I just placed another order with Magazines.com and that reminded me that I should write a few words about buying magazines cheaply through that site. They had lots of magazines for less than the normal retail prices, and they’re always running special promotions, so it’s a generally good place to buy your magazines from.  It’s also pretty convenient to see all of your subscriptions in one place.

First of all,  if you’re going to order from them, you should click through a shopping portal like Bing Cash Back, which currently gives a whopping 50% back on magazines.com orders. (Bing deserves its own post–I haven’t been using it long but when it is good, it is fabulous.) Anyway.  Percentages change rapidly, but right now, it’s also at 21% at Ebates and 30% at Mr. Rebates.  So if you find a $10 magazine subscription, you’ll get $5 back from Bing, or $2.10 from Ebates or $3 from Mr. Rebates. I usually just check around to see who has the highest percentage before I order.  Then you just click on their link and place your order. (Note: you can’t combine them and get percentages back from all of the sites, and you need to make sure you don’t click on any competitor links after you do your click-thru. Read my post about Ebates for more info on these types of sites–the other sites are fairly similar. )

So there you have a pretty cheap magazine subscription.  The best part, though, is that they occasionally send $5 gift cards in their email newsletter!  (Sign up on their website to start receiving the newsletter.)  I received one last week that I just now redeemed.  I ordered Family Fun magazine for $9.95.  After my gift card was applied, I paid $4.95 out of pocket, and I will receive $4.98 back from Bing.  A tiny bit better than free!  (Technically, I will also get 1% back from my credit card, so that’s what? Eight cents of profit total?  It won’t pay the bills but it’s better than a poke with a sharp stick.)  I used my last gift card code (a $10 one!)  last month to get Food Network magazine for a profit of $2.50… and I’ve been eyeing that one for ages. I was even considering paying for it!

Now I just need to find time to read all of these magazine subscriptions. :)