Postage stamps up to 39 cents next week

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-1999
Postage stamps up to 39 cents next week
9
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 10:35am

Hi, folks!

I was reminded by my uncle last night that postage stamps are going up 2 cents to 39 cents next week. This will make our bill paying by mail more expenive...Sure, 2 cents, but those 2 cents add up....Snowflakers know what I mean!

Are you going to try to electronically pay bills more now? Does the postage increase mean much for you? Isn't it amazing how everything is going up in cost this month???

Littlesbigs

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2005
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 1:03pm
I already electronically pay everything, I just couldn't justify spending postage when I could set up electronic payments directly through my bank. I figure any little bit of money I can save helps a little bit.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 1:59pm

I pay almost all of my bills online. There is a few that I wish I could pay online, but they don't offer that service. Things like my car loan through GMAC and my local water company, and some life insurance policies, etc.

It does seem like everything is going up in price lately. Gas prices are inching higher here (Atlanta), and right now, they range from $2.15-2.25 depending on the station. Interest rates are up, credit card minimums are up, Natural Gas and Electric are both up, and they say the high costs will trickle down into the costs of food and other goods sold in stores. I'm very eager to see my next gas bill. My last one, for December, actually doubled.

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 2:26pm

Okay, I am weird....

My husband of course thinks we should try to pay everything electronically to save those few cents. Makes sense, right?

Well, I am only 24, but I am sorta "old-fashioned". And I don't want our world to change to everything being computerized!!! The less we use stamps, the more they will cost! Then we will use them EVEN LESS! Eventually, to put anything in the mailbox, it will cost a fortune!

I am just not ready to go there. :(

I pay our cell phone bills online, and our car insurance and car payments are taken out automatically. But everything else, I enjoy writing the check and sticking it in an envelope.

~Aravis~

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2004
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 2:39pm

Callmearavis,

I agree with you. I enjoy writing checks and putting them in the mail. Of course, I've had two acquaintances have checks stolen out of the mail in the last few years and have never known anyone who had their credit card information stolen online, so maybe it's illogical. But it just makes more sense to me.

After I read this reminder, I just ordered 2 cent stamps from the post office. It cost $1.80 to buy $0.80 worth of two cent stamps, but I figure that I would never have gotten around to going to the post office, so the $1 was worth it to me. This way I can use the over $10 worth of 37 cent stamps I still have.

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 3:01pm

I don't think I've purchased stamps in the past year.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 5:09pm

I agree Danni. I wouldn't mind if the Postal Service only delivered a few days a week. Or maybe they could refuse to deliver junk mail and useless advertisements and credit card offers! I would really love to see that happen. :-D

We have a P.O. Box for all of our bills and banking information. There were just too many mail thefts in my area. I'm not sure why it's happening. It could be all the new construction around us (3000+ new homes!), and thieves are hoping for some bank/loan information to be delivered to homeowners that can be stolen. I check my P.O. Box once a week. The only thing that comes to my actual mailbox at the curb, now, is junk mail, store fliers, and catalogs from companies I've never dealt with. LOL! :-D I just get the mail from the box, flip through it as I walk back to the house, and then shred it in the garage before going back into the house. :-D

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 5:16pm

Well, again, being "old-fashioned" - I enjoy supporting the people who work for the postal service. Cutting mail service back to less than 6 days a week means less income for a LOT of people.

If using stamps to get some of my bills paid helps even a TINY little bit, I feel good. I also feel the same way about bank tellers. We don't use direct deposit, as I feel that they will eventually (and actually probably already has) led to job reductions in the banking industry.

I hate the debt, but man....I don't want to put someone out of a job just to save a buck. :( (No offense to anyone who chooses to save, that is just MY opinion!) :)

~Aravis~

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 6:13pm

I love sending and receiving letters via the mail so I won't be giving that up anytime soon but I do my bills electronically.

I'm surprised that the increase in ebay and other online sales hasn't helped the post office more. I find myself using the mail more and more for packages each year.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Mon, 01-02-2006 - 6:20pm

I already had to pay the 39 cents because the PO ran out of 37 cent stamps! I was standing there with bills in hand that HAD to get in the mail that day so I had to pay it. The guy in front of me did too, so I know I wasn't scammed. But what the heck??!!

I don't pay any bills online because I don't trust my old computer to stay alive to pay them.
I also enjoy writing the checks and mailing them like some others here. I do have a few fixed bills automatically taken out of our bank account though and I like that.

Nicki