2009 My Year Without {Purchasing} Magazines: A Memoir

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. 2009 was my year without purchasing a single fashion magazine. Now that oh-nine is oh-ver, I am trying to determine whether I will continue my record.

First let me tell you why this was quite an accomplishment and why I decided to make such a deal with myself.

I am a sucker for pretty pictures, pretty things (as most bloggers of this sort are) and pretty clothes, and since my job made me into a pretty frequent traveler I would often buy more magazines than I could read. I created quite a pile of mags by my bed (I rarely throw them out) and also encouraged the insatiable need inside myself for more stuff.

Though I would hardly call myself a clothes horse, I do have to admit, I was spending more on clothes than I should so I had to do something about it. This meant for me, less trips to the mall, less "I'll get it 'cause it's such a deal" purchases at TJs and Marshalls, and NO MORE MAGAZINES.

I like a variety of mags, so I never subscribed to one, but purchased at random so it seemed silly to be spending 4-6 dollars on something that only encouraged me to spend when I really need to save.

And so my magazine-less months came and went...and through the spring of 09 I did pretty well. Nooooo fashion mags. Just Cooking Light and Real Simple (which was kind of cheating because they have fashion features). Nonetheless, I did not purchase a single Elle, Vogue, or InStyle.

And then "LUCKY" started randomly coming to my house spontaneously. I got one issue...and then a few days later I got three (the months I had missed)...and then another and another. It was a bloody Lucky downpour.

AHHHHH! People, Lucky is the magazine about shopping! I felt like someone was playing a nasty trick on me! You fast from magazines and then the magazine about shopping starts falling from the sky!!!!! Do you know how hard it is to resist those Lucky Breaks?

I am happy to say that I stayed strong. I gave most of them away threw the rest out. Good job me.

September was so busy that I didn't have time to think much about what was missing....

The holidays were tough...but I found I had enough festive frocks to get me through without checking a magazine to see what was new.

So here I am and it's 2010. New year....and I was faced with the big decision today while at CVS---and you know which one I am talking about.

I was waiting for pictures to be developed and casually made my way to the magazine rack.

I really wanted to do it. I really wanted to buy and take home the copy of InStyle I picked up. In Style is my absolute favorite. Heidi Klum is on the cover. And I love Heidi. And I saw this little page on Lady Gaga and all her strange looks...and I could read that over and over about a dozen times and still be delightfully confused/intrigued/weirded out. And then there was the bit on on how to wear leggings, and the outfits they put together were so cute...and provided advice on how I could pretty much wear them anywhere including shopping, date night and brunch!

But you know what, I didn't buy it. I have good reasons. 

First, I have gotten by for the past year coming up with my own way of wearing leggings and have done a half decent job of it I have to say.

As for pretty pictures...well I can get my fill from the blogs I read thanks to all you savvy bloggers out there.

And finally, the newstand price of InStyle at $3.99 is equal to 1/12 of this shirt at Anthropologie....

So if I save my $3.99 for the next twelve months, next December, I can buy it. :)

As you can see, 2009 really taught me a lot. Cheers to 2010!