Organizing Your Magazines to Keep Track of Articles You Like

We all have a stack of magazines. We look at them when we first get them. Then we throw them in the pile with the intention to remember the article about cleaning shortcuts – or how to lose 20 pounds – but can never remember later which magazine it was in.

I love getting magazines each month whether it is a magazine with workouts, home, style or parenting information in it. My husband on the other hand hates all the piles of magazines that I refuse to get rid of because I just know that there is an article inside each one of them that I absolutely need, even if I have no clue what it is. So, it was time to find a solution and since I was not willing to just through out all the magazines knowing they have a wealth of knowledge within their pages I had to come up with a plan. What I did was simple; I streamlined my magazine collection and made my favorite articles readily available.

What you need to achieve these same results: (1) Stack of magazines (2) three ring binder (3) tabbed folders or sheet protectors (4) scissors or knife to cut the articles out (5) pen.

First decided how much time you would like to spend going through the magazines and re-reading articles that you would like to keep. If your magazine date back more than one or two years I would suggest that you go through the most recent magazines and come to terms with recycling the older ones completely. Reading through the magazines and cutting out the articles you would like to keep can be done over a period of time once you have set your folder up. Once your folder is complete then each month you get a magazine you can add to your folder right away to prevent the pile build up.

Setting up your article folder. It is completely up to you on how you set up your folder and what it looks like. If you like clean and simple you can get a plain three ring binder and tabbed folders. Or, if you have a flare for crazy style you can get a decorative three ring binder (when the school supplies come out at the end of summer you can find some really fun designs and styles). It is totally up to you.

Set up your binder in the order you prefer. Have a tabbed folder or divider for each topic you would like to have. You can arrange your topics alphabetically, by magazine or from favorite to least favorite. Write the topic on the tab of each divider and put your sheet protectors, folders or whatever you found that you are going to put your articles in between each divider. Then all you have to do is put the articles you have cut out in their designated spot.

For example, my binder might have the following tabs: Workouts, Recipes, Gardening, Dieting, Cleaning, and Organization. Then I would simply put the articles I thought would be helpful into their designated folder. Another option you can chose is to make a three ring binder for each topic if you have lots of information or if you have topic you want to divide into more specific categories. An example of this would be if you have multiple workout or fitness magazines and want to break them down into types of exercises or body part.

Now you can get as creative or as fancy as you would like. If you are one of the super organized among us you can label the binders and make cover sheets etc. It is just a simple way to get all of your articles in one place organized and ready for you to access.

Make sure when you are done with the magazines that you find a place near you that recycles them instead of just throwing them out. Many schools have big recycling bins for newspapers and magazines. Check to see if the schools in your area have these. If not you can look up the recycling options in your area or see if your waste removal services include magazine recycling.