According to 41pounds.org, the average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail every year!
Can you believe that?
My first thought was that 41 pounds seems like an awful lot of junk mail…but after collecting all our junk mail for the past several weeks, I would now say I completely agree!
We have gotten SO much junk mail lately {see picture above} I can’t stand it.
Our influx of junk mail is partially because we not only get our junk mail, but also the previous owner’s junk mail, and also because we’re still waiting for all our unsubscriptions and opt-outs to take affect.
Ever since we moved into our new house 8 weeks ago, I’ve been collecting and saving all the junk mail that enters our home. Why? So I can take the proper steps to remove our names and address from the national mailing lists.
Want to try it out for yourself?
Here are a few really simple steps you can take to drastically reduce the amount of junk mail you get.
Junk Snail Mail
For All Junk Mail — you can sign up with 41pounds.org, a service that claims to stop nearly 90% of all your junk mail. The cost is conveniently $41 for 5 years — which equals about $0.70 cents per month!
For Credit Card Offers — Visit Opt Out Prescreen or call 1-888-5 OPT OUT — this is a free service.
For Catalogs — Call the 800 number on the back of the catalog and simply asked to be removed.
For Valpak Promotions — We get tons of junk mail from Valpak. If you do…and don’t want to, just click here and enter your address.
Any Other Junk Mail — Look for an 800 number or email address and simply contact the company and ask to be removed. This usually works within a few mailing cycles.
Junk Email
Go to Unsubscribe.com and enter your email address in the “free trial” box. It’s a program that you have to install…but it seems to be working really well for me. Here’s another great tip for reducing the SPAM emails you get.
Junk Phone Calls
Simply enter your phone number on the Do No Call List or call 1-888-382-1222 from the number you wish to register. This should work for land lines and cell phones. However, I’m not sure if it works for junk text messages — which are becoming a problem too.
I’ve already taken the necessary steps to reduce junk emails and junk phone calls… and this past week, I went through that entire mess of junk mail and unsubscribed from all of it. It took me about 45 minutes, but it was time well spent.
What are your tips for reducing junk mail, email, and phone calls?
T says
I think you can register on DMAChoice.org for free. You can opt out of ALL magazines and catalogs except those you have purchased from in the past. I finally did this and it was free. We’ll see if it works. Then you go to a separate place for credit offers but it directs you.
Janiece says
Andrea,
What a great post! I really like having all these resources in one place. Thank you so much for pulling them together. I tweeted and sent an update to Facebook with your link information so maybe more people will see this.
Thanks again… We write about similar topics, would love to have you check out my blog.
Janiece
Damsel says
What a great post!! Thanks for all the info.
I clicked over to cancel our ValPak, and I’ve already done a couple of the other things you’ve suggested. My pet peeve is the text messages. I can’t figure out how they get the number! I have made it a point to *never* put my mobile number down for anything, and still they text! Grrrr….
Andrea says
Thanks — I’m glad to hear you put a few of my ideas to use!
So far, I don’t know of anything to eliminate those junk text messages…bummer.
Julie says
Sorry I wasn’t more clear. At about the time I sit down to do email(when I think my kids are occupied they decide they want) my kids wanted my attention and I was trying to make the comment short and sweet!
I called the “Do Not Call List” and they asked for a social security number. We get alot of unsolicited calls every evening.
Thanks,
Julie
Andrea says
Julie, I called that number and they didn’t ask for my social security number…only my phone number. Maybe try it again??
Julie says
Sorry, It was the OPT Out Prescreen, number.
Julie says
Should they be asking for a social security number? I am hesitant to give it out.
Andrea says
Julie, I didn’t have to enter my social security number??? However, I do think that your SSN is one of the ways junk mail “finds us”, so it might be necessary to enter. What website were you on?