Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

OBL - Oh dear, I think you & I must have been members of some Naughty Magazine-Buying Sisterhood in the past! I have been pretty much a reformed character since the LBM. I buy 'Feel good you' because I find it positive, interesting & uplifting and it's only £3.99 quarterly. I should take out the subscription to that, really, as it'd be a saving. Mum LOVED magazines. She used to pass them on to me - gardening ones, 'Woman & Home', which I like, sometimes 'Country Living' & various others. I mustn't get tempted back into buying loads of these for myself as the cost will quickly add up. I think I will choose just 1 nice title each month & use my Personal Spends budget. Some months I might not want one, but I know I'll enjoy choosing (without guilt) when I do. But you make a good point, OBL....the £5s spent on mags definitely is £5 that could be used for another little treat - bath bubbles, a tray of cheery winter pansies, a latte & cakeypoo, a face mask.......it's a case of seeing what will most 'hit the treat spot' on the day, isn't it......& the option of keeping our £5 is, of course, also there.
F x

kayannie

Foxgloves ( & any other magazine lovers)

I take advantage of subscription offers from my favourite magazines. A couple of months ago, a subscription to Country Living was on offer £6 for 6 issues. I think the current offer is £10 for 6. You do have to remember to cancel the subscription though, otherwise it automatically renews at the usual price!

My library also has an informal magazine exchange where we can take ones we have read & swop for another.

KA

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

OBL - Oh dear, I think you & I must have been members of some Naughty Magazine-Buying Sisterhood in the past! I have been pretty much a reformed character since the LBM. I buy 'Feel good you' because I find it positive, interesting & uplifting and it's only £3.99 quarterly. I should take out the subscription to that, really, as it'd be a saving. Mum LOVED magazines. She used to pass them on to me - gardening ones, 'Woman & Home', which I like, sometimes 'Country Living' & various others. I mustn't get tempted back into buying loads of these for myself as the cost will quickly add up. I think I will choose just 1 nice title each month & use my Personal Spends budget. Some months I might not want one, but I know I'll enjoy choosing (without guilt) when I do. But you make a good point, OBL....the £5s spent on mags definitely is £5 that could be used for another little treat - bath bubbles, a tray of cheery winter pansies, a latte & cakeypoo, a face mask.......it's a case of seeing what will most 'hit the treat spot' on the day, isn't it......& the option of keeping our £5 is, of course, also there.
F x

:rotfl:loving the Naughty magazine buying sisterhood,maybe we can develope a 12 step programme to rehabilitate fellow magazine addicts
I am lucky that my mum does buy me a magazine every fortnight so I still get my fix,but lately I'm not too bothered about having one,they are all full of adverts and don't actually relate to me anymore and they just encourage me to spend more money on things I don't need,the only one I will keep on having is Psychologies Magazine as it has lots of really interesting articles and ideas,I'm thinking of subscribing to that one because it's cheaper and subscribers get access to a life coaching club which sounds quite good,I'm still thinking about it and might suggest it as a Christmas pressy from someone

joeyjimbles

On the magazine front, does your library do the subscription thingy whereby you use your library sign-in to an app RB Digital and then you can read the magazines on your phone/tab etc. I have only just started using it but read Good Food the other day and either Olive or Delicious, and there are gardening and weekly titles on there too. So you can curl up and read one without the guilt or the cost.

Luno

Hi Foxgloves, just to say I have throughly enjoyed reading your diary. I'm sorry about what you are going through at the moment. On the magazine front I get my kicks through Tesco clubcard rewards. Although I don't spend much at Tesco I save them up and this gets me Good Food magazine for the year.

foxgloves

Thanks for the magazine suggestions.
JoeyJimbles - That's a good option to investigate electronic versions from the library, but (& wouldn't I just have to be awkward?!) despite being perfectly IT literate, etc, I prefer magazines in their traditional format. I'm.not sure why, I just do.

Luno- Glad you enjoyed reading my diary. I'm really hoping the Old Me & the New Reformed Me will show that it truly is possible to change terrible money attitudes into sensible budgetty ones. I don't have a Tesco for points, but I could certainly put my Co-op loyalty points towards a magazine. Another option would be to choose 2 mags my sis & I both like, each take out one bargainaceous subscription & swap, so we both get to pay for one title, but read two. I do always have a look on the magazine stall on our local market. Sonetimes they are only the previous edition & he charges £1 each instead of the £4 or £5 they cost new. Anyway, lots of ideas there - thanks - for when the urge strikes.
Now I'd better get today's thoughts on......

foxgloves

Oh.......that is so annoying. I've just done a nice long post & it's been gobbled up. I'll come back tomorrow & re-do it.
F x

Onebrokelady

I'm another who likes a crisp new magazine,in fact I'm very precious about them,if they get bent or damaged I'm not happy,I'm especially vulnerable at Christmas becasue all the covers look so inviting and it's easy to get sucked in,I really need to get out more:rotfl:

foxgloves

Oh yes, OBL. I agree about Christmas magazines. I really did used to get tempted by those. Much less so now, though. They look so lovely & festive, don't they? However, I don't think I bought a single one last year. I do look at them, but have come to the conclusion that they are pretty much all the same. I know how to cook a Christmas dinner, pud, cake, etc. I don't need pages of glittery party dresses & clutch bags because I'm not going to buy that kind of stuff & I have zero interest in how 'celebrities' (I even loathe the word!) spend Christmas. So I still love the idea of Christmas mags, but would have to choose very carefully on content to make the £5 (ish) spend worthwhile. The last one I bought was a craft title & I chose it for the little festive free knitting kit on the front. I did knit the item, but my intention to knit a few more for gifts didn't materialise. I still have the pattern though.
F x

DawnW

Totally with you re 'celebrities' - really don't understand the hype. The kind of magazines that tempt me, at Christmas as well as other times, are those that feature lovely houses and gardens, and decorating. Yes, I know it is all staged, and nobody' house looks that perfect, but still



I don't indulge very often though!