Oh cool, Braveheart is on TV. Wait, don't you own that DVD? Or did you loan it out to a friend and forget about it for a year, rendering your chances of getting it back approximately zero? Adopt this smartphone strategy and you'll never forget who borrowed your DVD, jacket, blender, or anything else ever again.
Borrowing tools, gear and movies between friends is a great way to save money and still get what you want or need. But keeping track of who has what can be a pain. Unless you decide to unleash your inner librarian and try this idea: Whenever you lend something to a friend, take a photo on your smartphone of them holding the item.
If you ever need to remember which movie buff buddy of yours has your favorite film, just flip through your photo album. If you can't remember whether you lent out your old hand blender or just lost it, check for a photo record. And if your friend swears she never borrowed your favorite sweater, you can show her the photo as proof.
Of course, the best way to keep your gear from going missing is to never lend it out in the first place. But this is an easy way to stay on top of your stuff and make sure you can still take advantage of all of the good parts of lending with friends.
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If it's an item you CAN write your name on, that'll help the person remember to return it without your having to ask them - which might be the hardest part.
Also, if there's a length of time after which you'll be mad they haven't returned it, let them know that - "I could spare this for a week" or similar. Somebody once loaned me a book I didn't even ask for and then three weeks later was furious I hadn't returned it yet. The kaibash was put on that friendship over such a ridiculous little matter!
This is brilliant! You can shame them by posting the photos on Facebook.
I don't have problem remembering what I've lent to my friends. I have trouble getting it back. Usually with books. After several months, they would say, "Do you need it NOW? I haven't read it." After a year, "No, I don't have it. I gave it back to you."
Sometimes, my friends would ask to borrow a book from me when we walk out of the bookstore, "Well, you have 5 books there. You can't be reading all 5. I'll return it before you finish all 4." Few months later... "No, I bought this book. This is mine. But you can borrow it."
Writing the name on an item doesn't work. A friend of mine borrowed a Chinese-English dictionary to check on a tattoo that he wanted to get. He never returned it. I'm the only Chinese he knows. That's obviously my dictionary...
Just realized that I've got terrible friends. When I lent my stuff out, I prepare to lose it and/or lose the friend.
My brothers are on the supply side of the problem. My youngest brother borrowed World of Warcraft from a friend 2 years ago. He never played it. It's sitting on his desk. I've asked him every month to return it, but he just say, "Well, it's an old game. He probably doesn't miss it." Here!!! This is the mentality of people who don't return stuff!
"This is brilliant! You can shame them by posting the photos on Facebook.'
That was my thought, as well. Making a person have their photo taken with the item they are borrowing seems rather over the top.
Sheldon Cooper would be proud that you are trying to replicate his eidetic memory. Perhaps you could also quickly search the value of every gift you're given so as to keep it even stevens.
Personally, I remember what friends have borrowed things when the item really and truly matters. Like my favorite book or my best casserole dish. If I forget who has it or haven't bothered to get it back in a year, then obviously I didn't need it, did I? And I never lend out anything that I would be broken up over on the fair assumption that it may never come back. I'm guilty of not returning things out of scatter-brainedness so I can't blame my equally scatter-brained friends for doing the same.
Remember, guys. They're just THINGS. A good friendship is about so much more than things. And if you drop a friend for forgetting they borrowed something that you haven't needed in a year then that's you're loss and they're gain. Not because they gained a thing but because they were dropped by someone who probably wasn't a true friend anyway.
/soapbox
Meh, don't lend things out you're not willing to part with forever. I pretty much know I'm essentially giving books away when I lend them out, so I make sure not to lend out nice editions I inherited from my dad. Everything I buy is paperback, so whatever.
HOWEVER, if I lend out a tool, I will go back to your house to get it. Tools are great things to share since not everyone needs to own everything, but they are too expensive to be indefinitely forgotten.
I suppose if you lend things out all the time this might be helpful, but I'd be pretty irritated if someone took a picture of me with something I was borrowing. It implies you either won't get it back, or you'll have to hound the person go get it back. This could be done more discretely by writing it down, either on your smart phone or elsewhere.
I had the ewww factor....really, if you are loaning things out to people and concerned that you can't get it back -- don't loan it out.....photos will really only come in handy if you plan on taking it to "The People's Court"
Or use Delicious Library: http://www.delicious-monster.com
Simple.
I kind of do the same with my DVDS. I have an evernote album with all my DVDS identified. If I ever loan one to someone, I write it right there with the date. I admit I have one VHS here at home who doesn't belong to me, and I know a few of mine have disappeared over the years so a system like this really comes handy.
I have limited RAM in my brain so I also use this trick to remember who has what of mine...the other thing is I take a picture of the street signs where I am parked in the city and the floor number of the parking garage I am in.....