Why Worry Wednesday - Menacing Magazines

Mission Six:

MAGAZINES and CATALOGS

 I am a magazine junkie. One of the few bad habits I admit I possess is buying magazines. Over the years I have learned to cut back because 1) I just can't afford this bad habit 2) I can't actually read them ALL and 3) I have become more earth-friendly.


MY STORY: When my grandmother passed, I had to clean out her house. She had tons of magazines lying around. For every 50, I found one that she had marked with something interesting. It took days to go through them. Just when I thought I had sorted through them all, I opened the attic door to literally 100s of more! She kept every single magazine she ever bought! Magazines are RARELY valuable. If they are, it is because someone else is collecting them and need a particular issue. There is no reason to keep them for years at a time.



When I began to go through my own stacks magazines, I realized I was keeping tons of magazines for no reason. Since my business involves home decor, organizing and catering, I pulled out and few, mainly the holiday ones for reference, and everything else went to the gym or the women's shelter. Since then, every magazine I buy, I read as soon as possible so that it doesn't end up in an unread pile by my desk.


TIP: As you read a new magazine, skim the articles and mark the pages you want to go back and read. On the spot, tear out any article or photo you may want to try later. Go back and take the time to read the articles you marked, then immediately add the magazine to the recycle pile. Put the torn out pictures and pages in a file for later reference.

My own magazine "file" book

Assignment: If you haven't already, go through your house and gather every magazine (this includes catalogs) you own, read or unread. You can keep 12 for future reference. As you get the newest issues, pull the oldest out to recycle - even if you have not read it yet (after three months if you haven't read it, you probably aren't going to.) Don't renew your subscriptions if you find that all three issues are still un-read. Most magazines have on line versions. They cut down on tree harvesting, paper production energy and transport fuel. They also don't make piles in the floor that fall over every time the dog runs by!

Wednesdays in the Simple Life Series are for YOUR CLUTTER (and yes, it multiplies in my home too). I will let you know what I am doing to make simple changes in my own home to clear out my clutter. I hope you follow along and try some of these steps yourself. Please let me know how you are coming along by leaving comments at the bottom of each post. Tell me what works, what doesn’t, if you are bored – whatever – we are learning and growing together.