…so you probably want to keep it.
Dicey economic times out there, and folks are taking hard looks at family budgets, with an eye toward axing nonessential items.
I want you to think really hard, however, about canceling a longstanding magazine subscription. I’ve read Car and Driver for most of three decades and subscribed for most of two. It’s my favorite magazine. I enjoy every issue. This renewal notice arrived this afternoon:
Three more years—36 more issues—for $19. Seriously? For three more years, it’s 53¢ a month? These must surely be the most-for-the-least entertainment dollars I ever spend. (Gives you great insight into the degree to which guaranteed circulation controls advertising rates, as well.)
I’m not nearly so faithful to any of my other magazines. I’m taking Automobile right now, but it’s about even odds I’ll let it lapse. My laughable indifference at my current Playboy subscription is well-documented, and that’s a guaranteed lapse. I signed back up just tonight for National Review (though the digital-only version). After the ’08 pasting a Republican/conservative identity crisis is certain, and I want to be there for it. Perhaps limited government will eventually be fashionable again.
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bigdave on 
Bo on 
BamaDan on 
Jack Eason on 
I’ve gotten Cooking Light for as long as it’s been published. I read them cover to cover. No other ‘zine has held my attention for that long.
I swear by Pro Football Weekly.
I am going to ask the in-laws for a National Geographic renewal – the girls LOVE that publication. Mr. Chili gets Mac World, and I’ll likely renew that for him, too.
Beyond that, though, there’s really no magazine that feels worth it to me. I’m working out the end of my Real Simple subscription, and I let Martha lapse a LONG time ago. You’re right, though; for what a magazine subscription costs, it’s hard to beat…