Do you have tons of magazines that you want to keep but don't know what to do with? Are your magazines taking over your living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, and other areas of the house that you didn't particularly want them in in the first place? The good news is that there are ways of organizing your magazines and keeping them orderly-it just takes a little effort.
The following is a short list of how to manage your magazine collection so that they don't threaten to take over your space and you can still find what you want when you need it.
For a few dollars, you can pick up magazine holders at stores such as Ikea. You can generally get several magazines into one holder so this is a great way of keeping them all in one place while still placing them on a shelf.
If you don't want to save the entire magazine and are just interested in certain columns, advice pages, articles, or even recipes then a scrapbook is a good way of holding onto that important information. Just cut out what you need, paste it into the scrapbook page, and toss the rest of the magazine. (Recycling is best!)
Perhaps you don't want to keep every issue of every magazine, but you are interested in the Christmas issues, Halloween issues, etc. If this is the case then organize your magazines by season. Keep all of the Christmas ones in a decorative box, for instance, and all of the Thanksgiving ones in another box, and so forth. That way, you're not keeping every issue and you're still able to access the ones that you want.
If you want to combine the scrapbooking with the magazine holder idea then simply tear out the pages that you want, slip them into clear sheet protectors, and place them in a binder.
If you simply lack the space to store much of anything then you can always scan the articles that you want to keep and organize the images on your computer. Recycle the magazine itself, or pass it on to your local library or doctor's office.
Of course, you can also organize your magazines on shelves in a conventional method. Some organize chronologically, especially if they collect the same magazine. Others organize alphabetically while still others do it by season.
This page contains the following solutions.
For those magazines you just can't throw away, now is the time to downsize them. Go through them and honestly remove only the pages you need and put them into an empty photo album, so you can see what each page offers.
I've always enjoyed home and garden magazines. So much so that they quickly began to pile up. Soon I realized I couldn't keep each and every magazine because my house just doesn't have that kind of space.
To avoid magazine build up I follow this rule. I have until the last day of the month the magazine is dated to keep it.
I love getting magazines with recipes and craft ideas. They can soon add up when you want to keep them for their ideas. If space is limited, it becomes a clutter problem.
I collect craft magazines and I have to organize them carefully, because I also sell them and have to be able to find them quickly. I have two ways to organize them for sale after entering them on Amazon.com.
Save only the pages that you find relevant and store in a notebook. After using a system to identify those pages, donate those that may be of interest to libraries, senior centers, etc.
A frugal way to organize magazines and papers. Ask at your local library for the holders that magazines come in. They are usually free for the asking.
There can be a lot of magazine clutter in a bathroom, to make it look tidy but accessible buy a square wicker basket and set by the toliet, or better yet, buy a cheap wine rack and many magazines can be rolled and stored in it...
My hubby and I like to read magazine articles about saving money, investing, etc. Hubby does not have the time, like I do, to read the magazines that contain articles such as these.
I have an old antique crock that I store magazines in. To keep it from getting out of hand and too full, as soon as I receive the newest version, I replace it and give the older one to my daughter or a friend!
This video gives great detailed instructions on how to make stylish and functional magazine organizer.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Some magazines have wonderful information in them and are worth saving. How do you organize and store magazines?
I needed storage for a bunch of magazines. While I was at that store that ALL of us shop at I came across an empty box that some stationary item had arrived at the store. Took it with me and when I was checking out, asked the checker if I could have it. Sure! So I had a box, cut the same way as one of those magazine storage boxes you pay $6.95 for free. It also holds about three times as many magazines!
By Bert in Oregon
I found an old torn magazine from around 1917.
It had allot of so called secret weapons for WWI.
I cut out the pictures and some info on each and made a scrapbook full of that stuff.
You also could scan the mag articles you want to keep on a CD rom.
If you keep those mags you better protect them from yellowing or tearing .
I keep mine in a cardbord box about the same size as the mags and I pile them in top of each other
These Mags I have were over 30 years old when I got them.
The last I looked they are still in good shape in my closet on the floor on a piece of plywood
I take out the pages I want and staple them into a plain manila folder and label it with the article's subject and keep them in an upright cardboard magazine box.
I bought myself some 2" binders and dividers. I use the dividers and label them according to generic categories, such as recipes, home decorating, crafts, fashion, etc. Then I cut out the pages I want to save and use the 3 hole punch and put them into the correct section. For little cutouts that are too small to use the hole puncher, I place them in a vinyl sleeve that goes into the category. Keeps me so much more organized!
I HAD A FEW YEARS OF SUBSCRIPTIONS AT ONE TIME AND I SPENT 8 HOURS SORTING THROUGH EACH PAGE W/ A RUBBER FINGER TO QUICKLY TURN THE PAGES AND THEN I RIPPED OUT ANYTHING THAT CAUGHT MY EYE. I THEN PUT THEM IN CLEAR SHEET PROTECTORS AND IN A HUGE 3 OR 4" BINDER FROM STAPLES.
I employ a similiar method to the binder users, except that instead of cutting out the articles that I like, I carefully pull out the pages of advertisements (comprising nearly 1/2 of the magazine it seems...) and then leave only the articles of interest in them. This lightens the load and the stack. I like the archival quality of keeping the magazine volume, date and other information in tact. This way if I ever have a question about something, I can refer to it in my letter to the editor or post it online.
Please remember that when you use all capitol letters in an email everyone will assume that you are SHOUTING. It also makes it very difficult to read.
Save your holiday magazines. They can be stored for seasonal reading on gardening, recipes, decorations, etc. One fun way to save them for the next Christmas season is to wrap your lights up around them. If you decorate early you now have them to refer to for the next family holiday events.
