Sticking (it) to your budget

Because I am the type of person who will occasionally go out of her way for that cleansing jolt of irritation, I scoured newsstands in the weeks after Christmas for what I presumed would be the January issue of Budget Living. I wanted to see if the magazine would break its un-budget streak, or if it would continue its skew toward pricier products.

I couldn't find the magazine in the Oakland, Dallas-Forth Worth or Tampa-St. Petersburg airports. I couldn't find it at Pegasus Bookstore, nor Booksmith. It's been missing at Barnes & Noble, and not at all present at Borders. I figured maybe the magazine sold out -- we are talking about the title that was Folio's, AdWeek's AND Advertising Age's launch of the year of 2003, and the recipient of ASME's award for general excellence in 2004, so maybe there was a groundswell of demand for the magazine.

A quick look at the advertiser kit showed that the January/February issue was supposed to have gone on sale on Jan 3. It's still nowhere on shelves, and a look at the Budget Living boards has this message:

The issue was originally conceived of as a Jan/Feb double issue, and is now being combined with March. It should be on newsstand mid-February.

-Beth

This does not strike me as being a sign or portent of a publication brimming with good health, especially when mulling long-standing rumors flying around last year's editorial shakeups. Ah, well. Remember two or three years ago, when Budget Living was getting all sorts of accolates and ReadyMade was fuming about copycatting (here and here)? How things do change ...

Comments

[marylynn]

That's very interesting. I'm pretty sure my personal budget won't allow for the renewal of BL. It was so good and to see it fall so fast is a letdown.

Desperate for a decorating magazine that isn't of the Metropolitan Living variety (who would I be kidding), I picked up Bargain Style which is published by Better Homes & Gardens and thought it was quite good. I'll be keeping an eye out for it. It doesn't quite have the hipster funkiness of the original BL but is still in the genre.