52 week challenge Week 20: Magazines, newspapers, and e-mail newsletters

Magazines to read

Magazines to read (Photo credit: Longzero)

This week, we’re doing some organization on the mounds of media we receive and access. I personally love to receive magazines, especially when we are overseas. It is nice to have short blurbs to read as a busy mommy (when that seems to be all the time I have). We get to keep up with the news, the trends (whether we follow along or not!), and of course, to follow along with our accounts online. But this influx of info can overtake the house!

Magazines: If you’re like me, you may have some “surprise” magazine subscriptions as well as the ones you have ordered. And they might be all telling you you have to renew (when on at least some you have a good amount of time left).

First, here is a link to use your magazine labels to locate the actual month your subscription expires as well as your account number. Some you may want to allow to expire, but if you are coming close to one you want to keep, it’s good to know when it expires. You can almost always get a better deal with a “new” subscriber rate, which most magazines will give you if ask – going to their website is easiest! The almost comes from the Jewish magazines like Binah and Mishpacha, which tend to be more expensive with discounts much harder to find.

It’s also helpful to find a good way for organizing the magazines that you will read – the rest should be recycled. I just have a spot for the ones I want to read, and then when I have a a chance, I pull out whichever interests me. There are magazine organizers and places in your bookshelf or on your coffee table, or maybe in your desk. Depending on how, when, and where you read, you should be able to find a good place.

Then if I find an article I want to share, a coupon to use, a recipe to try, or a project to do, I will either fold the page down (especially on Shabbat) or pull that page(s) out. I have a folder for those things and I regularly go through them and make use of the pages–or toss them. Paper doesn’t do anyone any good if it’s in a pile with good intentions but no action!

Newspapers: These may be a little easier to organize because of their regularity and time-bound information. You can use similar methods to keep them organized as you do for your magazines. If there is something you want to save, it’s good to have a spot, but again, it should keep moving!

Your subscription(s) are something to keep track of as well. This is something that is often managed by e-mail or websites, so you can check in and see. It’s also good to call or e-mail every now and then and see if there is a better deal. For example, we get the paper for the whole week while paying the same as we did for just Sunday. It’s a “promotion,” but we’ve had it for a year or so!

If you are looking for a coupon organization method, check out Mara’s at KOAB. I do it a little differently, but haven’t written much on it (yet!)

E-mail/online newsletters: Now is a good time to sort through your e-mail inbox. Are there any newsletters you just delete without reading? It’s a great time to unsubscribe. Most of these will have an “unsubscribe” button on the bottom of the e-mail. If not, you can always reply with an unsubscribe request. Or if you can’t find that, then just send it to your junk box. Some e-mails also have an unsubscribe request for newsletters.

If you subscribe to a yahoo group, you can go to your group and change your preferences. You can get things sent as they come in, in a digest all at once or just receive special notices–this is what I have done with the freecycle group in my area. When I want to post or “shop”, I can, but I don’t get the hundred or so e-mails that go out through the group each day.

How are you sorting through and organizing your media? Is anything working well for you?

Permanent link to this article: https://organizedjewishhome.com/2012/05/18/52-week-challenge-week-20-magazines-newspapers-and-e-mail-newsletters/

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