Brittany Catucci rents everything she can.
Like lots of 20-somethings, she doesn’t own the place where she lives, a three-story townhouse in Emeryville, Calif. But she and her boyfriend, Eric Markley, also rent their queen-size bed, Catucci’s work clothes and repair tools from Home Depot or AutoZone.
“My friends don’t even blink at the fact that I’m constantly renting stuff,” said Catucci, a 27-year-old account director at a public-relations agency. “It’s my parents who were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are still living in a place where you don’t own any of the furniture?’”
Their townhouse came with the furnishings, and they pay around $1,100 each in rent. They figured they could find something a little cheaper that didn’t have furniture, but it would have cost at least $5,000 to bring their own stuff during their cross-country move from North Carolina.
Catucci spends about $100 to $200 a month on renting other items, including about $100 a month for clothes. The rest varies: One month she might need a short-term hiking backpack; the next month she doesn’t.
Americans are embracing a rent-first lifestyle, preferring to try things out rather than committing to ownership. More than one in four Americans say they rent or lease their car, clothing, electronics or furniture, according to a new survey commissioned by the personal-finance firm Credit Karma.
Some extreme renters say they can save money by not owning their high heels, hand drill or sofa. With prices for so many things much higher than they were a few years ago, it can feel like a cost saver to pay for maternity clothes for a few months or camping equipment for a weekend instead of buying them outright.
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