Real Simple (1-year) | 
| Publisher: The Time Inc. Magazine Company
List Price: $54.00
Buy New: $23.68
You Save: $30.32 (56%)
Rating:  193 reviews
Sales Rank: 19
Format: Magazine Subscription
Type: Time magazine
Subscription Issues: 12
Subscription Length: 12 Months
Issues Per Year: 12
First Issue Lead Time: 6-10 Weeks
ASIN: B00005R8BR
Release Date: November 23, 2001
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 months
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Real Simple is the new magazine for the way you want to live today. You'll find actionable solutions to streamline the ways you manage your life. Systems for reducing clutter, saving time, and reducing stress. Inspiring ideas about home, food, money, clothes, health, work, family, and holidays.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 188 more reviews...
 Real Simple is simply about buying stuff June 23, 2003
286 out of 332 found this review helpful
I subscribed to this magazine for a year and enjoyed my first few issues, but I soon noticed that all of the ideas for "leading a simpler life" involved purchasing expensive products. You might as well just flip through a Pottery Barn catalog. They both offer the same fantasy -- "What a stress-free, genteel life I could lead if only I had closet organizers and all-white furniture!" Eventually I simplified my life by letting my subscription run out.
You've got to be kidding. February 7, 2003
Auliya (Austin, TX USA)
284 out of 350 found this review helpful
Beautiful photography, but empty articles, and advertising, advertising, advertising. Every item, on every page, is an advertisement. Everything. Every sentence in every article, every caption, every line in the index. There are numerous special sections devoted to product endorsements, although they're phrased as "tips." They should give this magazine away for free, considering the money they must make off the advertising. Sure, while it's somewhat "handy" to know what's depicted and discussed (usually the URL and price are provided) it makes me a little uneasy. I feel suckered. I feel uncomfortable. Euugh.
 Right on target for the target audience! February 24, 2005
T. Fromal (Pennsylvania)
97 out of 149 found this review helpful
Okay, so maybe this magazine isn't for the vegetarians and dedicated coupon clippers of the world, but Real Simple hits on issues that make it's target audience's lives a little easier. I'm an upper middle class, thirty-something woman, married with children, and every month I find relevant articles that genuinely help me with SOMETHING, be it finding a long lasting self tanner or managing my 401K. Real Simple helped me organize my mud room & home office, so that I can actually FIND things now. Why is it so hideous that I HAVE a mud room & home office? My "McMansion" (which is what any suburban home larger than a 700 sq ft studio apt seems to be dubbed these days) needs to be organized and cleaned, too, just like your farmhouse or urban apartment.
Don't women like me deserve relevant content, too?
Yes, to the more budget conscious in our society, it might seem a bit frivolous, but frankly, for those who lead the kind of lifestyle that I do, I have the money, and not the time, to deal with things. If Real Simple can tell me how to spend my money most effectively, find the best products and services for my money & my life, what's wrong with that? Why is a magazine being demonized for helping me spend money more effectively that I'm going to spend anyway? There is a lot of advertising content, but they are not indiscriminate advertisers (the advertisements are also very well targeted to my demographic) and I'm happy to see products that may be better than the ones I'm already using.
It's about time someone decided to dedicate a magazine to women like myself. I'm not interested in Cosmo's Kama Sutra or Family Circle's recipes for 25 cents a serving. I'm interested in managing my time effectively, keeping my home organized & clean, and my husband & children fed and happy, and looking good with a minimum of time and effort. That is what Real Simple delivers.
 simple ? not ! October 18, 2003
Alejandra Vernon (Long Beach, California)
50 out of 63 found this review helpful
There is very little about simplifying your life in this magazine, it is mostly about rampant consumerism; I am not saying there is anything wrong with consumerism, it is great for our economy, but it should be labled as such, not wrapped up in a false guise with a silly label.
Hidden between a forest of ads, you will find the occasional spindly little article, and chances are, that article will also be selling you S.T.U.F.F. with clever product placement.
The ads, which are quite wide-ranging in whatever the target audience is supposed to be, made me dazed and confused, and my nose was not pleased either, as some of them contain "perfume".As for the "tips", not all are helpful. They suggest for instance, that you hard boil eggs, and keep them for a week in the refrigerator (page 18, November 2003 edition). True, a week is the limit for storing hard cooked eggs, and they will not kill you, but have you ever eaten an egg that has been sitting in the fridge for seven days ? It is enough to put one off the incredible edible forever. Five days is max folks, for a decent tasting egg.
The paper quality is quite good, with a matte finish, but if you want substance, and really inventive ideas, look elsewhere.
A beautiful, useful, and worthwhile magazine November 9, 2004
Tricia (St. Louis, MO, USA)
48 out of 55 found this review helpful
I've read the negative reviews of Real Simple, and quite frankly, I don't understand what they're talking about. This magazine is my favorite of all, and each month it offers thoughtful advice, product reviews, and a wealth of information the helps to simplify how you arrange, clean, and furnish your house as well as helping you find the best products out there.
To the criticism:
Too many ads? Have you ever read a magazine? I work in the magazine industry and the only way magazines support themselves is through advertising. Any healthy magazine abides by a 70-30 ratio--70 percent ads to 30 percent articles. That's just the way it is. The magazines with little to no advertising either charge a fortune for ads (which not all publications can do), are about to go under, or are mere newsletters.
Products shown too expensive? This magazine isn't about blatant consumerism. It's about an idea that I've learned well--if you only want to buy once, buy quality. I've too often purchased a $12 toaster only to realize a year later when it fizzled out on me that it was, in fact, a $12 toaster. It's more economical to buy quality and not keep tossing cheap, defective products into a landfill. Plus, the magazine also offers a host of "good, better, best" options, so you can choose the option that fits your budget, as well as quick, simple, three-ingredient recipes, and ways to make the most of leftovers. Not exactly advice for millionaires!
Too shallow? Each issue offers a variety of advice on making the most out of your life, from your finances, to your family, to your friendships.
Criticism of breastfeeding? Oh please. It's one article. Write a letter to the editor about it, but don't trash the whole magazine over one article.
This is a great magazine for anyone looking for invaluable tips and interesting articles about slower, more deliberate living in a fast-paced age. Plus, it's all wrapped up in a gorgeous package. I can understand why it wouldn't be to some people's taste--it's not necessarily for the inveterate frugal shopper. But some of the criticism in this forum seemed way over the top.
|
|
|
