I love flipping through a nice, glossy magazine (who doesn’t?). They are filled with colorful pictures, helpful advice, true stories, humor pieces, recipes, advertisements for somewhat useful products and many other things.
I used to subscribe to magazines; it meant that once a month I was going to get something in the mail besides bills and credit card offers. I stopped renewing the subscriptions a year or two ago, though. I mainly did it to save money, but I had also outgrown the teenage-themed magazines I had been getting and couldn’t decide what else to get.
Does this mean that I never looked at a magazine again? Of course not. There are plenty of ways to get your magazine fix without paying for a subscription. Here are the best ways to read a wide variety of magazines for free or almost free. You may be surprised at the sheer number of ways to avoid paying for magazines.
The Waiting Room
Okay, so this one’s obvious. The doctor, the dentist, the car repair shop…they all have one thing in common: the waiting room. Most appointments require you to wait and almost all waiting rooms have magazines. The downside is that the magazines are often outdated and sometimes boring. Most of the time while I wait, though, I find at least one semi-interesting article to skim. In fact, it is usually when I am in the middle of an intriguing article when my name is finally called.
Once, at the chiropractor, I asked if I could borrow a magazine so I could finish the article I was reading. I had another appointment in a couple of days and there were plenty of other magazines. Not only did the secretary say I could, she even asked if I wanted the newest copy that was in the restroom (I didn’t, but wasn’t that nice?).
The Library
The public library is an often-overlooked resource. Not only does any decent-sized library have just about any magazine you could possibly want, they are usually able to get it from another library if they don’t. This also goes for books, music, movies, etc. If you can wait a little longer before running out to buy or rent these things, you can get almost all entertaining media for free.
However, you do have to worry about due dates and potential late fees and you can’t take pages out of the magazines. There is always the option of copying the article you want to keep if you need to refer to it later and as long as you are responsible and renew the items, you shouldn’t have a problem with late fees.
Sign up for Trial Issues or a Free Subscription
I once bought some photo editing software that came with a rebate and a free subscription to Popular Photography & Imaging magazine. I sent in the card and have been receiving a free magazine every month since. Of course, I now get several offers to renew the subscription or to subscribe to other photography-related magazines, but I just ignore them. If you don’t mind dealing with a little extra junk mail, free trials will actually get you free magazines. Just be careful that you do not provide billing information or they might automatically renew it and charge you for it. If you have to provide information to start the free trial, keep and eye on things and make sure to cancel the subscription on time.
The Used Book Store
Everyone knows that used bookstores have used books, but did you know that they also have used magazines? Not all of them carry magazines, but I did find one that has nice, barely read magazines for about a quarter each. This is also a good place to find obscure magazines or magazines with eye-catching covers for the coffee table. The store I like to go to takes donations and gives its proceeds to the Mennonite Central Committee. It’s win-win: I get cheap magazines and books and they help people in need. Instead of throwing old magazines away, see if you can donate them to charities like this or to waiting rooms lacking good reading material.
The Free Magazine Store
Not everyone will have access to “the free magazine store.” If you have one, consider yourself lucky. It took me awhile to discover one only a few miles from where I live. When I feel the need, I stop by and check out the selection. If I find a few good ones, I get pretty excited.
What is “the free magazine store,” you ask? It’s just the name I’ve given to the nearest recycling drop-off center. I once scored a bunch of magazines that were from the most recent month, including Glamour, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Ladies’ Home Journal, Mad, Jane and others. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to read Cosmopolitan and discovered it was actually the UK edition, so it used British terminology, such as blokes, bum, loo and mobile. I also go there when looking for old magazines appropriate for my students to use for collages (I can’t very well give them Glamour or Cosmo, now can I?). When I’m finished with these magazines, I simply take them back and they still get recycled.
Your Friends and Family
One of the best sources of free magazines is your friends and family. If someone you know reads magazines you like and are the type to get rid of them when they are finished, just ask if they can give them to you instead. If you subscribe to magazines yourself, maybe you could offer to trade with them so you can both get more variety. If you do trade, as an added bonus, you can mark the good stuff for each other to save time. I’ve actually never done this, but it could be interesting.
The Rundown
So, what should you get out of this article? I just wanted you to know that there are several different ways to read magazines without spending much money. Don’t be ashamed to hit up waiting rooms, libraries, used bookstores, recycling centers, friends and family. Also, if you are concerned about the environment, reading used magazines will perhaps save some trees. Another bonus to using these methods is that you will get to read a wide variety instead of the same magazine every month. With the recycling center, especially, I never know what I’m going to get (and I love surprises). Yes, there’s nothing like being broke to encourage creativity, even it is regarding how to find free magazines.
Disclaimer
I know I just went on about how to get free magazines, but if there is a specific magazine you like to read every month and the library doesn’t have it, go ahead and get the subscription. And, if you know a child who is selling magazines for a fundraiser, try to get it through them, because as much as 40% of the cost of the subscription goes directly to the cause. Even if you do not know someone selling magazines, go to www.QSP.com and check out the selection; they offer significant savings and you can choose which school or organization gets the profits. This particular fundraising organization has raised three billion dollars for education and other organizations since 1964. So, even though don’t currently subscribe to anything, if I were to subscribe, I would do it through an organization like QSP.
