By Andrea DicksonTo save money, I quit reading women's magazines a couple of years ago. I don't save money by not paying newsstand price for a magazine, or even the subscription price (which is usually pretty cheap). I stopped reading fashion magazines because they are my worst and most fast-acting triggers for emotional spending.
I cannot flip through an issue of Vogue without immediately rushing out and purchasing a variety of face creams, body-slimming shapewear, or shoes. All it takes is a few minutes of perusing the articles and ads (definitely more ads than articles) to push my Need to Buy button.
Just doing their jobs
In a sense, this means that these magazines are incredibly successful. They exist solely to get you to buy stuff. There is not a single magazine aimed at women today that targets anything other than your pursestrings. The ads are obviously meant to inspire you to buy products, but so are the fashion spreads. Hell, so are the articles. The beauty advice. The health columns. Save the occasional "serious" piece about victims of landmines or female soldiers in Sri Lanka, women's magazines are essentially one giant advertisement with one simple message: you aren't good enough, but if …

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