Frequent Flyer Redemption, Etc

Whee, yet another very nearly free magazine subscription. I was debating whether to ask "Santa" to renew my subscription to the Economist. It *is* pricy but I read it each week and it's so expensive on the newsstand that the subscription, even if I were paying for it, would pay off quickly. 

THen I get a letter from Delta. Apparently my miles were expiring. Now I know these are of mixed value but I look at it as follows:

• it's magazines I already read
• I didn't know I still had these miles since I don't fly Delta much and hadn't gotten a statement in eons. They expire in December and I was advised by Customer Service that whatever happens with the merger and our miles, it won't be resolved by then.
• These weren't enough miles to do anything.
• No cash cost whatsoever

So decision made, I went "shopping". Results of my purchases:

• Renewed subscription to the economist, 51 issues
• New subscription to Sports Illustrated rather than buying at the news stand or waiting for friends to finish. I let this subscription go ages ago and missed it. 56 issues
• Money, which I'd passed over in favour of Kiplinger's. 12 issues
• Forbes, which everyone in the office fights over when it comes in, 26 issues

I think that was "money" well spent, will keep me well read for a while. I'm waiting on PC World to expire before I swap it for Mac World.

Suze Orman: Young, Fabulous and Broke

So I just finished Suze Orman's Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke (non-affil). Took me a while to read it, not because I didn't enjoy it but because the edition I had was too large to fit in my handbag so it was a home-only book. I liked the style because you could read it cover to cover (which I did) or dip into it a section at a time. Some sections were far more relevant to me, and others go out of date too soon to be useful in a book format (any investment advise, especially in light of recent events) but overall I found it to be a good grounding for young people. I also don't think you have to be broke -- the tips work well for any to save money -- but it's nice that it's a reasonable book that doesn't expect you to have $10K in savings.

I haven't read any of her others, though they're on my wishlist. Now time for some less cerebral reading in the form of Air Babylon, which I got off BookMooch a year ago I think. If I do take the bus to Boston this weekend I should have a lot of reading time.

That and I got my first issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, which I picked up for $2 for a full-year subscription. I had a choice on that and Money, and popular consensus favored Kiplinger's With the amount of Money content that's on CNN Money.com I think it's a good choice. Now I just need to find the time to read it. That's the downside of magazines -- though I do plan to list it on BookMooch when done.