We had a lover-ly New year, Busy desperate to stay awake lasted til 840pm, head bobbing she finally relented and crashed. Although-helpfully- woke at 5:45am. We had a huge Indian feast, their was lots of shrieking and laughing and food swooning, which are my favourite dinner party sounds. My mate LC's daughter, who is nearly 6 taught Busy to do the jump, land on bum and stand up again trampoline manoeuvre much to our delight as we have been trying to explain it to her for the last week. YAY!
But yesterday Chef did something that makes me swoon. Something he only does about twice a year. It makes me giggle and clap and jump up and down squealing with happiness..............................................
this is not really my Chef
He chucked stuff out. As is clearly stated in my intro he is a serious hoarder. But yesterday he chucked. I mean seriously chucked stuff out. We got back from the beach, where Busy learnt to "surf" (not really- just lay on her boogie board without falling off,) and I said I think we should probably chuck out some old magazines that were taking up so much space.
Well, that is where it started and ended several hours later and two trips to the tip and fully rearranging my sewing room. ( I will show you a picture when it is all finished) it is looking so organised and great.
But the disturbing thing we realised was the amount of money we had spent over the last several years on magazines, and the paper used.... we actually looked at the piles ( that is not them above, I just used that pic as I always like to have a pic) and thought of all the things we could have done with the money. We also vowed to not buy as many. The thing is I use to rip out the pages I like and put them into folders, and recycle the rest of the mag. Some where along the way I stopped doing that and always planned too but never had, so there were piles and piles of magazines. I have vowed to go back to doing that but also, just not buy as many. It is going to be hard, but we are both going to try.... just have to decide which ones I can live without????
Do you buy magazines? What mags can you not resist?
gosh you're a lucky woman! i've been trying to get my partner to do the same with some of his clothes. he has wayyyyyy more than me, which is wrong on so many levels!
ReplyDeletethe only magazine i ever buy these days are food ones, for the recipes :D i've been meaning to go through them and transcribe the recipes that i've made and loved... i think i'll be keeping them until the boy gets rid of some clothes!
happy new year!
I buy magazines, but this year I am backing off on most of them as you can always find what you want on the internet :)
ReplyDeleteI did subscribe to a couple of US mags in November as the Aus$ was doing so good LOL
I used to buy a lot of quilting magazines, but since I started blogging, I realized that you can usually find anything you want for free on the Web! My hubby is into boating magazines, but I'm slowly backing him down on those - easier since the economy went south, since some of the magazines are folding. But we have gotten better about cutting back!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post :) Love that you've had a clean-out. We do that about once a year - it's a mammoth task but soooooo cathartic! I have a pile of mags twice that size at the moment. They're waiting for me to go through them and rip out the bits I want. AND I buy about half what I used to these days... how did that pile happen? I'm a sucker for the overseas mags - UK Vogue, Living Etc and the Spanish AD (this one is the absolute BEST!). Australian mags, I have subscriptions to Inside Out and Vogue Living that my sister buys me for xmas/birthday gifts each year... and I buy Frankie. I've left out my biggest expenditure but then I will never ever throw these out... I also buy the runway collection mags by Gap Press and In Fashion... page after page of all that season's frocks (love these)...
ReplyDeleteWoooo, this is quite a confession, isn't it? Hope I'm making you feel better about yours? Better sign off now before I embarrass myself further ;)
Kx
We're on a CHUCK out mode too...
ReplyDeleteAND I went through mags yesterday too...bazzaar...there must have been a clean wave hitting us all around the World!
Well...2 of my fave mags are now no longer in print...Gourmet and Domino, so what magazines I have of them...never get thrown.
I receive House and Home monthly...they stay with me, and Interiors(british) ...can't seem to part with them either.
My mother has over 30 years worth of Interiors...they are TREASURES!!! I pray she gives them to me when she's ready to part with them.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Char.x
Woodworking mags for the Mr., Cooking ones for the both of us, sewing and gardening for me. We have never bought a lot, we have been given subscriptions as gifts a few times. They are just so expensive now and full of so much dreck, that I often cannot bring myself to buy them without feeling guilty.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, there is something divine about having a quiet moment thumbing through a lovely mag.
A bit ago I joined a magazine swap in blogland, sent one off and received one from another land. It was a great way to make a special occasion out of it!
Not big on the mag buying here, although I do have quite the collection of BH&G picked up for 20cents each at the oppy... When Frankie first came out though I was obsessed with it & bugged the mag guy at work for the new issue weeks before it was due lol - I turfed my whole "collection", from issue 1, when Punk was wee & we moved from Sydney to Melbourne... I regretted it later & can't buy Frankie (or read about people buying it even lol) as I am so sad I got rid of mine so I just prefer to pretend it doesn't exist... ;)
ReplyDeleteDon't buy anything regularly now as I find reading real books challenging enough to find the time for, but I will peruse certain titles at the library if time allows (ha!).
Hooray for decluttering though, tell that man of yours we're ever so proud & expect him to keep it up.
The only mag I've allowed myself in recent years is Mixtape.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I either buy gorgeous books or look for inspiration online.
I tend to flip through a magazine and then it collects dust until it gets chucked.
But a book I'll go back to time and time again.
Andi x
Nope, don't buy magazines - I used to buy Frankie and the occasional cooking one, but I never used them or read them properly and fashion ones are so full of negative self image stuff. That I stopped and never regretted it. You can always get a cheeky fill at the hairdresser or Drs office though!
ReplyDeleteI buy magazines from my local oppy for 50c or $1 - great value. My partner sometimes buys me a crafty mag if he knows I've had a bummer day - that or a vintage sheet - he knows how to put a smile on my dial.
ReplyDeleteI used to have subscriptions to all of the home / interiors magazines. I couldn't throw any away and they started to take over the lounge room (I was too scared to calculate the cost).
ReplyDeleteI just made a decision one day, that when the subscriptions ended, it was all going to be over. Luckily I never really venture into a newsagent, because I know I wouldn't be able to resist brining one home.
Nope! I don't really buy any. The overly styled people and houses don't inspire me. It just doesn't feel real or achievable.Actually we do subscribe to Green magazine and I love the feel and smell of the paper and layout and photos but I like the people who make it so its personal and I can justify collecting them because of that. What a ramble, too much coffee and an antihistamine or two has left me a tad brain fried. I hope you are happy Ms Chooky. XX
ReplyDeleteI am really bad with mags but decided since I have so many I'll actually make projects from them this year not buy them!
ReplyDeletecorrie:)
No magazine buyer as such, but um this is really weird, I have a thing for those free property mags from real estate, I collect them, and read them and the real estate.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of a ( weird) obsession- I even look up the results in the paper.
I love old houses, and I love looking at them and finding my dream house(s) the only problem is I'm not great at throwing the damn things out - especially if they had a few of my favourite houses in them) So I really should throw these out.
so ok by now I'm sure you and anybody else, thinks I'm totally crazy ( which I am) so I will stop now xo
I've only bought a few mags in the last year, including a couple of 50c op shop ones... and managed to throw out most of my gardening ones a few years ago (went through them and realised they were almost identical year to year...). Feeling proud that I have found ONE thing that I don't really hoard!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is the serious horder too, and luckily he has his own plant nursery to store things in too .. I've stopped buying magazines, but might buy the odd "that's life" during the holidays for the kids to do the puzzles and hope to win something, a Kzone for the kids to read when they go on camp or away but I have subscriptions to the kids and ladies Ottobre magazines. I used to buy a fair few craft and cooking magazines but I get sent them when I have projects so I don't worry any more
ReplyDeleteFellow magazine hoarder here too. But thankfully over the past few months have been brave and been able to declutter them. I have a big pile for my friends to go through then after that the remaining ones will be offloaded at a garage sale, and then given to charity.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy all the Australian quilting mags, but then they all started repeating the same patterns in each mag, so now only subscribe to Australian Homespun Magazine. That comes out every second month so not as many mags over the year.I a getting much better at getting rid of them though. :)
I used to be a magazine hoarder, then I started ripping out pages and recycling the rest, then I realised I was hardly ever (ok, NEVER) looking at the ripped out pages.... I now rarely buy magazines at all, there's so much great content on the web that's a)free and b)so much greener!!
ReplyDeleteWe still have a big plan to declutter though, way too much stuff in our house!
I used to be a magazine addict! I have piles of them, some from the first issue (cringe) I have now let all my subs run out, and try to only buy one occassionally if I need a pick me up or see something I love. I have been clipping out recipes and patterns from my collection and taking bags full to the opshop. I do cook from the magazines I buy - i tear out recipes and put them in a clear folder along with comments about what the family thought etc. I shall continue to cull as I still have way too many however, and way too many cut out plans and dreams!
ReplyDelete* sigh* I feel so alone in my mag hoarding... all of you not buying them anymore.......
ReplyDeleteafter reading most of these comments we are all pretty much the same, in and out of love at times with our mags. I'm looking at my dusty pile now, still waiting for me to rip glue and paste into my 'mood' scrapbook.
ReplyDeleteIt all started when we moved into this run down house and these home & gardening mags were like opening our minds to what we could do. I still buy Mags but i flick thru before i buy and if nothing jumps out at me i put it back and wait for the next month......i still like to sit and flick and dream thru the pages that do make it home. Often when the kids are in bed, nothing on T.V with a glass of wine in hand.
oooh I know what you mean, I dont like thinking about the money spent on mags, it really is a waste isnt it? and thy seem to e getting more and more expensive! Some we like to buy Real Living, WOmens Health, Mens Health, Frankie, Barefoot, NAtional Geographic (though we actually bought a whole heap of old ones from the op shop really cheap, they dont date much really). I try to resist buying them unless there is a fair few articles that make it worth it!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't "do" magazines much. An occasionally Marie Claire or Notebook when travelling or holidaying; an occasional craft or sewing one when it grabs me. Yay on your clean up. It feels so good doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI looooove magazines. I still buy them. I have a couple of subscriptions to my absolute favs and then I usually buy another random 1 each month. I don't care about the money. What on earth is money for anyway, you can't take it with you when you go. I'm not saying I'm in favour of rampant consumerism but treating yourself to some magazines is ok by me.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a smoker you know. A pack a day. You want to talk about wasting money and hurting the environment and yourself!
Hope you find a nice balance with your magazine buying.
Last week Kym (my partner) changed a lightbulb we'd both been avoiding for months. In the bedroom! Talk about 'girl-porn'... I so get the thrill of cleaning, more than I should...
ReplyDeleteI have a huge bookcase stacked up with old magazines.....it's messy and it's totally ugly to look at. Some of them are 10 years old......that's bad isn't it? I like you just look at them and see all the money I spent on them, what a waste! I have plans to make a coffee ( or 50 ) and go through them all rip out what I want to keep some day.......maybe I might start today!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder!
I used to buy Better Homes & Gardens until I realsied that they recycle their articles every couple of years! I actually got rid of about 10 years worth of magazines through Freecycle and am happy knowing that someone else is enjoying these before they get recycled.
ReplyDeleteThe only magazine I get now is a subscription (gift from MIL) to Super Food Ideas which I love and have forced myself to cook at least one thing out of it each month so that I'm satisfied that I need it!
And my engineering magazines that I get through work I read and then send to childcare to be cut up - the boys love the trucks and diggers and other boys stuff that they don't get in Women's Day when they get sent along!
Decluttering is liberating. I'm taking some time off in Feb and hope to do a lot of kid-free decluttering myself.
I love magazines, but I limit myself to a few subscriptions now that I live in Switzerland, where magazine cost stupid sums of money. Vanity Fair. American Vogue (much cheaper than British Vogue). Oprah (for book reviews and recipes and a sickly US$ feel-good factor which makes it ridiculously cheap). And now a architecture/interiors/lifestyle porn one I recently found called Dwell (again, the sad state of the US$ influenced me). It hasn't arrived yet, but the copies I've seen were amazing. In order to deal with the amount of mag reading required, I keep a stack by my bed and read them at night. Then, I earmark the pages I want to keep and within a few weeks I cut out the relevant articles and then file them away in a special concertina folder with tabs. And then I put the old ones out for recycling. It's the only way I can deal with the dead-trees guilt.
ReplyDelete