Stop All Junk Mail

Do you get a lot of junks, such as catalogs, coupon books, and pre-approved credit card offers, in the mail?

According to 41pounds.org, the average adult in this country receives 41 pounds of unwanted junk mail each year. That’s a lot of junk mail!

In the May issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the magazine listed several ways to stop the junk mail for good, including both free and paid service.

Free Services

DMAChoice.org

DMAChoice.org is Direct Marketing Association’s consumer information site. At DMAChoice, you can register to get your name removed from mailing lists, email lists, and telemarketing lists. To register, you can choose either to finish the process online or by mail, but that will cost you $1. The online registration process is quite simple, taking only a couple of minutes, and it also allows you to create an account so you can change your preference later.

After creating an account by providing name, address, user name, and password (DMAChoice will send your a confirmation email for using their Mail Preference Service) , you can set your preference on what to receive and what not, including

• Catalog Option
• Opt-In/Out of other Mail Offers
• Opt-Out of All Mailing

For the Catalog Option, you will need to provide the name of the catalog that you don’t wish to receive. And for both the Mail Offers and All Mailing option, a valid credit card is needed in order to complete the process online, though it’s only for verification purpose and you won’t be charge. There’s a By Mail option, but, again, there’s a $1 fee.

CatalogChoice.org

Alternatively, you can also opt-out of receiving unwanted catalogs at CatalogChoice.org. The registration is straightforward, and once registered, (confirmation needed as well) you can browse thourgh a list of catalogs to find the exact name of the catalog you don’t want any more. I found this option better than that of DMAChoice (of course, if you are receiving catalogs you don’t need, you know the name already )

And what’s better of CataLogChoice is it allows users to expand their database. If you have a catalog that isn’t in their database, you can suggest it to them so people later on can find it.

The service at CatalogChoice is also free.

OptOutPreScreen.com

OptOutPreScreen.com is the official website of the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry (companies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). At OptOutPreScreen.com, you can

• Opt-Out from receiving Firm Offers for Five Years;
• Opt-Out from receiving Firm Offers permanently;
• Opt-In and be eligible to receive Firm Offers;

There’s no additional cost to opt-out, but you do need to provide personal information such as social security number and date of birth, and name and address of course, in order to complete the process.

Paid Services

The above services are basically free (except the $1 fee DMAChoice charges for mail-in registration). There are, however, a couple of other sits offer similar service, but charge a small amount of fee that is used for non-profit activities. For example, GreenDimes.com has a Premium service for $20 that will remove your name from more than two dozen junk mail lists and stop catalogs that yo don’t want to receive. Additional services also include monthly monitoring of your account to make sure your names stay off the lists and quarterly reports with details on the progress in reducing your junk mail. Plus, they will plant 5 trees on your behalf! CreenDimes also has a fee-free version that’s quite similar to the above services (opt-out junk mail lists and catalogs). Not only the service is free, GreenDimes will actually pay you $1 for protecting the environment by eliminating junk mail! Pretty cool

Another paid service is from 41Pounds.org. 41Pounds charges $41 to stop junk mail from reaching your mailbox, but, according to the site, 1/3 of the fee it collected will be donated to environmental or community groups at your choice.

photo credit: JoeBenjamin

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