Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to consider giving newspaper and magazine subscriptions
Speaker 1: as gifts. The recipients will enjoy the gift throughout the year,
Speaker 1: and we'll be reminded that you care about them. And
Speaker 1: since newspapers and magazines are consumable and recyclable, you won't
Speaker 1: just be giving people more stuff. It's like giving an experience,
Speaker 1: but generally it's a fairly affordable one. So I personally
Speaker 1: love printed publications. We subscribe to a great many in
Speaker 1: my home, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Women's Health,
Speaker 1: Real Simple, Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, HGTV Magazine,
Speaker 1: you name it. I just subscribe to the new print
Speaker 1: version of Verily magazine that's going to come out quarterly.
Speaker 1: I used to subscribe to a great many more magazines,
Speaker 1: but sadly many such as Oh and Martha Stewart, Living
Speaker 1: and Cooking Light have ceased print operations. Print publications are
Speaker 1: a great way to enjoy some non screen fun that's
Speaker 1: fairly light on the effort front. I can page through
Speaker 1: most magazines in less than an hour. Well not the Economist.
Speaker 1: I saved that for long plane trips, but generally, once
Speaker 1: I'm done, I feel like I've had a good time.
Speaker 1: But as suggested by the fact that many publications have
Speaker 1: ceased print operations, I know a great many people don't
Speaker 1: read magazines or newspapers. Well, I think they just haven't
Speaker 1: been converted yet. If you love print to then why
Speaker 1: not give subscriptions this year to folks as gifts. People
Speaker 1: won't get just one gift from you, They'll get several.
Speaker 1: They'll get to enjoy your gift on a random day
Speaker 1: in July, not just in December. And while some publications
Speaker 1: such as The Wall Street Journal and The Economist might
Speaker 1: not be cheap, I know some folks are expensing those.
Speaker 1: Many monthly magazine subscriptions run less than thirty dollars a year.
Speaker 1: An hour of entertainment each month for two dollars and
Speaker 1: fifty cents, that is hard to beat. There are lots
Speaker 1: of thoughtful ways to choose the right subscription. If someone
Speaker 1: doesn't subscribe to their local paper or local business or
Speaker 1: lifestyle magazine, those might be great options. My guess is
Speaker 1: your gift recipient will thank you for the subscription, and
Speaker 1: then be thanking you again next September when they've gotten
Speaker 1: tickets to that always sold out fall fest because they
Speaker 1: knew about it ahead of time, And then again when
Speaker 1: they've managed to make reservations at the hot new local
Speaker 1: restaurant because they saw the write up about its opening.
Speaker 1: If someone has moved away from home, send them a
Speaker 1: subscription to a local magazine to let them enjoy some nostalgia.
Speaker 1: If you know someone has a goal, a gift subscription
Speaker 1: is a great way to help them feel part of
Speaker 1: a larger community. Your friend who has embraced cooking would
Speaker 1: love eating well. A new fitness enthusiast might like Women's
Speaker 1: or Men's Health, or maybe Runners World. You could give
Speaker 1: a professional journal to someone who is just starting out
Speaker 1: and might not spend his or her own money on
Speaker 1: such a thing, say an education magazine for a new teacher.
Speaker 1: The Economist actually ran a whole campaign about purchasing a
Speaker 1: subscription for the young graduate in your life who should
Speaker 1: be reading the Economists to build up their knowledge. But
Speaker 1: maybe I can't quite afford it yet. Then of course
Speaker 1: there's pure fantasy. Well what amounts to pure fantasy for
Speaker 1: most of us? I'm thinking Vogue or Travel and Leisure
Speaker 1: or Architectural Digest. Maybe your house looks like that mine doesn't,
Speaker 1: but it certainly is fun to talk at the pictures.
Speaker 1: Giving a gift of fantasy can be an escape from stress.
Speaker 1: The one downside of giving a subscription is that the
Speaker 1: recipient doesn't have anything to unwrap, but that is a
Speaker 1: solvable problem. A simple approach is to buy a copy
Speaker 1: of the magazine or newspaper at a local bookstore and
Speaker 1: wrap it up with a note explaining that a subscription
Speaker 1: is on the way. You can also give a little
Speaker 1: gift that relates to the magazine topic, along with a
Speaker 1: note saying that the magazine is coming. For instance, to
Speaker 1: announce the gift of a sports illustrated subscription, you could
Speaker 1: wrap up a key ring or baseball cap for the
Speaker 1: recipient's favorite team. When you give a subscription, you encourage
Speaker 1: a person to enjoy their favorite places, activities, and interests,
Speaker 1: and you enhance their leisure time all year long. That
Speaker 1: strikes me as a good present, certainly a better present
Speaker 1: than some object that is just going to gather dust
Speaker 1: in the meantime. This is Laura, thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our times. Hey everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from it. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pot
Speaker 1: that's b E the number for then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.