My adult children are big on borrowing stuff from their parents. And from time to time they (you know who you are, son) fail to mention having borrowed something, like a Milwaukee Tool Sawzall Reciprocating Saw in its big, bright, red case. This prompted their father, after searching the garage high and low for the saw on a day he had an urgent need for it, to assume the tool had been stolen, further prompting him to reluctantly make a trip to Home Depot to buy a replacement.

This little blast from my past illustrates — in an odd way — how not everyone needs to own the same things. My husband uses his Sawzall so frequently that he routinely replaces the blade. But my son, Jeremy? He hardly ever uses it — like maybe once a decade. He is better off borrowing it, but Harold needs to buy his own. (All is forgiven, by the way).

A recent story in TIME ("Finally, an App That Lets You Borrow a Corgi") made me smile. It seems you can now borrow a dog (in this case, borrow means renting by the hour) if you can't afford to own one, don't have room for one, lack the commitment to own one or want to take a particular breed for a test drive as part of the doggy decision-making process.

Besides apps, many public libraries are becoming a fantastic source for borrowing unusual items you may need only once a year, or even less frequently. Why buy when you can borrow for free?

The Ann Arbor District Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, offers lots of unusual stuff to lend to its patrons. AADL lendables include: art prints ready for hanging; Sizzix Big Shot die-cutting kits; Book Clubs to Go for kids and adults (with 10 copies of a featured book, a DVD to go with if available, and a resource folder with summaries, reviews and discussion questions); games of every imaginable size and type; home tools (I'm not sure if they have added a Sawzall to the collection yet), music tools (unusual and fun musical instruments); science tools (the kind that help students do cool science projects); and a variety of telescopes.

The Marvin Memorial Public Library in Shelby, Ohio, lends its vast collection of character cake pans. With a library card, a patron can borrow a pan for one full week at no charge. That should be plenty of time for a couple of practice runs making the best birthday cake ever — plus, you'll keep the $25 it would cost to own (and store) a cake pan you may never use again.

The Blasco Library in Erie, Pennsylvania loans out fishing poles and tackle boxes, while both the Chicago Public Library and New York Public Library provide digital hotspots so patrons can access mobile broadband internet at home or on the go.

The Pima County Public Library in Tuscon, Arizona, has seeds of hundreds of types of vegetables, herbs and flowers that patrons can take home and plant in their garden. You can't return them like books, of course, but the library encourages borrowers to keep and donate seeds from their grown plants.

The Oakland Public Library in California has a variety of carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical and landscaping tools to lend out, including — you guessed it — a Milwaukee Tool Sawzall Reciprocating Saw in a big, bright, red case.

Mary invites questions, comments and tips at [email protected], or c/o Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Suite B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com, a personal finance member website and the author of "Debt-Proof Living," released in 2014. To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.