Manage Your Magazine Subscriptions

If you have a lot of magazine subscriptions, keeping track of them can be difficult. You could be paying for subscriptions you no longer read. You may also find yourself occasionally missing bills, especially if you have a lot of subscriptions. With some time and organization, you can easily manage multiple magazine subscriptions.

Steps

Tracking Multiple Bills

  1. Make a list of all your subscriptions. If you want to start managing magazine subscriptions better, start with a list. You can use pen and paper or make a list on your computer. Write down every magazine subscription you have.[1]
    • Next to each magazine, write down how much is due each month for the subscription. If some of your magazines have yearly fees, write down the yearly fee instead.
    • Next, write down the date when each bill is due.
    • This may take awhile, as you'll have to look up information for each subscription. Make sure to carve out a chunk of your day to make a detailed list.
  2. Organize your bills by due dates. Re-order your list by due date. Place the subscription fees that are due earlier in the month towards the top of the list, and the ones due later in the month towards the bottom. This will give you a sense of when everything is due, and give you a heads up about which payments are due sooner.[2]
  3. Select specific days to pay bills. Try to pick days around when you get paid. For example, say you get paid the first and the fifteenth of each month. You could pay half the subscriptions on the 2nd, and the other half on the 16th. If you mark these dates in your calendar at the beginning of each month, you'll be less likely to forget a payment.[3]
    • Remember to consult your list. Always pay subscription fees due earlier in the month sooner than those due later in the month. You don't want to end up with a late fee.
  4. Set up alert systems. You can use your phone or computer to set up an alert system for yourself. This can be particularly helpful if you're forgetful by nature. You can talk to your bank about an online bill pay reminder. You can also set an alarm on your phone's calendar for when certain bills are due. If you have a lot of subscriptions to track, this can really help you stay on top of things.
  5. Automate any bills you can. You can call customer service or check online for automated bill options. If you subscribe to multiple magazines, the easiest way to manage subscriptions is to have payments automatically deducted from a checking account. If you can do automatic payments, this will help you make sure you never miss a bill.
    • You may want to mark on your calendar when monthly payments are due even when paying automatically. This will help you keep track of how much money is in your bank account at any given time.
    • However, be careful to keep track of automated payments. Make sure you're not overpaying, or paying for a subscription you already cancelled. You should also always make sure you have enough money in your account when dealing with automatic payments.
  6. Report missing issues. While tracking bills, you should make sure you're receiving all the magazines you subscribe to. If you notice you missed an issue, you should contact the magazine's customer service immediately to report the issue.
    • You may be able to report a missing magazine online, if you have an online account where you manage things like renewals and bills.[4] If you don't have an online account, you can also call customer service to request your magazine be reissued.
  7. Report address changes. If you are moving, call the magazine's customer service and notify them of your upcoming move. Do this at least a month in advance of your relocation so that the magazine can be routed to your new address.
    • An address change can sometimes be done online if you have an online account with the magazine.[5] However, you may also need to call customer service if you don't manage subscriptions online.

Eliminating Unnecessary Subscriptions

  1. Make a budget to assess which subscriptions you can afford. A budget can help you decide which subscriptions to keep and which subscriptions to cut. As you work on cutting back on expenses, make a budget to guide your decisions.
    • Write down how much money you bring in each month. Then, make a list of all your necessary expenses such as rent, food, and other bills.
    • Subtract your totally monthly expenses from your total monthly income. This will give you your disposable income for the month. Think about how much of this money you want to spend on magazine subscriptions.
  2. Cancel any subscriptions you do not read. Be honest with yourself. Are you really getting your money's worth for all of your subscriptions? Comb through your list of magazine subscriptions and identify any magazines you don't really read anymore. You should cut any unnecessary subscriptions. This will save you money, and make managing subscriptions easier.[6]
    • How often do you really read some of your subscriptions? You may feel like you should read something like Time Magazine or Newsweek, but maybe you're just not using those resources anymore. You may be turning the internet for your news instead.
    • If you can't remember the last time you read a magazine cover to cover, call customer service and cancel your subscription. You'll save yourself some money and have less to keep track of in regards to monthly bills.
  3. Look for inexpensive or free alternatives. How much of a given magazine's content could you find online? If you subscribe to an online version of a magazine, is that subscription cheaper than a print one? When looking for ways to cut costs, see if you can find cheap alternatives to print magazines.[7]
    • Many magazines and newspapers post the bulk of their content online. At least some of it is available to view for free. If you don't read a magazine terribly extensively, making use of free online content may be enough for you.
    • You can also look into subscribing to a magazine's digital content. Some magazines may offer cheaper subscriptions if you're not getting a print magazine.
  4. Determine if the money you're spending is worth it. Even if you read all your magazines, think about whether this is really how you want to spend your money. How much pleasure do you get out of your magazines? Are they necessary to work or school? If you're not truly making the most of your subscriptions, consider cutting back. This will make managing bills less of a headache and free up some income.[8]

Managing Online Subscriptions

  1. View your Newsstand subscriptions for an Apple product. If you're using Newsstand on an Apple device, like an iPhone, you can check your subscriptions easily. If you're unsure how many subscriptions you have, simply click "Settings" on your iPhone or iPad.[9]
    • From there, click "iTunes and App Store" and then tap your Apple ID near the top of the page. Then, click "View Apple ID" on the pop up menu that will appear. If necessary, enter your password.
    • Look for the heading "Subscriptions." Click "manage" under this heading. You should see a list of subscriptions there.
  2. Cancel a Newsstand subscription. If there's a subscription in Newsstand you no longer use, canceling is easy. Once you've pulled up a list of your subscriptions, click on the subscription you want to cancel. From there, you will be taken to a screen where you have the option to cancel or otherwise modify the subscription. If you're not interested in continuing the subscription, you can easily cancel on this screen.[10]
  3. Turn automated renewals on or off. In Newsstand, you have the option of automatically renewing a subscription. If you want to keep a subscription longterm, you can switch automated renewals to "on" after accessing the magazine in questions via the settings on your Apple device. If you don't want a subscription to renew automatically, you can switch automatic renewals off.[11]

Warnings

  • If you create lists online about subscriptions and bill due dates, make paper lists as a backup. You never know when you may lose an electronic file.

Related Articles

References

  1. ↑ http://christianpf.com/how-to-manage-your-bill-payments/
  2. ↑ http://christianpf.com/how-to-manage-your-bill-payments/
  3. ↑ http://christianpf.com/how-to-manage-your-bill-payments/
  4. ↑ https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/my-account/resend/
  5. ↑ http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/about-us/customer-service-main/index.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.thesimpledollar.com/trimming-the-fat-forty-ways-to-reduce-your-monthly-required-spending/
  7. ↑ http://www.thesimpledollar.com/trimming-the-fat-forty-ways-to-reduce-your-monthly-required-spending/
  8. ↑ http://www.thesimpledollar.com/trimming-the-fat-forty-ways-to-reduce-your-monthly-required-spending/
  9. ↑ http://www.imore.com/how-manage-or-cancel-newsstand-subscriptions-iphone-or-ipad
  10. ↑ http://www.imore.com/how-cancel-or-modify-itunes-or-app-store-subscription-right-your-iphone-or-ipad
  11. ↑ http://www.imore.com/how-cancel-or-modify-itunes-or-app-store-subscription-right-your-iphone-or-ipad
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