Yup, that's me. I've realised that I am a magazine hoarder. I didn't think I was, but since I've started looking over the house, I realise that I have a problem with magazines. The more I seem to actually see them, the more they seem to multiply. I have different kinds of magazines - photography, crafts, country life and cooking. A lot of the craft ones have patterns in them I 'might' someday do. Even if I lived to be 150, I wouldn't have time to do all the projects I've earmarked to do. It's time to sort through them and let them go. If you've been reading the blog, you know that I have been letting go of the photography magazines. I discovered a whole other pile of those so there are more to look though. After that I have decided that it's time to sort through all the others and start letting them go. It's also time to stop buying them. I haven't bought any cooking ones for a while as I look up recipes on the internet, but I do still buy some other ones. I said it in a previous post, but I might look at continuing on with Kindle Unlimited (a treat to myself once I've decluttered a lot more books) as it has magazine subscriptions or, once in a while, I might treat myself to a digital magazine through PocketMags. Either way, it is time to stop bringing them into the house. Decluttering itself isn't enough. I have to stop bringing things into the house.
That's my thoughts for the day, a reminder to myself in case I forget!
Today I didn't declutter much. I did take one lot of floss up to the craft room and sort through it. I got several organised and a pile to donate. I added three magazines to the donate pile. They are knitting magazines with lots of patterns in them. I also decluttered 5 books. Not a lot, but I was busy and didn't dedicate a lot of time to decluttering today.
Do you still get magazines? Are you a read them and toss them sort of person or a read and re-read kind of person?
A couple of decluttering photos :)
I was raised in a very austere household. Books and magazines were rare. I rarely had enough reading materials to my satisfaction. The one room schoolhouse I attended had few children's books. Therefore, I LOVE magazines and books. Because of my great thirst for knowledge, I cannot throw away or give away a magazine until I have read it from cover to cover because I might miss something important that I should know. Magazines are slow to leave my house. I have discontinued several subscriptions this past year. I probably have over 100 unread books on my shelves. Same story,
ReplyDelete3 magazines, 5 books, some floss, and what looks like a set of knitting instructions and a pair of knitting needles in the top picture comes to 11 items decluttered, which sounds like a good number of items decluttered for one day. :)
ReplyDeleteI am a bit of a magazine hoarder, myself, and tend to re-read them, especially crafts magazines. I used to have several subscriptions to magazines, but, have stopped that and, in the last couple of months, got rid of most of the magazines I was holding onto. I am trying hard not to buy any new items, borrowing from the library, instead.
I haven't bought any magazines for a very long time. Barry put some on my Kindle, but I haven't looked at them . . . yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying not to lol. I just enjoy looking through them, reading a bit and looking at all the wonderful photos.
DeleteHi Sharon,
ReplyDeleteHave you looked at the readly app. Literally thousands of mags. I currently get through 30 a month . Screenshot any recipes or articles. The magazines also stay for about a year.
Thanks! I'll have to look into it.
DeleteHaven't bought any magazines for ages now - they are all ads and very expensive. The Smallholding ones were useful back in the day.
ReplyDeleteI like some of the cross stitch ones, but realistically I'm never going to stitch all the patterns in them so mostly I don't buy them only once in a while as a rare treat. Photography magazines are my downfall right now, but I have cut back on them.
DeleteI was raised in a small town with no library. Family was borderline poor with no money for books or magazines. Every book or magazine I could access was read from cover to cover. I had such a thirst for knowledge I was afraid I would miss something important if I didn't read everything. So today at 83 I still finish every magazine before I give it away. I first skim them when they arrive and then they sit at my bedside table as I read every article, one at a time before sleeping. Call me obsessive-compulsive. I probably have over 100 unread books on my shelves, yes, they will get read, also.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I've loved books since I was a child. They have kept me company in tough times and some stories keep me going back time and time again. I won't ever stop reading, but I have to at least try to read what I have on the shelves. Our town had a lovely library when I was growing up and I remember spending a lot of time scouring the shelves hoping to see new releases I hadn't read. There was also a wonderful bookshop in town that had once been an inn. It had little rooms full of books and, even though I couldn't afford to buy any, I remember sitting on the floor and reading them.
DeleteNoooooo.... don't look in the magazines cos you'll never get rid of them. I had to steel myself and just chuck them in the recycling bin. If I'd started looking through them they would all have gone back in the loft. Go on, be brave and listen to one who knows how hard letting go is.
ReplyDeleteAck! I don't think I'm quite ready to do that. Right now, I'm doing pretty well looking through them and then recycling or passing on to other people. I reckon about 95% of them are leaving the house. There are still a lot more to go. Some I have just tossed though. I think it's a sign I'm ready to let go. I am still keeping in mind that I'm trying to downsize to (in a fantasy world) move into a two bedroom cabin in the countryside and I can't take a lot of stuff with me!
DeleteOh, me too, Sharon. I now subscribe to Readly and have saved a fortune. :-) xx
ReplyDelete