Reader Question: The Overwhelming Magazine Collection

A reader asks:

I have a lot of magazines; my favorites are Real Simple and Living. I have 3 years worth in a closet. They are taking up too much room, but I don't want to part with them all as I sometimes refer to them. Especially if it's related to a season like Christmas decorating or Halloween crafts with kids. Just looking at them drives me crazy. I am afraid one day I am going to get frustrated and chuck them all! Any tips would be great!

You may think this is a sacrilege, but I'd suggest ripping up the magazines, saving the parts that are most interesting, and creating binders or files on the various holidays (or other subjects): Halloween, Christmas, etc. Then when that time rolls around, you'll have all your ideas in one place, easy to find - and you'll have saved space, too. (Think how much of the magazine is ads and other stuff you don't care about!)

You might organize the clippings in

- Three-ring or lever arch binders

- Itoya's Profolios (a personal favorite)

- Unikeep binders

- Expanding or accordion files

You could also choose to store the clippings electronically. Scan them, or take digital pictures and upload them.

And yes, there may be a few magazines where you really do want to save the entire magazine. These can be nicely organized with magazine files.


Related Post: Letting Go of the Magazines