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Remember when getting mail was something to look forward to?

Started 2 years ago by The Velvet Bulldog
Latest reply from JoB

The Velvet Bulldog
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I now find myself dreading the look inside the mailbox. No more are there greeting cards and letters--it's just bills, and news from the insurance company that they're raising your rates because they CAN, and unemployment saying they're questioning your eligibility AGAIN, and school saying there are no more financial aid funds and... Ok, I'm projecting here--but still--I'm not wrong. Right? I miss being excited about looking in the mailbox.

Posted 2 years ago #
sacatosh
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Yup, I'm there with you.

Not to mention the IRS who keeps deciding to re-analyze my taxes and find $100 here and $500 there over the last 4 years that I suddenly owe. Why don't they go after all these assclown celebs who haven't paid taxes in years to the tune of millions of dollars? Seriously? You're going to come after me because the short term disability folks collected $100 too little out of my WHOPPING $25k year???

Posted 2 years ago #
Leroniusmonkfish
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That's why I welded my mailbox door shut.

Posted 2 years ago #
bluebird
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Order some magazines from all those door to door sales people.

Posted 2 years ago #
datamuse
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Suddenly the reams of increasingly desperately worded junk mail I've been getting don't seem so bad.

Leroniusmonkfish: I lolled. :D

Posted 2 years ago #
JoB
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it's been that kind of fall.. already:(

weld the mailbox shut and they dump it on the porch ... even shiba guard dogs don't slow them down.

Posted 2 years ago #
chef
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You could all do the environment a favor and eliminate your paper bills and opt-out of catalog supply lists. Then you wouldn't be getting any mail in your box to complain about.

Posted 2 years ago #
Magpie
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So much fun, a mix between new preapproved credit card offers and my existing credit cards jacking up my rates. Remember, Tax day is April 15, but the last day that credit card companies/banks have to jack up your rate on your existing balances is in February. Maybe the ones who haven't as of yet, will give us all nice Christmas presents......

Posted 2 years ago #
Aim
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Chef: even those of us who do EVERYTHING online still get junk or other mail. Some companies refuse to do business online, and the IRS certainly doesn't send an email when they do an audit, like the poster above was complaining about.

There's no need for the holier-than-thou attitude.

Posted 2 years ago #
Lindsey
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Or, get some friends who will write you letters to offset all the depressing mail. Submit your name and address to a small-town newspaper that still does card showers!

Posted 2 years ago #
herongrrrl
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Oh, come on, aren't you looking forward to all the holiday catalogs that will start arriving any day now? ;)

Posted 2 years ago #
charlabob
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I have two friends who write letters (on paper, in envelopes) and one friend who sends physical cards for every hallmark occasion there is. It's an amazing lift to fihd them in the box full of junk! Maybe we should start a "send real mail to someone" project.

I've been known to resort to ecards when I forget a friend's birthday or anniversary, but it never feels quite the same.

I'd be happy if I could just get the catalog folks to send me one of each instead of gazillions of each. Even though we carefully check "Don't send me anything", they do. So I get, roughly, 8 bloomingdales and 10 talbots' catalogs per month and those are just the worst. (Believe me, that's not because I order that often -- I've probably ordered 8 times from Bloomies in the 30 years I've known of them. :-)

Posted 2 years ago #
JoB
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Chef..

i tried the online bills thing for a while, but without actual paper bills to remind me and the notation on the bill that it had been paid.. i tended to panic regularly about whether a bill was due.. and had i paid it. I went back to paper.

Online services are better now and i am reconsidering... but I really do better with those pieces of paper.

Charlabob..

that's the problem with being on the do not send lists.. they don't pertain to companies you have done business with:(

I like the idea of a real mail project... i am getting better at email and facebook and... but there really isn't anything quite like finding a personal message tucked in with all those bills and notices..

Posted 2 years ago #
biankat
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Yeah - we rarely go out to get our mail. The only time I think about it is when I know we've got our Netflix DVDs out there.

Posted 2 years ago #
flowerpetal
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We often get personal mail. The reason is because we send personal mail to people. If we go to someone's house for dinner; the next morning a thank you note is on its way to them. Read something you want to pass on? Have a recipe you want to share? Just thinking about someone who would enjoy opening a note? Send them some snail mail.
We pick up bundles of blank cards and thank you notes at Estate and yard sales often for a quarter. With postage it is still a small investment to make someone happy. It pays off in deuces!

Posted 2 years ago #
kellym
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flowerpetal...you remind me of my mother saying...if you want to get a letter you need to send a letter....and remember i think that the USPS is the nation's largest employer...no mail = i think about 800K people out of work yikes....

Posted 2 years ago #
Diane
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the "opt-out" is a myth; absolutely does not work; the marketers have all found loopholes and the junk pours in
~
I have begged my po and mail carrier to stop cramming all the junk into our tiny antique mailboxes; there's so much that it often rips apart my necessary mail; and god forbid the junk arrives same day as a rare bit of fun mail (letter from my dad with photos)
~
I've tried putting notes on my box to please do not cram junk into tiny box; mail carrier just rips off the note and continues to cram in the junk
~
so here's why; when I finally got a chance to chat with him; turns out he could be fired if he does NOT put the junk in our boxes, because all the marketers have figured out to address junk to individual addresses with apt numbers, and he says it’s against the law for him to NOT put the mail in my box; he's holding out for his retirement in another 6 yrs so he follows the rules; the sub mail carrier will leave all the junk on the lobby table (yay) but the regular carrier is by the book, so every Tues my tiny box is literally crammed full of all the grocery ads and much more; I have to go through it all and shake out every piece to make sure no crucial mail gets lost in the muck
~
I agree with you all, and very validating to hear, most of the crucial mail (bills, credit card notices to raise fees, etc) depressing as hell

Posted 2 years ago #
Diane
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thanks flowerpetal for the sweet reminder

Posted 2 years ago #
bluebird
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JoB, for due dates on bills, something like google calendar can be set up to email you reminders at a chosen interval. I pay all my bills online and many of them can also be configured to send reminders. I leave those emails unread so they stand out, then delete after paying.

Posted 2 years ago #
Aim
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Flowerpetal, that's just plain sweet. And it's a PERFECT idea. I'm going to send something off today that'll make someone smile. THANK YOU for the suggestion.

Posted 2 years ago #
Irukandji
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We are inundated with all the junk mail that was going to our now deceased parents at their home. Seniors are SERIOUSLY marketed to.
.
And I'm with flowerpetal here. We love sending little notes or small gifts to friends and family. We use old Christmas cards when we have to send in a payment by check, sometimes with a nice little note. We stick kid art on other people's doors (people who like our kid, mostly).

Posted 2 years ago #
JoB
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bluebird..

thanks for the tip... i had been thinking along those line. i don't like the paper and pay most of my bills online anyway...

if i put the reminders on googlecalendar they go to my phone.. and it's keeps bugging me till i do something. this may not bode well for the phone:(

but.. gasp.. are you suggesting i get organized???? AARGH!

flowerpetal..

there you go with that personal responsibility stuff again:)

Posted 2 years ago #
TammiWS
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You know I think having a PO Box stops the junk as well. I get no flyers any longer, but I also no longer get the coupon book I want with all the West Seattle goodies.

As far as online v. paper. I have a lot of my bills setup to be autopaid from my checking each month (mortgage, PSE, SCL etc.) so dont have to even think about it and whatever bills I can I have charged to my Visa (Qwest/cable/internet), get the miles, and then I only have to pay off the single credit card each month.

Posted 2 years ago #
The Velvet Bulldog
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LOL--glad I'm not alone here. It's hard to reduce the amount of crap getting into the mail boxes, and I've noticed that some companies will send you bills with additional or weird charges on them so close to their due date, that you don't have time to complain. In the meantime, I am all about sending cards--birthday and thank yous. I don't ever get any back, but whatever, I'm having my own little parade. :-)

Posted 2 years ago #
chef
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Diane & Velvet - I don't know what 'opt-out' provisions that you are trying to use, but the ones I use work very well. I haven't received a catalog or junk mail in years. Perhaps you should investigate your options more carefully instead of telling people that it doesn't work. It works beautifully and in accord with the law.

Also, switching to paying bills online is the responsible thing to do in this day and age of diminishing paper resources. If people like Job can't remember to pay their bills, every utility and company I deal with sends me reminders, and frankly, I'm adult enough to keep a schedule of when my bills are due so I don't miss one. Gee - is that so hard to do? I can't believe how much people make excuses for their own failings instead of easily rectifying the problem with simple solutions. The lack of personal responsibility in this society is appalling.

Posted 2 years ago #
andrea
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jeeez! way to bring down what I thought was a really nice thread chef. guess what? I too like to receive some of my bills via snail mail. seeing them in my mailbox does help to remind me I have to pay them. so, some of my bills get paid online and some I send in. I like it that way. I like to mail things I guess. get over it. is that taking enough personal responsibility for you?

Posted 2 years ago #
datamuse
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If you think that e-billing is inherently more sustainable than paper, look into electronic waste disposal and recycling sometime.

Posted 2 years ago #
Escondido
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Thank you Flowerpetal.
Sending notes in the mail is so satisfying. Often I don't have much to say, so I've gotten into the habit of picking up packages of humorous postcards and using those to brighten another person's day. I have to admit that sending snail mail has become a great habit.

Posted 2 years ago #
SarahScoot
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Datamuse - isn't that same e-waste created with traditional billing? The same process is used, but traditional billing takes the extra step of printing and mailing the bill. I'm with chef on this one; people complain about junk mail, but it's not hard to get off most of those mailing lists.

Posted 2 years ago #
JoB
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Chef,

some of us have cognitive issues that make things like paying bills just a little more difficult... age and some illnesses will do that to you:(

Unfortunately, a reminder is easier to dismiss without paying a bill.. and even if you pay it they are unlikely to send you a reminder that it is paid.

One of these days i will get someone to set up quickbooks for me which has a spreadsheet to help me keep track... or set up all my bills on billpay again.. or both.

but until then the paper bill set next to my desk serves as a good reminder and as long as i remember to either write on the bill or print the confirmation, i can always easily check the stack to see if it is paid.

It's amazing how many simple things can become far more difficult when you brain misfires:(

Posted 2 years ago #