99 Cent Magazines

I used to subscribe to a lot of magazines and newspapers, mostly sports-oriented or automotive-related, like Pro Football Weekly and Car and Driver. Then I got into fitness, finance, and photography. Those subscriptions can really take a bite out of your income.

Then I took the other extreme: I canceled, or didn't renew, my subscriptions. I had nothing. Not even a newspaper. But lately, I've determined that a life worth living is one you enjoy, and I enjoy reading.

Now, I could go to the library. I tend to visit the library when I'm doing research, but I find it difficult to go there for leisure. So, I've bought in again to a couple of subscriptions.

First, I subscribe to the online version of Consumer Reports. I don't need the physical magazine; it gives me no comfort having the magazine in my bookcase. I can find anything online that I can find in the magazine, and usually more and always faster.

I also subscribe to Men's Health. I still am into fitness, though you couldn't tell by looking at me. I hobble around on one bad knee and with chronic low back pain. But that's all being resolved soon. I'll tell you how in a future post (I'm sure I'll have time to write at that time!).

Here's a deal, with no automatic renewal (that's where they normally get you -- you forget about it, your credit card auto-debits, and you're out $27, or whatever). Titles include Better Homes and Gardens, Computer Shopper, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, Inc., Smartmoney, and Working Mother.

I think I'll be signing up for a few. The magazine publishers' ploy is to get us hooked again. But I won't let it happen, unless the subscription has a positive ROI, meaning I get more out of it each issue in personal profit (either more income or less spend) than it costs.

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