They kind of creep up on you— those stacks of magazines. Issue by issue they trickle in one at a time, maybe two, from all different places. Maybe from the mailbox, the grocery store, and the doctor's office (you know they won't miss it). And before you know it, piles of magazines are overflowing on kitchen counters, the dining room table and bedroom night stands.

For anyone wanting to live a simple and organized life, (and we know that is you, right?) mountains of magazines all around the house is not helping achieve that goal. So what to do? Do you just resign yourself to the fact you'll never have time to read them all so off to recycle they go? But you really want to know the best way to cook fried chicken and the latest craze in slingback sandals!

If your recent past is any indication of your short-term future, copious amounts of free time is not going to magically appear on your calendar, giving you the gift-of-time solution to your backed up– or should I say stacked up– reading dilemma.

So here are a few tips to help you tackle your stacks without sacrificing their contents, OR making you take hours to sift through piles of magazines.