Magazine Musings

My name is Sophie, and I buy FAR too many magazines.

That would have been my confession just six months ago. For as long as I can remember, I have loved the world of magazines. The glossy covers, the beautiful images, that mixture of beauty, fashion, life and advice. Monthly magazines, gossipy weekly magazines, it didn’t matter. I loved them, one and all.

Looking back at the amount of money I must have spent on magazines over the years actually now makes me shudder. When you consider your average glossy monthly is around the £4, and I loved far more than one of them…

Then, about six months ago, I graduated from university and ‘real life’ begun. I moved back home whilst job hunting, and began work in September of 2013. I realised more than ever that I needed to watch my pennies. Don’t get me wrong, I learned a lot about budgeting at university, but it took starting work and earning an actual salary to really make me think.

Flicking through the November issue of a popular magazine, I found myself ignoring multiple pages. When I closed the back cover, I realised I hadn’t really enjoyed it. What used to be my favourite relaxing thing to do just wasn’t that interesting. The internet gives us so much, and when I constantly get brand emails or read blog posts that cover exactly the same material in an often more exciting way, spending so much on print magazines just didn’t seem as exciting.

So I stopped.

I decided not to buy them any more. And on taking that action, it became clear that I stopped loving them a long time ago. Maybe it was overkill as I had read so many. And I’m talking silly amounts, it had become a habit or a compulsion to buy them all the day they came out. Maybe the amount of money I had spent I would now prefer to spend on meals out, or trips away. But I don’t miss them.

Don’t get me wrong, when I’m on a long journey or really fancy a magazine, or love a cover star, I’m not going to stop myself. But it’s no longer just a force of habit, an almost ritualistic way of frittering away my money, without pausing for thought. Three months on and I’ve not caved yet. And I feel fine about it.


How much to you spend on magazines?

Comments

  1. Beauty Balm28 February 2014 at 21:11

    I love magazines! I'm trying to cut back though! I get Red, Psychologies and The Simple Things. x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mademoiselle Lala28 February 2014 at 21:52

    I am not buying any magazines unless there is a really good gift with it. ;) TBH I prefer reading blogs for reviews, new info, fashion inspiration - it's faster and more real. The exception is Vogue but I am treating more as a collecting. ;)

    Mademoiselle-Lala.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1 March 2014 at 18:26

    I haven't bought a magazine in longer than I can remember! I used to get them as subscriptions for christmas though which was excellent as most came with incredible freebies x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Eleanor3 March 2014 at 14:10

    I used to buy loads and then cut back to JUST Elle Uk, but that was over a fiver a month which was still unnecessary, particularly now when we can get practically all the articles and more online! i've stopped now, i do miss having a nice read but it saves so much money, and they're definitely a waste!! good on you for cutting them out!! :)
    xxx
    http://eleanorcos.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous3 March 2014 at 16:29

    I am EXACTLY the same...I used to habitually buy Cosmo, Glamour, Company and Nylon with the occasional Marie Claire or Vogue chucked in if I was particularly interesting in the person on the cover. Then when I came to move out of my uni house, I found I had stock-piled probably upwards of £500 worth of magazines that I kept on the premise of reading again...which never ever happened! I recycled most of them, keeping a couple of Vogues that had particularly good cover stars, and started again.
    Now I only get them for the free gifts or specific articles, rather than buying them every month just for the sake of it!

    Hannah's Haven

    ReplyDelete

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