Wow, you sound just like me!
I have mine all in those big black magazine holders they sell at Walmart and office supply stores. I label the spines of the holders as to the magazine title, and the time period. I also put skinny post-its on pages of patterns that I think I'll make some day. Since I have a hard time getting to sleep at night, I take a few at a time to bed with me and re-look at the mags until I get groggy. Many times I put post-its on patterns that I would never have thought about before. Sometimes I take OFF a post-it if I no longer have any interest in that pattern. My skills have grown, and my tastes have changed a bit. I only get rid of the very old magazines, such as the ones that have a lot of templates and don't have patterns using rotary cutters.

8-)

My guild has a trash and treasures table before each meeting. I always take any mags that I have weeded out, with me to guild. When the meeting is over I take a look at the table and the magazines are always all gone. Lots of us do that and other members just grab them right up.

Scanning is my way of doing it and I've never had any real problems.Others can still use the magazine because everything is still in tack.I also list them in the front before putting them in a large binder. That way I know what name and what page it is on.Later if I decide I don't want one I can remove it and put another in it's place.Things cost to much not to be able to share with others.

My magazine collection was getting overwhelming so I cut out the patterns I was interested in and put them into a hanging file, sorting patterns by type, such as scrap, batik, Vintage, florals, etc. Now when looking for a pattern it is so much faster than paging through all my magazines. Being orgainized gives me more time to do the quilting that I so love to do!

I scanned my magazines and stored them on my computer. It took time to do, but I did a few each day. There are several advantages to this method. I can sort and store an article in several different files such as baby quilts, appliqued, and easy. Another advantage is that pages that I wanted with information from 2 different articles, but were back to back, could be saved individually. I then donated my magazines to the senior center where they were greatly appreciated.

This is what I do since I really hate to tear or cut pgs. out of a mag. I just put the pg. on a copier then put the print out in a plastic sleeve. Magazines just pile up but somebody could use the patterns I didn't like. Most times, I find I may only like just one pattern in a whole mag. so I'm not going to renew any subscriptions again. I'd have to live 150 more yrs. to do all of the patterns I've saved. LOL

I alos have lots of quilting magazines, so i know how hard it is to get rid of them. I will look through them after i have had them for a while keep the ones i want and take the rest to my quilting guild and put a free sign on them. they are gone in a few minutes!

I like the scanning suggestion. That way I can pass on my magazines to my quilting buddy.

This is the same method I use. I have tons of magazines and can't bear to get rid of any of them. They are organized by subscription and placed by year and month in magazine holders and put on a book shelf. I have lots of books also. I went through and placed small colored post-its on the ones I really liked and on the end that sticks out, I wrote on it with a Sharpie what kind of quilt it is. That way I don't have to actually open each magazine to get what I want to find. I have magazines from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and beyond. The 60's, 70's and 80's have more patterns in them than do current magazines. I do not want to get rid of them. I'm afraid if I do, then I'll need something that was in there and not find the info or pattern I want.

Ditto for me!!