Frugal Ways To Enjoy Magazines

I am a big magazine fan. I can enjoy reading without the total commitment a book requires (even though I do enjoy a good book, when time permits)! Magazines are a fabulous way to glean handy tips, find great new recipes to try, keep up on current events, and learn a new skill or two. The downside is that if I subscribed to every magazine that is geared toward my interests, the poor mail carrier would have a hernia from delivering them all (and I would probably be on his/ her Naughty List).   

I do have subscriptions to several magazines that I love! Some have been gifts. I can get my Reminisce  fix thanks to my mother. She renews my subscription every year. Thank you, Mom!!! I also love Taste of Home and Simple and Delicious magazines that are published by Reiman Publications (so is Reminisce,by the way).  In fact, I am a big fan of cooking magazines. It's fun to see the tried and true recipes that cooks from all over the country (and world) feed their families. I really am a sucker for cooking literature of any kind! Country Living and Better Homes and Gardens are also favorites.

Subscribing to magazines can get expensive quickly.  I have done some searching to find the most frugal way to indulge my habit.

• There are several website that offer discount subscriptions. Amazon.com, BestDealMagazines.com and Tanga.com are several sites I have found great deals on. I just renewed Taste of Home for $3.85.
• Share subscriptions with friends and neighbors. My friend subscribes to magazines that I don't, so we swap issues. Twice the pleasure have the price.
• Check out magazines from the library. The library is a great resource for all sorts of periodicals.  Lately, I have been checking out all sorts of crafty magazine to find decorating and gift ideas for the upcoming Holidays.
• Give a magazine gift subscription to a friend or family member. It a great gift (and easy gift to give)!
• Check magazines for reduced rate subscription cards. Magazines want to "hook" you as a devoted reader, so they will often offer deeply discounted first time subscriptions. 
• Renew your magazine subscription for 2 - 3 years at a time. Most companies offer a discount for a prolonged subscriptions. I just renewed Better Homes and Gardens for 3 years. They gave my a 3 year renewal for the price of one year ($9.99 or $3.33 per year).

Of course, it would be totally UNFRUGAL to just toss those magazine when you are done reading them! I am a big fan of  magazine swapping, but there are other good options:

• Donate magazines to Assisted Living, and nursing homes.
• Share magazines with elderly neighbors. The elderly are often shut in or on fixed incomes, and new magazine or two to read is always a fun diversion.
• Donate appropriate magazines to schools or Cub Scout groups for projects. I have donated many cooking and craft magazines to my friend who is a Home Economics teacher. Her class uses them for research and class projects.
• They can be donated to hospital and urgent cares,too.
• Always recycle magazine, sales circulars, and catalogs when you are done reading them.

Bloggy Friends......What are your favorite magazines to read?