DisSuggs4u

One of the goals I have for this blog is to begin sharing not only some of my tips in both organization and personal finance. The problem I am having with both of them is they are fairly large topics and I am trying to figure out where to start.

With that said, there is one personal finance tip I can share today involving what has historically been (for me at least) a very large money vacuum: magazine subscriptions.

I love to read. However, it is difficult for me to find time to do so on a regular basis, and so I end up focusing my reading energy on a single front — be it online news and blogs, books, or magazines. The last one can be typically tricky, especially since it has always been difficult to feel guilty about wasting money as the magazines pile up without being read.

As I see it, there are two ways to solve this problem:

1. Reduce the number of magazines you read by canceling subscriptions (and getting a refund for the issues remaining on the account) or letting them lapse.
2. Find a lower-cost alternative to magazine subscriptions.

Personally, I used a mix of the two. The first way was easy to implement since there were only a couple of magazines that I really loved to read on a regular basis.

The second was a bit more difficult, since it is usually hard to find discounted subscription rates without going through some sort of a “clearing house.” However, this usually compounds the problem because you have a limited number of magazines you have to subscribe to in order to receive the “discount.” So, that was not a viable option.

I did stumble upon a really great resource for this, though, and it was right under my nose: eBay.

It is very true that whatever “it” is you are looking for, there is a high probability that you will find it on eBay. This is also true of magazines. You see, there are a TON of people out there selling single and multiple-year subscriptions at a very low price.

Here are the reasons I find this very, very useful:

• There is a HUGE selection.
• Many of the prices offered are half of the normally available “discounted” subscription rates.
• You can buy these subscriptions and use them to extend (or renew) an existing magazine subscription.
• You can buy these subscriptions as gifts for someone else.
• Many times there are multiple year (such as 5-year) subscriptions offered at normally single year prices.

All of these not only make magazine subscriptions more economical, but it also takes the psychological burden off of you when you fall behind in your reading. (If the price per magazine for me is something like $0.15 an issue, then I could care less if I am four+ issues behind.)

The best way to take advantage of the subscription offers on eBay is to look for ones with a “buy it now” option. This way, you know exactly how much you will be paying. Many of the offers do not even charge shipping, which is very nice.

The only downside (that I can think of) is that if you favor specialty or niche magazines, then you may not find them on eBay. If you can find them out there, though, it is a great way to save money.

I hope this information is helpful. Happy eBaying.