Don’t let junk mail bring you down

I hate getting direct mail.

Living in a world that is going increasingly paperless, I resent the vomit of credit card offers I get every day.

If Capital One, which sends my husband and me, I swear, one or two applications every single week, doesn’t stop, I don’t know what I’ll do.

Well, it turns out, you don’t have to get your rage on when it comes to junk mail.

You can opt out of many direct mailing lists, including all the cheesy holiday catalogs cramming your mail slot now.

Read all about it in this great little Chicago Tribune story.

There is a free service, Catalog Choice, which lets you opt out of more than 1,000 retailers at your discretion. Though catalog shopping helps cut down on car trips to the mall or other retailers, Americans receive an estimated 19 billion catalogs every year.

Yikes, right?

If it’s other direct mail that makes you insane, here are a few links to check out.

The Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service costs $1 and will take you off national mailing lists for three years, after which you’ll have to register again. You also have the option of opting only out of pre-screened credit card offers or mailing lists for specific retailers.

DMA’s file is updated monthly and distributed four times a year — January, April, July, and October — though some mailers choose to receive the file monthly. It will take at least three months to see a decrease in mail.

You will continue to receive mail from companies with which you already do business and from non-DMA member companies. In addition, you may continue to receive mail from local merchants, professional and alumni associations, political candidates and office holders, and mail addressed to “resident” or “occupant.”

National Do Not Mail List: This free service by DirectMail.com takes you off national mailing lists.

Val-Pak: If you’re not using your Val-Pak, a large blue envelope of fliers from local retailers, visit this site to stop getting it.

Finally, here’s an awesome site full of tips for how to reduce your junk mail as well as numbers to call to get off specific mailing lists such as the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

Yay!

If you have taken any these steps to reduce junk mail already, I’d like to know how well they actually work. Write me here or give me a call at 425-339-3037.