If you have kids in grade school then you receive a countless amount of paper. If you don’t have a plan it can pile up. Then on top of all that you receive an insane amount of mail. If you don’t have a plan for that then those pile on top of school papers and all of the sudden it looks like this.
Today’s post is 5 Ways to cut down on the amount of mail you receive.
1. Get rid of of all credit card offers. If you are on “the list” you get 1-5 of these offers a week in your mailbox. Credit card companies are chomping at the bit to get you into debt. Here is an Opt Out Website that you can go to stop those offers from coming in the mail for 5 years or permanently. 
2. Elect to not receive phone books. I haven’t used a phone book in years with the onslaught of information you can find on the internet. You don’t have to throw those huge books away, instead opt to not receive them. Click here to be removed from the delivery list.
3. Stop receiving unwanted catalogs. You got on the list somehow, didn’t you? Somewhere, somehow you purchased something and now you are on every mailing list for gidgets, gadgets and gizmos. Click here to get your name off that list. I have no idea how I got on BevMo’s mailing list. I just used this service to get rid of that catalog.
4. Waive that warranty card. When you buy a new toaster don’t be tempted to return the warranty card. “Warranty cards are primarily used by the product’s manufacturer to profile you,” explains California identity-theft attorney Mari Frank. “They will then sell that information to others, who in turn send you mailings for their own products and services. That’s why warranty cards so often ask you for your household income, how many kids you have, what your hobbies and interests are. Provided you keep the receipt, a product remains under warranty for the designated period whether you return the warranty card or not.
5. Stop receiving Val Pak. Some of you may like the Val-Pak. For those that throw it away every time you see it then get rid of it by going to this site. 
What ways do you tame the paper monster in your home?
Thank you!! This was so helpful! I already knew – and use – catalogchoice, but didn’t know how to get rid of credit offers and phone books! WONDERFULLY helpful!
Tempted to do the magazine one for my mom. She gets SO many of the junk magazines and she thinks she has to look at every one of them before she can get rid of them.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! except you last link (#5. Val-Pak) doesn’t work but I’m now off all the other lists. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I really hate junk mail.
I actually don’t mind some of the junk mail. I have a box dedicated to paper. Our school system here has dumpsters for paper recycling. Every couple weeks I drop off the box of paper at my local elementary school. It generates money for the schools and helps keep our taxes a little lower. My sister is currently trying to see if her school district would do something like this.
While I completely agree that junk mail is a bit of a pain, please remember that it keeps many, many people employed. Advertising through the mail is one of the cheapest ways that companies (especially the mom and pops) can advertise and the hard working men and women of the post office need mail to be sent to keep food on their family’s table.
And while I certainly do respect that aspect of it I don’t agree with allowing companies to bombard us with mail that we did not give them permission to send. There are plenty of catalogs and offers I do ask for. Believe me I do my part to keep the PO happy and busy. And Fed Ex and UPS as well.
That is awesome. I love to hear that!
That is s funny…my mom is the same way. I swear that is how those companies get my name. My mom is on every mailing list in America.
Yah I am glad someone found it helpful!
Oh thanks for letting me know, I fixed that link.
We get a lot of “requests” junk mail, the kind that comes with a “free” gift and a postage paid envelope. All their correspondence is returned to them in that postage paid envelope.
Thanks for posting this! So helpful!
Great tips!!!! I hate those credit card offers–they come in the mail almost every day. I do like some of my catalogs (PB, Ballard, Restoration Hardware), but some of the ones that come through the mail are just junk.
Thanks for the tip on getting rid of the phonebooks, on average we get 6 or 7 a year and don’t use any of them. I have even told the people dropping them off I didn’t want one, but that only stops me from getting one that day.
Yah I am glad you found that helpful!
Yes of course I love THOSE catalogs! Somehow I got on a wine list and I get wine off the month catalogs, that drives me crazy.
I agree with everything except the warranty card. It’s a lot easier for people to mail in a warranty card than it is to keep a receipt around, especially if it’s something with a 5 year warranty or even a 2 year warranty. I have several siblings whose computers have died, never sent in the warranty card to the manufacturer, and never registered their product online. Had they done so, it could have been covered. However, since they never registered their product they were not eligible for warranty services. It cost them the price of a new computer.
That’s just one example. I think it’s a matter of what’s more important to you: dealing with junk mail and recycling it, or having to fork out money when something breaks and you don’t have a receipt and you never mailed in a warranty card/registered the product?
Thanks for sharing. I just opted out!!
Good point Chelsea. And I do agree with you if you don’t have a spot that you save your receipts. It is vital when you make a big purchase that you do the necessary steps to make sure your warranty is in effect. I usually save my boxes and put the receipt inside and throw the box in my attic.
OMG thank you for the advice!! I hate junk mail, and I didn’t know about these resources. you rock!
Yah thanks Janet!
LOL, I think I’m the only person in the world who changed her address with her favorite catalogues when she moved!
No I must have PB, PB kids, Pb Teen, Ballards, Horshow, Restoration Hardware too!