Wednesday, March 25, 2009

what magazines are you letting expire?

I'm trying to give up some of my magazine subscriptions--partly to reduce clutter around the house (they do pile up, don't they?) and partly because I just don't depend on them they way I used to for beauty and inspiration. These days I prefer the internet for beauty and inspiration--it's a constant supply and, unlike with magazines, I never feel bad about not being able to achieve what I see on its pages. Magazines, on the other hand, often make me feel discouraged in that way (and so many of them are really about selling things, aren't they? Even Wondertime came to have a "stuff we love" column every month, which annoyed me). So, Wondertime is gone--I do still like it, but they are ceasing publication. And now my Everyday Food subscription is expiring with this issue. I actually love Everyday Food, but I have dozens of back issues I would love to delve into more. And I've just about run out of space on my shelf! My Cookie subscription also recently expired, and I'm not sure if I'm going to renew. Today I'm leaning toward yes--there's something about it that I like--it has a certain edge to it, despite being very materially oriented. I love the photography.
I told Ken it's weird how the last issue of a subscription is often a particularly inspiring one--like they planned it or something. This Everyday Food had an article about dried beans, of all things, plus a lovely article on eggs for dinner, and very cute cookies that are inspired by "store bought" favorites.
Here is my interpretation of the recipe above. I've been eating this for lunches this week. I loved learning how to cook black beans and beets! We're out of pineapple now, and this picture is making me really want another.

So, anyone else having similar thoughts about magazines? And what magazines are you definitely keeping?

34 comments:

Tara said...

I'm keeping Real SImple and giving up Vanity Fair.

I need useful now - not entertaining... LOL :)

Joy said...

I recently let Cookie expire, and Mothering, which was a tough decision for me. I LOVE Mothering, but lately it seems very baby-oriented to me, and my "baby" is over 2. I'll still buy issues that interest me, but no subscription for now. I'm keeping Kiwi and Dwell. (Dwell is on auto-renew so I can't avoid that one; hubby loves it anyway).

Meg said...

This year, for birthday and Christmas, I asked for magazine subscriptions, so I now receive Country Living and Everyday Food. I also get Cooking Light and Newsweek.

In the past year, we have let several subscriptions lapse--Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Redbook, Real Simple--and I think I've only bought one copy from the newstand since. (It's Vanity Fair--every three months or so, they'll have a really interesting looking cover article...and subscribing is cheaper than buying three copies off the newsstand, so I subscribe, and then I find myself wondering why I'm getting this magazine when it's all those in-between months with articles I don't really care about.)

I think it's fun to go the bookstore and look through completely new-to-me magazines...but as you said, the internet has all the inspiration you could need. Now if I could just figure out a way to curl up on the couch with my computer...

Andrea said...

The last few years I let a lot of magazines expire--ones I never got around to reading, like "National Geographic" and "Smithsonian"; pretty much anything parenting related ("Parenting"...which I got for free, "Family Fun," "Wondertime") because it was so much of the same, same, same and enough advice already. I still get "Brain, Child," which I love always and "The Sun." I'm toying with whether to renew "Orion" or not--it always depresses me, but has such good information and writing on so many important issues (both The Sun and Orion are ad-free which I wholeheartedly support). I subscribed to "Living Crafts" after seeing it on your blog, and am not sure if I'll keep it going either.

Jen said...

I've let everything (Cookie, Vanity Fair, Oprah, Lucky) expire EXCEPT Real Simple. I love that magazine.

Hannah said...

I have similar feelings about magazines, I started reading them for inspiration but often came away from them feeling inadequate. I stopped buying them in the shops about 2 years ago and have since been lucky enough to receive subscriptions to Martha Stewart Living which I enjoy. I find the advertising less intrusive because I'm in the UK so most of the things on sale don't apply here. Also, a lot of the "things we love" type of articles relate to antiques and things you would find on markets and thrift stores. I do feel bad about the fact that the magazine travels so far to get here though.
I am so glad that I discovered blogs, they are inpsirational like magazines but update more regularly and feel more real don't they?
Sending wishes for Rainer with his current treatment, I'm sorry I wasn't around to send them when you posted about his new round.

vincent said...

I ususally get magazines from the library. It is free and if I see anything I HAVE to keep out of it, I just make a copy and put it in a file at home- under say "Cooking" or such. I admit the $5 a year deals did get me, and I now am the unproud owner of an entire box of magazines that I still "need to read". CRAZY!!! So, I am all for letting all of mine go. Get them online or at the library... No mess... I also take my old ones to doctors offices/emergency room/wherever when I am done with them to "recycle".

Anna said...

Keeping: ReadyMade and Gourmet

Ditching: Bon Appetit, Sunset, and Dwell

I like them all, but just don't have time to read that much. And, like you, I get more and more via blogs and less and less via magazines.

I have mixed feelings about this, as I make my living in publishing...

secret cake said...

Dropped everything (Cookie, Wondertime, Real Simple, MSL)except Cooks Illustrated.

I miss Real Simple but am able to read it at the chiropractor once a month, along with Bon Appetit. :)

MSL is a beautiful read but too ambitious for me these days.

christina said...

Ohh the magazines.. we seem to get a lot of them. My mil likes to give them as gifts. Right now I have Cookie, Parents, Real Simple (a x-mas gift) and Mothering. Parents is NOT getting renewed the others I will have to rethink next year as I have just started getting them. The hard part with magazines is the want/need to keep them around...for ever. I have a hard time recycling them for fear I may want to find something in it I read or saw. Of course the chances of me doing that are slim, but you never know :)

Ellen said...

I very much wish that I could get my dh to part with a few magazine subscriptions. I am too embarrassed to even say how many there are.

Of my own, I will echo Joy, I think I am going to let my Mothering subscription go... it does seem very baby oriented all the time. I also have Traditional Home, which I am letting expire. I will be keeping the Real Simple, though, I just started getting that one and am wondering where it has been all my life!

Anonymous said...

i feel much the same way. the internet inspires me far more - and in a more personal way - than magazines. i let them ALL lapse. Except recently we re-subscribed to nat'l geographic (we had run out of shelf space for that one, but it's worth it) and i think we'll do everyday food soon. we've picked up a couple here and there, but never subscribed to it.

Emily with an M said...

It is so fun to read that so many of us are in the same boat. I currently subscribe to Oprah, Family Fun, Parents and Cookie. I'm actually going to cancel Parents and decided to keep Cookie even though it totally makes me feel inadequate some months! I love the page in each issue where they show how to make 3 dinners from one main ingredient. I'm in need of a fashion mag to balance it but Glamour wasn't doing it anymore. Thinking about InStyle or maybe Lucky. I get overwhelmed with all the mags each month and realy try to make sure that I grab what is inspiring and use it (or file it!). I'm currently working on a system to organize all of the "inspiration" that comes in the mailbox.

Real Simple gets very repetitive and they keep emailing me opportunities to get 2 frees issues so I do that instead.

Its_Lily said...

I let them all go. I love them, but find it really difficult to toss them into the recycle bin. I still haven't tossed all of them, but at least they no longer accumulate.

Tava said...

I am so keeping Mothering and Living Crafts. I am saying bye to Parenting- that subscription couldn't run out fast enough. What a let down of a magazine. I am letting Baby Bug go for Noah but thinking of picking up National Geographic Little Kids for him instead so he can see the photography. Oh, and my guilty pleasure is US Weekly- can't let that go. How silly is that? At least I got it from my little brother's school magazine sale, so it's for a good cause!

Jessica said...

I'm letting most of my subscriptions go, which is hard. But I have so many back issues. It was difficult to let real simple and everyday food go since I love both so much, but I do pick up issues that look particularly good as a special treat (I did pick up everyday food this month and I'm really enjoying the recipes!!)

Gift of Green said...

Funny - I'm doing a little bit of both. I just subscribed to MS Living because in the dead of winter her covers make me feel so happy. I have a subscription to Every Day Food. I let Family Fun lapse - it was just too overwhelming and with the Internets, I didn't much need it. My two subscriptions I will never give up: New York magazine and the Sunday NYTs - AAAAHHHHHHH!!!

Tonya said...

I weeded out all my mags a few years back. I was getting a whopping 8 magazines a month! No way do I have time for all those now! I now only get Bon Appetit - I really like this one and try to make at least 1 recipe from each issue, usually the cover recipe - and... (wah, wah, wah)US Weekly. Can't help it...I feel like it keeps me young???

Sarah said...

My favorites are Everyday Food and Mothering so I have no plans to stop getting those. I just let my Martha Stewart Living and my Family Fun expire. I have thought many times about getting Brain, Child but have never actually ordered it.

Lia said...

I've stop renewing most as well. It would be difficult to let go of Real Simple. I agree that there is so much wonderful and inspiring information online that paper magazines seem like such a waste.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big magazine person because I never take time to read them and don't need more clutter, however I recently subscribed to one that I really enjoy, Living Crafts. I am very inspired by it, and love the variety.

realgranola said...

Currently I receive Country Living and Mothering. I just ordered Herb Companion. I must have my Mothering and I got such a good deal for Country Living ( 2 subscriptions for $12 ! )that I couldn't pass it by. Looking at it makes me want to buy stuff so I will not renew. I almost forgot my favorite, MaryJanesFarm ! Gotta keep that one too.

Lilly said...

Dear salt and chocolate,sorry for my bad english,I'm italian,end I write in italian,is so easy for me : )
Anche io ho avuto lo stesso tua problema con le riviste,la casa invasa da loro,tanto che avrei potuto edificare anche una DEPENDANCE in giardino,utilizzando solo i miei giornali.Adun certo punto ho smesso di acquistarli,oramai trovo tutto quello che mi interessa su internet e sono felice.Adoro il tuo blog,sei molto brava e mi ispiri.Baci dall'ITALIA,ciao da Lilly.

Natalie said...

They really do pile up and storage is an always an issue around my house.

This year I am not renewing Cloth Paper Scissors. Last year I gave up Dwell, Cooking Light, and Yoga International.

I can't live without The New Yorker and Interweave Knits.

Melissa said...

We let everything die-- I don't think I'll subscribe to any once our current subscriptions are through. I loved Cottage Living, and really mourned its ending, but I just don't get that into anything else-- and I am a total magazine junkie. They all look so similar these days. I've never gotten Mothering, though, and I might pick that up.

Anonymous said...

Who knew magazines would grab so much attention. I loved reading the comments.

I let go of all magazine subscriptions a few years ago. Recently, a very sweet middle school boy bravely knocked at my door and I ordered the magazine More from him. I like More. I need to see more positive images of over 40 women.

I don't understand Real Simple. It is much too consumer driven.

I've been toying with the idea of buying used magazine in thrift shops and the library store to create an inspiration journal like those seen on other blogs. Otherwise, I check out copies at the library, I check out Cottage Living (sorry to see it end), Mother Earth News, Utne, Organic Gardening and Body and Soul (which I really like.)

Carrie said...

I love my Vanity Fair. It is the only subscription I renewed. I have a few more issues of Bust and I will miss it and might renew. I've let go of Good as well as one more that I can't even remember at the moment so I guess I won't miss it!

Anonymous said...

I'm only keeping Mothering (I'm about to have another baby), and I love loaning out back issues to expecting friends.

I hated that "wanty" feeling that I got from Cookie, and once there was a recipe for sushi that included getting already cooked sushi rice from your local Japanese restaurant (!) which made me laugh, but also made it easier to say goodbye...

I think that it is fun to browse magazine racks, and it's nice to treat myself to one that I like once in a while without all the magazine pile-ups.

I just found your blog today, and can't wait to read more!

Annie said...

I get Mothering and Living crafts and I really like both. It's true that Mothering is really baby oriented, but I'm at that stage in my life so it works for me. It would be nice for parents of older kids/teens if they did more articles on things relevant to them.

I also have a free sub to Cookie and it just drives me crazy. It seems like everything in there is SO expensive, hundreds if not thousands of dollars for each outfit they feature. I could live with that if I felt like I got more value out of the rest of it, but aside from recipes and an occasional story it seems like mostly advertising to me. I think the real kicker for me was an interview with some actress a few months back where she was complaining about how she's "not rich" like everyone else (referring to other hollywood stars) and she has to keep working instead of spending time with her kid, etc. Now, I have no problem with her working, but it just felt so whining, not rich? I mean really, what a think to say in an article to a bunch of moms who don't live a hollywood lifestyle.

I don't know, I've never been much for fashion or that sort of thing, so maybe it just not the magazine for me because it does seemed geared towards that. I can see how it would have appeal to others that would outweigh the parts I didn't like.

One mag I think I'd like to get is MSLiving. I wish she still had her kids magazine though...

Meredith said...

All but Dwell which includes: Parents - I get great age-specific info via emails from "Babycenter",BHG, Real Simple - I am addicted to Apartment Therapy now, and Domino,even before it was on its way out.

Mary Elizabeth said...

I am keeping Cookie because it is so affordable. Bye-bye Everyday foods. I understand about the last issue being so inspiring but still out of budget for me. Martha Stewart is going. Unfortunately Mary Englebreit folded. I have been subscribing for years and it was always inspiring. I do buy Real Simple at the check-out if it has a nice cover. I am going to the library for everything else these days.

Amy said...

I have kept Living Craft and Mothering... Martha Stewarts Everyday Food is at it's final run. Mothering seems to be more baby oriented as mentioned but as an L&D nurse and Mom I find it hard to give up. There was a Craft magazine... I was going to check it out but it is no longer available- blended with DIY magazine I guess. I hope you are getting Living Craft magazine- it's inspiring.

Anonymous said...

I let cookie expire long ago

Denise C. said...

I let Country Home, Country Living, Parents expire. I really enjoyed Cottage Living, then they folded.
I adore BHG (been getting that for YEARS!), Real Simple.