Top Tips: Organizing Your Mail Pile
If your mailbox is anything like mine, it’s brimming with everything from bills and statements to newspapers and religious pamphlets. Sometimes you just ignore the mail and let it pile up, but there are easy ways to control your physical inbox and keep things organized.
- Set Up A Box For Each Person’s Mail – If you have multiple people in your household, set up a shoebox or tray for each person’s mail. This will help mail from getting lost or mixed up.
- Sort Your Mail Immediately – When the mail arrives, sort it right away—don’t leave it to pile up. Open what needs to be open and toss what needs to be tossed.
- Create An “Urgency” File – Create a special box or file for bills or other mail that needs your urgent attention. Don’t leave these milling about catalogs or other unimportant items.
- Stop Junk Mail – If you get a lot of junk mail, you can put an end to it by following some of these great tips from HuffPost.
- Stop Catalogs – Most catalogs—which you usually receive after purchasing from the store in the past—have numbers in or on the back of the catalog to stop mailings.
- Stop Charity Mailings – Many charities send out periodical free gifts and donation requests. Call the charity and ask them to be taken off your mailing list, and that you will donate online or by telephone.
- Switch To Paperless Statements – Many banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, and utility companies offer you the option to receive your statements via e-mail rather than postal mail.
- Don’t Throw Away Unmarked Envelopes – If you get an unmarked envelope, don’t automatically think it’s junk mail and throw it away. Many companies—like credit card issuers and motor vehicle departments—send information or goods in unmarked envelopes to protect your identity or potentially expensive items.
- Shred Personal Information – Don’t just toss away statements, credit card offers, or any other piece of mail that has personally identifiable information on it. Invest in a shredder and shred the documents, or toss them in a fireplace and watch them burn. Many municipalities and counties even offer mobile shredding trucks periodically.
- Get A P.O. Box – If you have a lot of people in your house or would like to separate very important mail from other mail, then reserve a P.O. box, which can be purchased from the U.S. Postal Service either bi-annually or yearly.