style), a slicer and a George Foreman Grill all sitting in or on our kitchen cupboards – all doing a fantastic job of gathering dust and slowly turning from white to yellow.

At the very most, we would use one of these appliances once every 3 months.  <sigh>  If only I could tell that young couple admiring the juicers at the electrical store, that no matter how “essential” it seems right now – in 5 to 6 weeks the novelty (and cleaning of it) will have completely warn off.

I may not be able to help that young couple, but I can help my friends and family - and vice versa.  I know that I am not the only one who has seldom-used appliances squirreled away – so here’s what you do.

• Make a list of all your appliances.
• Email it to your friends/family with a note saying “Here is a list of things sitting in our cupboard that we rarely use – if you’re thinking about getting one, you’re more than welcome to try out ours for a month or two to see whether you really want it.”   (They have even like to buy it from you if they really like it!)
• Then encourage them to make the same list for you.

That way, your kids can enjoy the popcorn maker they’ve been screaming for until the novelty wears off and it can then go home to someone else’s cupboard and your only expense was the popcorn!

So consider setting up your own “Appliance Library” and start putting those impulse purchases to good use again!