Junk Mail

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,722
4,908
Pines; Bamber area
Arrrgh! It now controls me!

I have a couple boxes by my back door and they fill up in no time. Then I either have to bag it and wrap it with string or take it to the recycling center in town. I once tried a huge plastic box by the garbage cans outside. I used to stop there on the way in the door to throw the crap out, but the box deteriorated in the weather.

How do the rest of you handle junk mail? Got any tips for me? Being single has me always looking to save time in doing things in life I hate doing.
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,892
3,046
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Man, it really annoys me too. Not a day goes by that I don't get two credit card offers. Then there are at least three newspaper type circulars announcing sales of things I don't need at stores I don't go to.

But I do get just a tiny bit of pleasure throwing the junk mail in the trash unopened and thinking about how much money the senders waste attempting to sell me something.
 

onehand

Explorer
Apr 11, 2005
374
1
potter co. pa.
i burn it !! LOL !! along with all other burnables, we don't have trash pick up. we have to take it to the transfer station, 7 miles away, appx $ 4.00 per 40 lbs
 
I recycle newspapers and other loose paper, but I don't open up envelopes with junk mail. I throw them in the trash. Sorry if I'm ruining the planet...

First line of defense against identity theft is to shred any and all credit card offers. All some miscreant needs to do is trash-pick those unopened envelopes from your trash and they're in business with your credit rating. It happens everyday across America.

Call me paranoid, but my motto is:

Crosscut shredding--it's the next best thing to burning!! :ninja:

Best regards,
Jerseyman

P.S. Remember--just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone's not after you!! :eek:
My favorite bumper sticker: "I'm schizophrenic--and so am I" :spooky:
 

ecampbell

Piney
Jan 2, 2003
2,895
1,037
If they include paid for return envelope I put junk mail int it and send it back.


I do that to. I also include something from another junk mail that is not personalized.

The rest, personal or other wise I burn. As of right now I am burning personal paper my mother gave to me to get rid of. It has BTU value, so I heat my house and I send all that carbon back into the atmosphere to be recycled by plants thus greening up the earth and warming it at the same time.

BTW I only used 108 gallons of oil to heat my house from June 2005 to June 2006. This year looks to be the same.
 

Stu

Explorer
Feb 19, 2004
466
3
43
White Haven, PA
www.stuofdoom.com
Just register at the Opt Out Dept. I did that recently and barely get any junk mail now. The only one resisting my wish to be left alone is Capital One, and I don't get them very often now. You can be taken off the 4 credit bureaus' lists for either 5 years or permanently - your choice.

Just call (888) 5-OPTOUT or go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ to opt out. Keep in mind though that not all credit companies respect this (like Capital One).

And yes, I also shred and/or burn any junk I still get. Just as paranoid.
 

Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
I do that to. I also include something from another junk mail that is not personalized.

The rest, personal or other wise I burn. As of right now I am burning personal paper my mother gave to me to get rid of. It has BTU value, so I heat my house and I send all that carbon back into the atmosphere to be recycled by plants thus greening up the earth and warming it at the same time.

BTW I only used 108 gallons of oil to heat my house from June 2005 to June 2006. This year looks to be the same.

do you burn it in a wood burning stove? I have tried this in my stove and the ash builds up real quick, at the time I was burning just junk mail with no hot coals in the stove. nice job with the low consumtion of oil, I only have electirc heat besides my stove, in the dead of winter my electric bills are around 90-100 bucks and the wood I use is free.:)
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,722
4,908
Pines; Bamber area
Just register at the Opt Out Dept. I did that recently and barely get any junk mail now. The only one resisting my wish to be left alone is Capital One, and I don't get them very often now. You can be taken off the 4 credit bureaus' lists for either 5 years or permanently - your choice.

Just call (888) 5-OPTOUT or go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ to opt out. Keep in mind though that not all credit companies respect this (like Capital One).

And yes, I also shred and/or burn any junk I still get. Just as paranoid.

That is not the phone one, right? Because I did do the phone one and that stopped the dinnertime calls nearly cold.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,722
4,908
Pines; Bamber area
Nah, this is just for the credit bureaus selling your info, not the do not call list.


They asked for my social security number. Maybe some other time. I'm hesistant to do that.

Never mind; I did not put it in and they accepted it anyway. Thanks Stu..........
 
Oct 25, 2006
1,757
1
74
:D as soon as i see the credit card offers,it's right in the paper recycle bucket,shredded of course first.what i do not like about those offers is that my daughter was out of work for a while,the company paid insurance check took five weeks(first one)for her to get it,so she applied for her first card,said she was pre-approved,she sent in the applcation,got it back in two weeks saying she was turned down,that's where there ought to be a law to stop that nonsense,of course everytime you apply for one that you are pre-approved for,you should get it,but when you don't,there goes the credit rating further down the scale!!! of course i gave her the cash!!!!!!
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,892
3,046
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
everytime you apply for one that you are pre-approved for,you should get it


Well, as you learned "pre-approved" is completely meaningless - they send thousands (if not millions) of those out. The real lesson should be not to apply for these things unless you have a good grasp of how the system works.
 
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