Do you ever pick up a copy of the free magazines that your local supermarkets usually have on display at the checkouts?
I never did until recently, mainly because I thought they would just one giant advert full of buy this from here or do this using something you’ve bought from here or articles about people associated with the shops in question. But a recipe on the cover of one a little while ago caught my eye so I took it home and sat down to read it after the kids had gone to bed.
I was pleasantly surprised that the whole magazine wasn’t trying to sell me something and I discovered that most of the information in the magazine was targeted towards someone like me! There were family recipes, budgeting tips, articles about people who interest me and stories that I enjoyed reading. And I even enjoyed reading about some of the new products that the shop was selling.
I’ve since picked up a few magazines from other shops and they all seem to be very similar in that they’re filled with things that I enjoy reading about.
I don’t think I’ve managed to read one of these magazines yet without coming across something that I want to come back to at some point, whether it’s a recipe I want to try, a tip I want to remember or something I’ve seen that I would actually be interested in trying. And I imagine that when the Christmas editions all start coming out over the next few weeks I’m going to end up with dozens of things I want to save.
If I’m feeling particularly organised or there’s lots in the magazine that I want to refer back to then I might use post it notes to highlight the pages or even just turn down the corners and if there’s just one or two things then I’ll just rip them out and pop them in my notebook until I want them. I find that if I don’t do this as I’m reading then I just won’t bother as I won’t go back through the whole of the magazine again at a later date to find what I was looking for!
There’s also lots of money off coupons in the magazines that I’ve read so it’s worth picking the magazines up just for the savings you could make!
Next time you see a big pile of magazines at your local supermarket, take one home and read it.
I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
