Magazine Organization ( for those of us with a problem)

I LOVE MAGAZINES!!!!

I read them so fast that people (mainly my family) make fun of me. I currently get seven subscriptions to my house:

- Family Fun
- Better Homes and Gardens
- Redbook
- Family Circle
- Parenting
- Family Handyman ( hubby's)
- Money (hubby got it but I read it too)

And my mom gets "O" magazine too, which she shares.

So I only had 20 pages from 14 magazines. Pretty good for me.

So after I read them in lighting fast time, There are always some articles that I want to keep or remember something from. I just can't seem to get rid of them. And in the age before e-books and me having no apps for this.... I started my binder system.

First, I figured out my categories:

-Self Help
-Money Stuff
-Mom/Kid stuff
-Beauty(Makeup/Hair/Clothes)
-Inspiration
-Organization

I found these dividers.....

Isn't that a cool tree in that ad?

and these tabs.

Then I take my really old hole punch, punch some holes, and start adding my articles. They make new ones with levers that are much more hard core. I really need to invest in one.

Now whenever I find articles that I can't live without, I have a place to putt hem without taking up valuable bookshelf space. I also go through the binder once every few months to weed out any articles that I haven't looked at or don't apply anymore. I always tell myself  that if I can't fit anymore in the binder, then I can't keep anymore.

After I have gone through my magazines, I then share with my sister and my mom and they when they are done with them we recycle them. We have a great little system so that we know which magazines from each other we have and haven't looked at.  I write an EM, my sister writes an L, and mom writes an S in marker at the top of the magazines.  I even take my old magazines with kids themes to my daughter's preschool. The teacher says they like to use them for cutting practice and just making stuff. It's a nice way to recycle.

I know....that cook book has seen better days.  It's well loved.