Magazine vs. Magazines

For many years, I was a People Mag addict. I bought many issues from the newstand, and then eventually figured out how much cheaper a subscription was. I read this mag every week for at least 10 years. Cha ching. But I loved every second of it, and 10 years ago I didn't have any money anyway so it only made sense I'd spend it on a tool to sharpen my pop culture pencil.

Then towards the end of my last 3 year subscription, I just wasn't interested anymore. It was taking me 6 days to even sit down with a new issue, and on day 7 another issue would arrive. People Mag just wasn't for me anymore.

So I let my subscription expire...big potential money saver. But I still wanted mags in my life, just not that one. So I set out to figure out what mags I did feel like reading, and I would subscribe to those, limiting myself to what I spent for 1 yr. of People.

You can find all sorts of prices for a subscription to any mag. I used the $ printed on the People web site as my guide. To be honest, there is a ton of fine print so I'm not positive of the price of a 1 yr. subscription. But what I could piece together, it's about $113/year for this weekly mag.

I soon learned that I was paying A LOT of money for 1 mag that I was barely reading! Today, I receive the following magazines:

Oprah - $15 - 1 year
Preemie Magazine - Free - 1 Year
Parents - $12 - 2 yrs (actually 3 yrs but I gifted 1 yr to a friend)
Parenting - $12 - 1 year
Good Housekeeping - $7.99 - 1 year
Midwest Living - $19.97 - 1 year

I now receive 72 magazines per year for about $67. More to read, less spent. Total savings: $46.

Do what you love, love what you do...but watch those pennies while you're at it!