Comments on: Following the Time Trail and Downgrading Subscriptions

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:58:55 +0000

We don’t subscribe to magazines, don’t even own a DVR. Basic cable suffices for the amount of time we devote to watching programs/movies. I do buy the occasional magazine but that habit is dying pretty quickly as I’m not finding anything much new there that I couldn’t otherwise find for free online if so inclined.

And I still don’t understand all the continued discussion about the least expensive way to access video content if people aren’t willing to admit they watch it?

By: Marinda

Marinda — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:33:01 +0000

I subscribe to two magazines and I give those same two for presents at Christmas. Both cost me 14 dollars each, so for 28 dollars we get 24 issues. She loves the gift, as on a fixed income, she gets two gifts monthly. I get to email her about articles and we get to discuss the recipes in both.

Ir’s a win/win and works out well. As far as Netflix, we are about to go all streaming, too. DVD’s hang around for too long.

By: Lilly

Lilly — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:42:16 +0000

This is one of the better posts I’ve seen here lately! I totally agree with canceling subscriptions that are not “worth it” for you – whether that means money, time, or whatever.

By: tentaculistic

tentaculistic — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:34:21 +0000

#2 kc “This is all well and good, but I could really go for a little more yellow Neon.”

Bwahaha – I totally read this Christopher Walken style. “Need more cowbell!!!”

And now I have Don’t Fear the Reaper in my head. Which is actually a good thing.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:11:24 +0000

#7 Gretchen – yes. Trent talks in his books & opening blog posts about how seeing his baby boy (their oldest, who started school this year) made him realize he needed to get his act together. And how they started looking for a house when their daughter was on the way.

It makes sense to me to get rid of any routine expense when that item is no longer adding to your life in some way. It surprises me that it takes Trent so long for that to surface into his awareness, though.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:47:46 +0000

Wait. Your “meltdown” was only in 2006?

By: Other Jonathan

Other Jonathan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:47:38 +0000

I find magazines generally useless. I usually have one subscription that I buy to support my cousin’s school fundraiser; I pick a new one each year, and after flipping through the first couple of issues I generally lose interest. Then I start feeling guilty about getting it and not reading it, which is an annoying feeling.

We’ve signed up for 1-month free trials of netflix and blockbuster in the past and it ends up dominating the month – we watch a movie practically every day, and it takes up all of our evenings. So to sign up for a real subscription would either a) take up all of our evenings, or b) lead to the same sort of disuse/guilt that I feel about magazines.

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:22:43 +0000

@Andrew

Trent meant that rather than purchasing all 12 magazines individually every month, you should only buy the couple that have articles that truly interest you that month. If you always get enjoyment out of all 12 magazines and have time to read them all, then the subscription is the way to go, as Trent says.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:21:27 +0000

If you’re only playing the computer games 1-2 hours a month, is it even worth doing the GameStop thing? The trade-in versus cost of even a used game is still a lot of money.

Why not just pick up a couple of older games off of Steam for a few dollars and actually play them all the way through? At that rate of play, you’d be good for a year for probably under 15 bucks.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:03:37 +0000

Actually, buying a magazine once a month is much more expensive than maintaining a yearly subscription.

A single issue of the New Yorker is $5.99. Bought once a month, that’s $71.88. My yearly subscription is $39.99.

A single issue of Entertainment Weekly is $3.99, or $47.88 if bought once a month. My annual subscription is $15.

I have subscriptions to 12 magazines, and in every single case the cost of buying once a month exceeds the cost of a yearly subscription. Plus, you can almost always lower the cost by calling the subscription department and politely asking them to match their lowest teaser introductory rate. This works quite well, and consistently,

It’s this kind of sloppiness that has been making this blog less and less worthwhile. Trent as a fixed set of assumptions, and if reality suggests something different, well, that’s just too bad.

By: kc

kc — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:58 +0000

This is all well and good, but I could really go for a little more yellow Neon.

By: Carole

Carole — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:37:38 +0000

I have let several subscriptions expire because I wasn’t reading them. I found out with most of them you have to actually write them or email them to cancel them or they will keep coming and you will be billed. If you can find the original subscription copy it will say in very small print in an obscure place that they don’t automatically expire. This has turned me off from subscribing to new magazines that I might be interested in. It’s a nuisance to have to notify them when you want to quit especially when you don’t realize the policy exits.