Or is my neighbour taking the piss?

[MirandaGoshawk]

Since the day he moved in he's been borrowing things. Then it was "Have you got any picture hanging nail thingies?" So I found a couple, but he said "Got any more? I need about 20". I was a bit but OK, they've just moved in & B&Q is 10 mins away... found 17. So, of course, didn't have any when I needed one.

Since then it's been different tools, lawnmower (many occasions when theirs was broken), car washing stuff (never got it back/replaced) and "Printer's kaput. Can I borrow yours? Just a few pages." Dh took the printer over & brought it back. No idea how many pages which annoys me as we are very careful not to print unnecessarily. Last week it was '"Have you got a bin bag?" Shops are five mins up the road but this was late at night. Next morning he was gardening & putting cuttings into a bin bag! (Ours, presumably.) That was the final straw for me & made me see red.

But this morning he collared DH & asked to borrow the printer again 'for one label'. DH said to send it by email & we'd print it but he said no, he wants to borrow the printer.

He buys gadgets so presumably can afford binbags etc. He's a Latino so maybe they're all sharing etc & this is normal. But he's asked DS to help with lots of things & never given him a penny in thanks, & the fact that he doesn't replace/offer a couple of quid for the ink etc gets me.

I like him & don't want to upset him but I want borrowing/lending to be emergency only. I did once ask for an egg from them & offered to replace it - they said 'Don't worry'.

He has visitors atm & I don't want to have a go in front of them, but I do want him to buy his own bloody printer. Should I write an email?

Say no then say "sorry the phones ringing "

Reported dawn donnas post

I'm Spanish. I resent the 'latino' tag. I'm not rude, selfish and constantly scamming from my neighbours. In fact, should I borrow anything, and I do, it is replaced and a bottle of wine is handed over.
So, report my post, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned it wasn't relevant, and it wasn't let go.

Leander - LoL you are so right, neigboureenos can be a PITA.

Dawn - No, latino isn't a race. It's cultural. Wasn't me that brought in 'race'. As I've said, I thought the cultural thing might be relevant. You don't think it is? OK. BTW it's not OK to tell someone to fuck off if you disagree with them. Very childish. Why not just explain your POV?

To all - thanks for your advice. I'm wrapping this up now. He hasn't mentioned the label this morning - maybe he's asked someone else - and if he does I'm going to say that the machine is low on ink and DD will need to use it. Which it is, I've checked, and she will sometime in the future.

And next time he asks for something I'm going to say No & walk away.

next time say you've run out - but while he's at the shops could he pick you up some x,y and z...

Yes that's the best, but amend to "while you are at the shops BUYING some, etc. He is taking advantage of you big time and treating you like a doormat.

Total piss taker. To stop this, you should not only say no, but you should ask for relevant stuff back at the same time.

Next time he asks for picture nails - tell him, you can buy them in B&Q, whilst you are there, can you please replace the 18 you borrowed from me as now I have none.

Lawn mower - no, mine now has no oil. Or if you must lend, tell him to buy some petrol for it.

Bin liners, no sorry mine have run out. They are in the supermarket, can you please also get me some when you buy yourself some to replace the ones you borrowed.

Printer - No, I will not move electronic equipment as it can damage it. You can buy printers in some supermarkets - not sure how large your supermarket is. Whilst you are in the supermarket, please buy me an ink cartridge.