Magazine Organization

I love magazines! I wish I could afford to order about a dozen but I only have 3 magazines subscriptions. But I know there are magazine lovers out there, and maybe a few magazine hoarders. How do we keep our magazines in order?

First, keep up with your subscriptions. I suggest keeping a file folder with a list. As you subscribe to a magazine, add them to the list along with the price and the length of the subscription. Keep this tickler file in your current file cabinet. Most magazines begin to nag you WAY in advance of your subscription date and you can get confused. For instance, I may choose to get the special offer of a 3 yr subscription for a favorite magazine. But after the first year, the magazine company begins to nag you to re-subscribe. If I'm not on top of it I could end up re-subscribing and pay ahead for 10 yrs! So keep up with your subscriptions, the prices, the specials, and a list of any magazines you would like to subscribe to.

Next, as magazines come in each month, you need a place to put them where you don't forget them and you get behind. Here are some magazine racks.

This was one of my favorites. But it will need room to rotate those corners so it might not sit very close to a chair.




Would this be top heavy?










Cool vintage magazine rack and table.












As you put the magazines in the rack, take out the older editions and put in more permanent storage. There are magazine holders that are good for keeping magazines organized while in storage.


For the thrifty magazine collector, use cereal boxes cut down.


Good idea for long term storage.


But before you get boxes full of magazines you need to decide how valuable are they to you. For instance, I get Soap Opera Digest which comes in every week. After I've read them, I don't want them any more. I don't want a library of Soap Opera Digest (some people do, just not me). So I keep them in a box until I go to my hair dresser. Then I take a bag of those back issues to her for her customers to read. She loves it. There are lots of ways to pass on old magazines. Doctor's offices, Dentist's offices, any where they have a waiting room, prisons, send to soldiers overseas, pass on to other family members, give to Shut Ins or while visiting someone in the hospital or nursing homes, etc.

If there are magazines that mean so much to you that you want to store them and you have the room to organize and store them, then that's up to you. But if it's just part of a magazine that you want to keep, think about cutting them up. You can clip, copy or scan recipes, decorating ideas, inspirational articles, how to articles, etc. Then file them in file folders or in page protectors in 3 ring binders or tape them into a spiral notebook or organize into folders on your computer. Now, don't pass along a magazine that only has ads left in them, LOL! If you've only clipped a few things, then you could still pass the magazine along. If you've swiss cheesed it, then throw the rest away in your recycling bin. If you copied or scanned it, it can be passed it along.

The main thing is to enjoy your magazines, get your worth out of them but don't let them just keep stacking up and getting dusty. If you don't read your magazines in a timely manner, then you should re-think your subscriptions. It's a waste of money to have subscriptions when you don't have time to enjoy the magazines. Don't waste money and experience pressure because you can't get around to reading your magazines. Don't let your magazines push you around!