Saving Money on Magazines
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Saving Money on Magazines
A couple of years ago I ordered some curtains from from JCPenney for my house. When I placed my order, they offered me a subscription to three different magazines for the low cost of $5.
I took them up on the offer because I liked the price and I enjoyed the magazines. The hitch is that the offer is connected to an automatic renewal system. Each year, my credit card gets charged $20 per subscription.
Being the Northern Cheapskate… I realize that there must be a better way. So I’ve cancelled the automatic renewal and come up with some ways to save money on magazine subscriptions.
Look online. Many magazines will highlight key articles and features on their websites. Be sure to check them out. You may find that you don’t need to subscribe at all!
Borrow magazines from the library. Libraries carry both mainstream and unique magazines that you can borrow for free. I love to check out cooking magazines and find new recipes.
Trade magazines with friends. My husband and I are news junkies and we subscribe to Newsweek. Our friends subscribe to Time. Each week, we swap our magazines after we’re done reading them. It’s like getting two magazines for the price of one!
Extend your subscription. As mentioned before, we enjoy Newsweek. We recently opted to purchase a four-year subscription because the price worked out to just 45 cents an issue! Sometimes it pays to call the magazine and ask if they can cut you a deal.
Check for member discounts. Are you a teacher or student or a member of a union? Sometimes you can get discounts on magazines through your membership in various organizations.
Shop online. Visit websites like Magazines.com, MagazineLine.com
, and ValueMags to get great prices on magazines. Some of these places are 80 percent or more off the cover price!
Ask for magazines as gifts. People like giving gifts they know you’ll enjoy all year. And many magazines offer a deal where if you renew your subscription you can give someone a free subscription.
Check out AdPerk. For watching a few videos (advertising) you can earn FREE magazine subscriptions. This is a great option if you’re super cash-strapped because all you need is a computer and some time.
It is possible to enjoy reading magazines on a frugal budget. It just takes a little research.
Nurture Your Frugal Nature. Visit Northern Cheapskate today!
6 Responses to “Saving Money on Magazines”
August 27th, 2008 at 9:08 am
If you buy online and get an offer to rate the transaction on BizRate, a lot of times they will offer you up to 4 free magazines… Sure, it has the same autorenewal option at the end of the 1 year subscription, but you can call and cancel and get a refund…
I take these magazines and drop them off at my Doctor’s office when we’re done with them so they have new reading material for their waiting room.
Take care,
Jeff
August 27th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Another way to save is to check with friends and family to see if there are discounts or deals you can swap; my Mom drinks Coke constantly, and has tons of Coke points, but isn’t interested in any of their prizes, so she gives a couple of magazines to me.
I also started taking a hard look at the cost/benefit ratio. I’ll read most magazines at a library but find craft and cooking magazines are worth the money because I’ll keep using the information, recipes, and patterns for a long time.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I recently found out about a site where you can share and read magazines old and new online:
http://www.mygazines.com/
August 27th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I get most of my magazines for free. Most of the ones I really enjoy just cost too much. You can check Startsampling.com - a lot of times they offer free subscriptions from just one issue to 3 years. Also check @ freebizmag.com. I get a lot of magazines from them, and they’re free, with no automatic renewal headaches.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Our Libary has a “Friends of the Library” room where they sell donated books/magazines. I purchase current magazines for .10.
I let several subscriptions go and now pick them up at the Library.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I own my own business, and get quite a few magazines from:
http://www.freebizmag.com/
You never know what will be offered — and you have to fit their demographic profile and say that they want the magazine before you get the subscription.
I love the antiques magazine, but I give away the tennis and horse magazines, since I don’t play or ride; same with the boating magazines (although they have some interesting articles that I look at sometimes). Opera is something I don’t really love to listen to, but I find some of the articles in the opera magazine fascinating.
I do have to caution that some of the magazines are definitely not Christian or moral (a few I’ve refused to sign up for, and others that I have gotten have gone in the trash instead of been given to the library).
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