I used to tear up my old magazines but not any more. Over the years I've discovered that my likes and dislikes have changed. What I once threw away, I now want. Perfect example: redwork. I wasn't interested in embroidery before but here I am years later and I can't do enough redwork. I'm currently making an embroidered quilt for my daughter.
I have 2 plans for my books and magazines -- 1) scanning the patterns into my computer and 2) creating a database of the patterns. Very similar to what JanetM did only instead of being on a rolodex, it's in Microsoft Access so I can sort the information any way I want. I will add one other feature to my database - what the block used to be called before the modern designers changed the blocks' names.