Subscriptions Got You Down?
Or more likely the cost of your subscriptions getting you down… just got the annual renewal for The Economist… $109… Ouch!
I think most everyone has subscribed to a magazine or twelve in their life and while it is much cheaper than buying individual copies on the news stand is it really worth it?
Sigh… another question with a yes and no answer… don’t you just love Grey? There are so many different shades of it.
Being old enough to predate the Internet I remember when magazines were the source of specialized information about just about anything.
The internet hasn’t done away with them though… it’s probably made them more widely available as people read about them on Google and order a sample copy… they might even then subscribe.
There are still thousands of magazines that you will never see on the newsstands and are only available through subscription… and they tend to be the priciest.
I’m sure you can tell me stories about the one you have to subscribe to to keep up with new “whatevers” in your field at work that costs the same a car payment.
Because I am an avid curious reader off the top of my head I can recall subscribing for varying lengths of time to the following over the years… and definitely not all at once.
I still might pick up an individual copy if I see it at the newsstand and it has an article I want to read but I had to start limiting my subscriptions a good number of years ago when I figured out I was shelling out about $50 a month to feed the cat killer (curiosity).
- Gleanings in Bee Culture (I DO miss my beehives)
- American Beekeeper
- National Geographic (still do and have an almost 60 year collection of them)
- Smithsonian
- Discover
- Popular Science
- Popular Mechanics
- Motorcycle Magazine
- Cycling (motor not pedal)
- American Motorcyclist (comes with my membership in the American Motorcycling Association)
- AARP (again comes with membership)
- Artist Magazine
- Watercolor Magazine
- Sail
- Latitudes and Attitudes
- Wooden Boat
- Restaurant News
- Confectioners Magazine (trade publication)
- Manufacturing Confectioner
- Food Arts (still get…its free)
- Gourmet
- Cuisine
- Chocolatier
- Tea Time
- Bon Appetit
- Vegetarian Times
- Stylus (pens)
- Ornament
- Bead and Button
- Rock and Gem
- Lapidary Journal
- Time
- Newsweek
- US News and World Report
- UTNE Reader
- The Economist
- The Mother Earth News
Gay Themed:
- Advocate
- Monk
- Frontier
- Gay and Lesbian Review
- White Crane
- RFD
- Passport
- OUT
At one point I literally was subscribing to a dozen different ones… but then I was a college student and the student discounts made them really cheap… maybe $10 a year each or around $10 a month.
Contrast that with today. Most monthly magazines are in the $25 to $30 a year price range so even a few subscriptions can run into big money.
I’ve pared down to about 4… National Geographic at $45 a year.
American Motorcyclist comes with my annual membership in the American Motorcyclist Association but that includes free towing and a whole list of other benefits for around $30 a year.
AARP Magazine comes with the $15 annual membership in the American Association of Retired Persons… and they seem to think 50 is a perfect age for you to be considered “retired” and thus eligible to join.
The Economist though is the biggie… 50 issues a year and $109 for the subscription but it’s the one I really read from cover to cover every week.
Food Arts is still Free.
Because of the high cost of The Economist (not really at just over $2 a copy but it does add up) I’m still spending about $15 a month overall on subscriptions.
Because I don’t really need them for other than entertainment I just have to put them down as part of the entertainment budget.
But what do those of you do who have to get something specialized and therefore pricey?
And do you find yourself with more magazines than you have time to read?
Is it one of the those little “leaks” in your budget where the “I don’t know where all the moneys gone” bubble floats back up?
Turns out our local library has magazines that you can borrow. Instead of paying for subscriptions, I just check out a few on our weekly library trip. The only catch is that they recently changed the borrowing policy and I now need to manage the incurring of late fees better. I do, however, consider the $2-$5/month part of my support to local libraries.
Hi Holly,
My library allows magazine checkouts as well but only on the older year long bound versions and they are thinking of doing away with them and going strictly to scanned computer access to save space.
I do make sure I pass on those I’ve bought to others…my version of recycling them.
Sometimes I’ll take a big pile of them over to one of the Assisted Living/Nursing Homes nearby..they really seem to appreciate any sort of reading material.
~ Roland
I subscribe to the New Yorker, The Atlantic and G&L Review and White Crane. That’s about all I can afford but I find them all necessary in different ways. The New Yorker and The Atlantic gives me information I can’t find anywhere and White Crane’s improved over the years and still gives me access to Gay voices I hear rarely. And I like to support little independents like that.