Money & Career

7 tricks to save cash on newspapers and magazines

7 tricks to save cash on newspapers and magazines

Author: Canadian Living

Money & Career

7 tricks to save cash on newspapers and magazines

While it seems we're rapidly becoming a paperless society, there's still something about a glossy fashion mag or big, fat Sunday paper. But a print media habit can cost a small fortune. A subscription to Italian Vogue costs about $240, 12 months of People will run you around $210 and a year of the Globe and Mail can run well over $400.

If you don't mind reading January's fashion news in February and if you don't need to be the one to crack the spine, then here are seven ways to keep up to date without blowing your travel budget on paper and ink. Bonus: it's the greener way.

Go to your library. All the most popular magazines and papers are there. Most libraries won't let you check out the latest issues, so make it an outing, find a chair and settle in for a bit. Don't forget your local university or college library for more offbeat titles.

Shop secondhand. Many thrift shops sell magazines for pennies -- literally.

Do you really have time to read the paper every day? It might make sense to subscribe just to the weekend edition, so you can enjoy it when you can really relax with it.

Start or join a sharing circle. Say you're tempted by your five fave mags every month -- at $6 per issue, that adds up to about $30 a month, or $360 every year -- and that's not counting the one-offs. Here's what you do instead: Find four friends, classmates or colleagues who share your taste in reading. You each buy only one magazine a month, and everyone passes them around.

Look for subscription deals. Let's say you're a cook, caterer or food stylist and you need that copy of Food and Wine delivered to your door -- it's a tax write-off, after all. Getting your subscription through Publishers Clearing House or another subscription program can save you a bundle off the cover price.

Spot a magazine you want to read at your doctor's or dentist's office? Just ask -- most likely they'll be happy to let you borrow it.

While we would never encourage dumpster diving, we think there's nothing wrong with taking a peek at that pile of magazines put out for recycling. We won't tell if you don't. 

We'd be the last to say that magazines and newspapers are a luxury that shouldn't be paid for -- and for all the hours of entertainment and information you get out of them, they're a pretty good deal. But with a few tweaks to your consumption habits, you can save cash while keeping up with your reading.

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7 tricks to save cash on newspapers and magazines

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