First, it’s only 90% of the information that’s the same every time. Fashions change, laws change, customs change–a bridal magazine from 10 years ago will seem oddly out of date, and one from 50 years ago wildly so. Lots of magazines make their money from exactly this fact–photography magazines, investing magazines, running and bicycling magazines–all recycle the slight variations on articles on focal lengths, asset allocations, and fitness programs, together with a smattering of stuff about the latest innovations. But even though focal length math hasn’t changed, a photography magazine from 1988 is no substitute for one you might grab off the newsstand.

Second, sometimes when you tell a story a second time, you tell it better. At any rate, you can tell it differently–maybe in a way that makes it accessible to people who would never have grasped what you were trying to say from the first version.

Third, sometimes the reader needs to be ready to learn something, and the readers all arrive with a different set of life experiences. Some readers need to start with the tactical money saving articles and then move gradually to the idea that you can apply similar thinking to all areas of your spending. Other readers need to come to the idea of extreme frugality first, and only then can move on to the nitty-gritty of how to eat well on the cheap.