There are a couple of magazines I subscribe to. All but the current issues are in magazine boxes--the boxes don't fit in my bookcases, but they do fit on top. I have one box per magazine title and I keep it full--they hold approximately one year worth, depending on how thick the magazine is. Every month when I get the new issue, I recycle the oldest issue. If I want to keep an article or some pictures, I tear them out.

For recipes, I have a manila folder in my kitchen for recipes I want to try. If I like the recipe, I put it in a 3 ring binder--I use those page protector things and just slip it in. If I don't like the recipe, I toss it.

In my filing cabinet, I have a couple of folders for the types of articles I save frequently--one for pretty pictures of nicely decorated rooms, one for how-to articles. Twice a year, I cull the entire file cabinet and toss anything that's no longer useful to me.

I love magazines. I subscribe to several (gardening and womens) and buy them off the rack if something catches my eye. But what to do with them when I'm done reading? I'll cut out recipes I like and file them in a three-ring binder with pockets, filed by type. Meats, main dishes, vegetables, appetizers, snacks, beverages, etc. Then what to do with the "skeleton" ? I put the in a box, which I take to my car when looking full. . Then I'll leave them at doctors offices, the 24 hour laundromat, or the hospiral lobby waiting room where I get dialysis. I'm careful to rip my address labels off the magazines. And I get a great feeling when I pass by the laundromat and see women reading my cast-offs!

I have found some wire magazine holders from Staples to be perfect for my needs. They're a bit expensive, but I just haven't found anything else to be as good. They're sturdy, I like the way they look and they and go on a bookshelf. Most of my magazines are creative in nature and only come out six or four times a year so that's a bit more manageable than something that comes every month.

I have one "catch-all" wire holder that everything goes into when I'm done with it. When that fills up, I sort them further into their respective categories.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Mesh Magazine File

You asked about putting magazines in a binder. I use these for some magazines that I want to keep. They work great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Staples

Dawn, that's a wonderful idea; thank you!

do you know how these rubbermaid clips compare with Baumgartens? It looks as if the baumgartens are a loop that you hang the magazine from and the rubbermaid are an actual pinching-together device.... or maybe not, maybe they're really the same.

Anyone know? Anyone have comparative information? Note that the link below shows the best picture I could find but it's cheaper elsewhere, and the Baumgarten ones seem less expensive than the rubbermaid everywhere. Quality difference or just brand name?

Thanks, all, for a glimpse into how you manage this. Trilobite, I like those holders too but they're too pricey when buying several. I've bought just packs of the cardboard in the past. I may do so again; I could just cut them down to fit in the bookcases...

Here is a link that might be useful: Like Rubbermaid devices at Staples; different mfger

The plastic thingies are a great idea, but consider the cost of the binders, too, if you don't already have some in the house -- they can be expensive when you add up how many you would probably need.

I've used inexpensive cardboard magazine holders from Ikea (they sell them online, I THINK -- and I know I've seen them on eBay).

I know not everyone lives near an Ikea, but they have great inexpensive storage solutions -- including inexpensive boxes w/lids for keeping magazines and such sorted and stackable on a closet shelf.

Aliris,

The Rubbermaid ones are not clips. You just open the magzine to the center and slide the holder on and then put into a binder. Hard to explain. Easy to use!

Here's the instructions on the website:

�Open magazine, slip through holder's slot and place in any three-ring binder
�No punching necessary
Plus, for others viewing, that link no longer works. I'm reposting below.

Yes, the Baumgartens do look the same.

Here is a link that might be useful: Staples

Lay them flat instead of trying to stand them up.

And put them in cardboard holders do that you have different "levels"--this will let you remove them in sections, etc.

And you want a cardboard holder that has one side COMPLETELY open. You might have to make your own--I only see them in acrylic, and then rarely.

Another option: a hanging file type setup.

A way to keep magazines from flopping around in a not-quite-full box, when they're standing up:

Blow up a balloon only partway; wedge it in.

Also, cut a piece of cardboard to be the same size as the magazines, and put it next to them; then the magazine can't flop bcs the cardboard will hold it.

The link below is the effect I was going for w/ those "magazine file boxes on their sides" idea.

And here's the "slipcase" that would let you stack them on their SIDES, lying flat. Then you could pull one out from the middle without disturbing all of them (just the 12 or so on top of them)

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/office/literatureOrganizers/magazines?productId=10027121&N=74548

Or use a sorter like this, and combine it with a piece of bristol board or cardboard to use as stiffeners at the end, and then use rubber bands or something to hold the magazines against a divider? Or the balloons or some other semi-squishy thing to wedge in there?

You could get a literature organizer like this, and assign cubbies to different people. There might be a smaller version around somewhere, esp. now that scrapbooking is so popular.
http://www.globalindustrial.com/g/storage/displays/literature-organizers/corrugated-wood-literature-organizers

Here is a link that might be useful: letter tray

I use the Rubbermaid thingies in 3-ring binders. (Here's compulsive for you--I actually spray-painted binders a certain color that matched the wall color so they would look calm and organized in my "study", because I could not find a color I liked in cheap binders.)

Anyway, I like this system because a) I can go through past issues like a "book" instead of tossing loose issues all over the tables and floors; it makes me more likely to peruse them for ideas or "go shopping" for magazines at home. I have also created some holiday-binders (Christmas, Thanksgiving) in holiday colors to keep on coffee table and enjoy looking at decoration or recipe ideas from say, 6-16 different December or November issues of different magazines. b) I try to limit myself to a certain number of binders based on shelf space, so have to toss some if I buy new issues. This might be oldest-out, but not always.

Thanks for all the good ideas! I agree about the price of binders themselves being a little shocking. Then again just about everything is expensive ... but you're right to include that additional expense. More than the magazines in some cases!

I like the idea about slipping a balloon in the sides of the boxes, though I imagine it'd deflate right-quick. Very cute idea though.

I have tried laying the cardboard magazine boxes on their sides, but as they have that angled piece that stops, everything winds up going sideways and sliding and being at a non-flta angle ... kinda just doesn't work well; can't stack the boxes, etc. But if they were a true box the whole way around it might work better.

Thanks, all.

Those 3-ring inserts do look like a quick-and-dirty alternative to what I remember from libraries of long ago that had metal rods in the spine you could detach to insert magazines inside of. I image those are expensive and maybe not available retail if at all anymore, but they were probably in the back of my mind as I was wondering about this. Thanks for coaxing out the memory and a soluteion all in one!

My love-hate relationship with paper is deep and I've been a sucker for magazines since I was a kid when the Saturday Evening Post and Life used to come in the mail .
Finally, I've come to a reasonable (for me) solution. I have several categories of interest, gardening, cooking, travel, home remodeling/interior decorating. I've tried binders, plastic sleeves, upright magazine holders and have always wound up being annoyed at the cost, the weight, the time spent filing.
I have determined to limit my clippings on any subject to one portable file box which makes it easy to take to a table or in bed or wherever. So the recipe file box has manila folders marked: breakfasts, drinks, salads, beef, Asian, Mexican, holiday meals etc. like a cookbook. I'll put a clipping in that category LOOSE. If I need to make, say, an appetizer, it's easy to find , I can also toss anything at any time, like when I decided I would get rid of the majority of high fat recipes. If the file box gets too full, I go through it and cull, I mean how many versions of bread pudding does one need?! My rule is no more than will fit.
The home decor box has categories such as bedrooms, paint/refinishing, kitchens, bathrooms. The garden box has files on roses, succulents, pots, propagation, fertilizing, garden layout etc. I know much of the info is on the web, but the photos trigger my imagination. This is especially true of the files for travel.
Regarding magazines like the New Yorker, I invariably fall behind on the reading, so I cut out and staple the fiction and keep them in an expansion file. When I know I'm going somewhere that will involve waiting, like the doctor's office I take one or two in my bag. When I go on a trip, I might take a couple dozen, read them in the airport or in a restaurant and when done, leave them for someone else.
I know unsubscribing is sensible, and in the past I've done it, but eventually I renew. What can I say? It's a small vice.

I get a ridiculous abundance of magazines, some I never subscribed to, which I give to others, the ones I order, I enjoy reading with the magazine in hand

In this digital age, many people now read magazines on the IPAD/on-line, but I'm old school and enjoy having a magazine at hand, dog-earing the pages I want to go back to, ripping out pages that I want to keep (recycling what's left of it) or just keeping the whole magazine if there's LOTS of things I like/want to refer back to.

Even with trying to go through some of these to lessen the load, I still have a lot. The pages are probably what's the most bothersome. I finally found something I think may help. I haven't used it yet (no time) but I bought a VuPoint Scanner - you can scan the page you want to keep then put it in the computer.

This may be helpful for some of you - will be helpful for me, if I can find the time to do it - I have YEARS of pages I've pulled out - some I've gone through and dumped, some I've gone through and wondered why the heck I kept it, then dumped, but I still have LOTS left. It makes me feel like a magazine horder!!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: VuPoint Scanner

Judging by the piles of National Geographics I have seen at garage sales, old magazines are not worth keeping. Nobody wants them. Pass them along and let someone else figure out what to do with them. I bring mags to my doctors offices , read them in the waiting room, and leave them behind.

At my home - we don't subscribe to magazines. Instead - we go to the library and borrow as many as we like - and then return them. No clutter in my house... and my kids and I get to read from several different magazines without purchasing. Plus - the library is FREE!!!

Seriously - you should look into what your library offers. Most have all the popular magazines and some libraries will store back copies (if you ever need them). I thought I would miss not having magazines around the house... but it is SO great not to have so much "STUFF" around...

The same goes with DVDs... We used to have a lot of DVDS around... but since we have had Netflix for the past few years, no one really watched the dvds anymore... So - they all went to the garage sale. Now - if someone wants to watch something - it is either a "watch instantly" from netflix or something that we can order from them. Works great for my family...