Love and other magazines
Glossy, thick, and chock full of amazing tiny bits of information – magazines have everything you could love. Some say they're going out of style, just like they say newspapers will eventually go out of print. If that happens, don't be surprised if they find me locked away somewhere with an obscene amount of hoarded magazines. I'm just saying.
I've written about books and my love for them over the years. I'm a voracious reader but a choosy one. Back in the day I would read anything I could get my hands on. My first book love was Little House on the Prairie. After I devoured that series somewhere around first grade, I moved on to the likes of Lucy Winchester and Not Regina. The Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew mysteries were next – loved those mysteries. That was back when the covers of those books were cool – like the Hardys huddled around a table in a dark room looking through a magnifying glass. Classic.
Books, though, are expensive. Magazines even worse.
When you're a reader like I am, you find a way to get your hands on them. I can honestly say that the only book I've paid full price for in the past 20 years has been the highly anticipated Plains of Passage by Jean Auel. I devoured The Clan of the Cave Bear series back in the early nineties. Probably my favorite series of books of all time – hands down. Her fifth book in the series took years, and I mean years to come out. Now the sixth and final book is out and I have it in my greedy little hands after receiving it as a Christmas gift.
I've honed my patience to a sharp edge. This means all my books are either picked up at thrift stores or garage sales. I buy lots of magazines at thrift stores too. It's amazing how people will receive it in the mail, read it, then donate it - all the better for me. The 10 cents I plunk down for a magazine will be the best 10 cents I ever spent. The same goes for books. Because I'm patient, I'll come across books I've been waiting on for years. My dollar slides across to the cashier and voila – the book is mine.
Key: If you can put aside your impatience and keep your eye on the prize, the books will find you.
Magazines, though, do go out of date. I sometimes find myself reading one that is six months old. I don't mind it, but would really rather stay current. I used to have lots of subscriptions to magazines. Taste of Home, Country Home, Victoria, and even Redbook. Then they started getting crazy with the prices. A new subscription could run you $20 or more for an entire year. Sadly, I let a lot of my magazines go.
When I started blogging, I did a lot of research and found a lot of sites – sites I followed faithfully. Suddenly these sites started posting about magazine subscriptions for $3.50, $2.99, $4.25 – or gasp – even free! Since I followed them on Facebook, my feed started showing all these magazines that were available. My heart started beating wildly as I clicked on the links. Rachael Ray became mine for a year for $3.50, as did Entrepreneur (which is a great mag) for absolutely free.
To be honest, I don't know how they do it. I think the magazine world in general is hurting for business. These sites are able to offer the best of the best for a deeply discounted rate. A subscription is a subscription – even at a slashed rate. And for us, dear readers, that means savings.
Go to http://mercurymagazines.com to nab some sweet deals. I've gotten Entrepreneur, Kiplinger's, and Bloomberg Business magazine here for free. Some really great reading all for answering a few questions. Many times you will be offered, at the end of the questions, a chance for $2 magazines - no strings attached. I ordered Glamour for $2.
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There are many more blogs that will find magazine deals for you – these are just a few. Like their Facebook pages to get their updates on your feed, then watch and wait. The deals will come to you.
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Published: January 25, 2012
