Top 6 Things You Can Subscribe To

Oh the simple pleasures of the mail box! Each time you open it and there’s something in it for you that doesn’t contain the words “overdrawn balance,” it’s like a tiny Christmas. These days though, my inbox tends to be more full than my mailbox. In an effort to bring more joy — and more mail — into my life, I’ve been looking around online to see what kind of exciting and useful things I can have sent to my front door. I think the U.S. Post will be proud.

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6. Magazines

Magazines are the O.G. of subscription services (I think).  My very first magazine subscription was American Girl, which I preferred to boy-crazy Girl’s Life largely because I was obsessed with/information-staved about puberty and there was a pretty good chance I could read about shaving your legs. That and there was a paper doll in every issue. With the impending death of print we keep hearing about, magazines are frantically lowering their prices to hold onto subscribers and will practically pay you to receive their stuff. Case in point: I just subscribed to Bon Appetit for $12 a year and got a massive cookbook for no apparent reason.

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5. Tampons, Toilet Paper & Paper Towels

So, Amazon has this genius mental health service that they call “Subscribe and Save.” What happens is I tell them the brands and sizes of all those things that I hate spending money on and they ship them to me every month (or whatever). This way, I never run out, I don’t have to lug giant rolls of soft paper around, and I don’t have to think about how much effing money I am literally flushing down the toilet.

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4. CSA Food

CSAs sound like the most wonderful thing in the world! Not only are you doing a good thing for local farmers and your body, you’re basically enrolling yourself in a lesbian dating service that comes with a complimentary box of zucchini and tomatoes every month. Technically it’s not the US mail, but it’s still really awesome. Find a CSA near you.

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3. Underwear

If there is one thing I believe in, it’s that you can never have too much underwear. Having a ton of underwear means that you can put off doing laundry indefinitely, because underwear and socks are always the limiting factors in your wardrobe. Me Undies lets you choose from 6 different styles (to suit all types of Autostraddle Social Preferred Underpants) and lots of different colors and sends you a pair (or lets you opt out) each month.

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2. Razors

All the boys at my work are seriously into the Dollar Shave Club. As far as I know, none of them have actually subscribed, but they love the video almost as much as they love playing that ball tap game that boys play. The thing is, it doesn’t matter that the video’s kind of goofy; the concept is so stinking smart that I wish I’d thought of it instead of just whining last time I spent $98 on a 30 pack of razor blades at Costco. There also this sentence: “This is your new razor. And it’s also your girlfriend’s new razor. Or your boyfriend’s.” which I am choosing to believe means that they love gay people.

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1. Toothbrushes

I accidentally bought one of these toothbrushes at Trader Joe’s but was so pleasantly surprised by what I got that I subscribed. The first month, I got a toothbrush in a travel container and every three months since then, I’ve gotten a new toothbrush and a pouch to mail my old one back to the company so that they can melt it down and recycle it. I’m also really into the shape of the brush because it’s curved just enough that if you accidentally knock it over, the bristles won’t touch the floor and your toothpaste doesn’t smear all over the counter. My teeth are really happy about all of this.

What are you missing in your mail box?

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Laura

Laura is a tiny girl who wishes she were a superhero. She likes talking to her grandma on the phone and making things with her hands. Strengths include an impressive knowledge of Harry Potter, the ability to apply sociology to everything under the sun, and a knack for haggling for groceries in Spanish. Weaknesses: Chick-fil-a, her triceps, girls in glasses, and the subjunctive mood. Follow the vagabond adventures of Laura and her bike on twitter [@laurrrrita].

Laura has written 308 articles for us.

26 Comments

  4. I lived with a Dental Hygienist..Every 3 months, by some magic I could never comprehend but didn’t dare question, the oral hygiene fairies would come while I slept and swap out my toothbrush..It was wonderful and magical..And healthy! Then the Dental Hygienist fell in love and got married..When she moved out, she took those magical toothbrush pixies with her and I was left to fend for myself..It didn’t go well..On the list of things to remember to buy, new toothbrush never seemed to make the list (oddly, Maker’s Mark always did..Weird, huh?) The Dental Hygienist took to calling to remind me to replace it..But always, I would return from the store with whiskey instead (Hey..It kills the germs that cause bad breath too!) ..But now..I am saved from having all my teeth fall out of my head by a toothbrush subscription! Laura is forever my savior!

    • This post and your comment has inspired me to throw away my old toothbrush and remember that I have a far too infrequently tapped stash of toothbrushes. So, thanks.

      I also just realized I am turning into my mother what with the hording of toothbrushes and toothpaste.

  5. I love getting the mail. I LOVE it. And… I’m married to a mail carrier so yey! Support my wife’s job! lol

  6. I totally read both American Girl and Girls’ Life. I do partially blame boy-crazy magazines like the second for why it took me so long to realize that I didn’t just like boys. The presumption of heterosexuality on the part of the reader was so annoying.

    But American Girl was awesome. New Moon was even better (it’s a kickass FEMINIST magazine for little girls! seriously!) I also read stuff like Cricket and Muse. I had all the magazines.

  7. Since I live in Australia and most of the magazines I like (science fiction mags, DON’T JUDGE) are in the US, I subscribe to stuff on my Kindle. Which means that instead of them coming to my mailbox, whenever I turn on the wifi on my Kindle I get the same thrill with 100% less paper/ridiculous postage costs!

    Also, Postcrossing. You’re welcome.

    • POSTCROSSING IS THE BEST THING EVER.

      Seriously, I have postcards from all over the world (…erm, well, from all over Europe and China)

  9. I am the upp-est of pumped about this subscription toothbrush thing. New toothbrushes are the best, and getting mail is pretty boss, and now they’ve been combined!

  10. I loved all things American Girl, especially the magazine! I remember the issue when they asked for girls to submit their inventions and someone ‘invented’ a dream recorder – it was like a TV with a VCR that recorded your dreams and you could play them back when you woke up. And of course it was illustrated whimsically by the AG illustrators. I loved American Girls so much I had a Samantha doll (actually wanted a Molly…hmmm?). For your viewing pleasure you can see what I did with one of Samantha’s outfits :) http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m10in3n6WR1qedbg9o1_500.jpg

    And it says tampons – what about pads? Am I the only one who still uses those?? The toothbrush idea is good but every 3 months is too infrequent; I change mine every couple of weeks. I buy those little bastards in bulk.

  11. I’m definitely going to start doing the subscribe and save for cat food and cat litter. Awesome.

  13. hahaha I just want to subscribe to underwear and toothbrushes so that I can say I’m subscribed to underwear and toothbrushes.

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