Tuesday 8 June 2010

I read therefore I am.

So when do you buy magazines? I used to religiously buy four magazines per month - one Afrikaans woman's magazine (Sarie or Rooi rose), one English woman's magazine (Fair lady or Femina) and two others (Ideas, House and Leisure, Shape, O, Leef or whatever looked interesting). (I am not counting the masses or Architectural magazines we get at the office).  I never subscribed because I usually bought in each category whichever one's headlines on the cover had an article of interest. With the slowing down of the economy and cutting back of costs, it was the obvious place for me to cut back on. Adding to that the joining of the Book club and having access to great reading matter for R50,00 a month and once a year getting all your year's money back to spend on books you want, also helped in the decision.

But I still buy magazines - every now and again. To read in the bath - you see, I believe that a book does not belong anywhere near water. When on holiday I also treat myself to a few. But these days I find myself buying, not because of the articles, but because of the countless free stuff. I choose my magazines by the attraction of the "free gift" - hence this month I bought the Fair Lady - free eyeshadow (just when my trusty container broke) and free body wash. Value for money I say! Great cover picture too.
So which magazines do you buy and what do you base your choice on? Or do you subscribe? And do you still get the free stuff if you subscribe?

18 comments:

  1. I must tell you a secret - I haven't ever paid for a subscription but I seem to always have at least one on the go.

    You know why?

    Because I keep going to workshops - my Fit Pregnancy one has just ended and now I'm getting Living and Loving from the one I went to in March.

    Before that I used to get Shape for years because I kept going to their workshops. Gosh.

    These days I buy what catches my eye - sometimes Your Baby, sometimes Ideas (this is actually my favourite because deep down I want to be a decor/ craft-person whizz).

    But I've put a ban on mags for the last couple of months, not for economical reasons but because I have a pile of about 5 - 6 permanently waiting to be read!

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  2. Fair Lady has been my FAV read for years and years! If I buy a magazine, it is usually the FL. Sometimes now a baby/parenting magazine...
    I also used to buy magazines and magazines, but too expensive, and we don't get to read all of them. I used to swop with my mother. Alas, not any more! :-(

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  3. I dont buy any! Purely because I cant bring myself to spend that money on a magazine.

    But I have noticed the increasing amount of free stuff and it does pull me a little. Also that special Woolies had - 4 mags for R56 - had I been to a Woolies on my own (D always seemed to be with me) I definitely would have bought it!

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  4. I dont subscribe to any magazines myself..
    In South Africa I bought the YOU every week from the day it started till the day I left...
    I enjoy magazines and am so thankful to all my blogger friends who post me magazines from all around the world, so I always have some English ones to read. I do buy German magazines but only look at the pictures.

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  5. I love buying magazines and DH always moans that its a big waste of money - my excuse? Its a good resource for cutting out pictures for school :-)

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  6. We did have a subscription to Australian Geographic magazine, but I think it's lapsed (it's quarterly, so I tend to lose track of when the last one came). I've also subscribed to New Scientist in the past, which is weekly, but now I only pick it up when I think I'll actually have time to read it because I kept ending up with big piles of unread magazines.

    Neither titles tend to come with free stuff though we did score a pair of binoculars as a free gift with a resubscription to Australian Geographic once.

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  7. Magazines are my guilty pleasure. I love to buy them. :)

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  8. I always bought magazines based on what was on the front page...but I stopped when I realised how much I was spending and that I never actually read them cover to cover.

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  9. I can't even remember when last I bought or read a magazine!

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  10. I love magazines...I think I subscribe to 10 of them (fashion, decor, crafts, and just one news magazine...so frivolous!). Fair Lady looks interesting!

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  11. We used to have a lot of subscriptions. Time and Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and Vogue. Now, Mr. Fairway just gets Sports Illustrated. Had to trim the budget...

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  12. I used to subscribe but now I just read on line.

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  13. i have never been a regular subscriber, used to buy on a whim - especially before travelling.

    But now Discovery make it dirt cheapt to subscribe. I think it has cost be R350 for a year subs to Marie Claire (my chick mag of choice) and Womens Health AND Shape Mag. I love all three but if I had to lose one it would be Shape. WH and MC are amazing mags and I read every last bit of them.

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  14. Reading in the bath. Great idea! I don't buy magazines at all, actually, but this is a good idea!

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  15. I use to buy allot more then I do now... but on top of magazines I also am a lover of exclusive books... so.. it gets expensive.

    Now I buy Shape, Woman's Health, Marie Claire... and the odd other one that catches me eye.

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  16. I have to say i'm a bit of a magazine whore! I buy most of them. Terrible. But my fav was Femina and now it's gone. Fair Lady i find is fulled with rubbish (this latest issue in particular), and altho they have freebies, is it actually something that you'd use?

    I actually buy more of the decor mags now than anything else!

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  17. I have always enjoyed reading mags, too! I subscribe to Glamour (have since I was about 13!!) and now several parenting ones. I also get a Twins one. I used to get a couple home ones but they were piling up so I cut back...as it is I still don't fully read through them all = just go for the articles I like best.

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  18. It's once of those internal debates I have with myself everytime I pick up a mag ... but I enjoy the Fair Lady - especially their 20/30 outfits for 20/30 days - makes me look at my clothes differently. I love the grey dress on the cover of the latest one ... Shape/Home/Marie Claire/Woman & Home/Fitness ... along with Garden and Home and the Conde Nast Garden HOme all feature on my 'buy' list ... along with a Scrapbooking one occassionally. I just find it feels as though I'm reading the same thing again and again ... maybe I need to save those pennies :-) Enjoying your blog!

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So what's on your mind?