Hi! My name is boogiemum and I have an addiction to magazines. There, I said it. Now that we have got that cleared up, let’s talk about WHY this is a problem and WHAT I have done to try and resolve it.

First off, I like magazines because you can sometimes read an entire article in the 3.5 seconds you may find to yourself in a day. Like at a stoplight. Yes. I am that person and I am sorry. Okay, somewhat sorry.

Seriously, though. When I try to read a book I end up reading the same page over 200 times because I get interrupted for the elusive never ending cup of juice and things like “can you put a band aid on the invisible cut I still have left over from last summer when I did that thing?” “No, not there.” “There.” “Not Dora, Superman!” (this usually ends with me giving them the entire box and telling them to go for it.)

So, the magazine gods that be, must know this about me and decided to start sending me their samples. “Come on, try it for FREE, you will LIKE it” and “Everybody is reading it!” I mean I can only be so strong. There were no after school specials that taught me to deal with things on this level. I gave in.

Next thing you know, I am signing up for all these crazy “deals” and having magazines stockpiling. Then the schools start selling this crack these magazines. How can I tell my cousins who I have seen 2 times in my entire life and send me a letter in the mail that, “No, I won’t buy your magazines that support your fund raiser to help provide every student with free cookies.” I mean middle school students need their cookies, right?

Ultimately, after it becoming difficult to keep up with all these magazines, I realize I need to stop. I am wasting money, even if I am getting the mags for $10.00/yr. It’s a waste of paper and energy to transport the things to my house. (I can’t believe how many “green” mags use un-green paper!)

At first I tried swapping them with my neighbor. Unfortunately, we don’t have the same taste. I like all the building, going green, literary and political mags. She likes woman and celeb mags. It just got to be a hassle. Then I tried sending them to my sis. This got to be a pain and costly. It was costing me more to mail them to her then I was paying for the subscription. So, sharing them didn’t really work for me. (I would suggest trying a swap, if you can find someone who has similar taste as you though. This is a great way to cut back on the cost and paper consumption!)

I needed to go deeper. I then looked up my local libraries magazines and compared them to the ones I was getting. If the library was getting that magazine, then I don’t renew or subscribe. This cut a lot of my magazine subscriptions down. I figure I am already paying for that subscription with our taxes, why pay twice?

Then I took the Wise and Pretty Mir’s advice and put a $4.00/year cap on an individual magazine subscription. I am always on the lookout for deals at Best Deal Magazines and have found a few other deals here and there and for the last 8 months have kept to my price cap. One month at a time. I am still looking for some kind of formal swap, like a bookmooch for magazines, but have yet to come by one. Anyone? Bueller?

The surprising thing? I am not really missing my magazines. AND. I have read a few more books than I normally would of been able to get through. It’s amazing what happens when you give yourself a little more time and the kids a box of band aids and a pack of gum.

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