U S mail

[labman]

While gone on an extended stay of one month or more, what do you do about the mail? Wifey and I are planning to go to Tucson the month of February and are wondering what others do about mail. Most of our bills are auto deduct from the checking account but there are others that are not. Any suggestions are welcome. We are staying at one resort for the entire month.

[notanlines]

Because it is only a month I would recommend having a friend, relative or neighbor collect your mail and then send it on to you every 7 days in preposted and addressed priority envelopes. DW and I have absolutely nothing good to say about our mail system nor our postal workers who have handled our "mail forwarding" in the past. We are once again attempting the temporary mail forwarding with the knowledge of the big kahuna at our particular office. However we receive no bills by mail, and only three checks by mail and we have taken steps to supply those individuals with prepaid envelopes so we get them sent to Florida address. Apologies to postal workers, but your service ....ah, never mind.:horse:

[WaltBennett]

You can instruct your post office to hold your mail in person or go online to USPS' website and do it there. Change those bills that aren't auto deduct to online vs. paper, then pay with a bank generated check - I pay all mine that way (no postage!). If you need paper copies, see if you can find out what you owe each month on their website. I do our cell phone bill that way as I need the paper copy for taxes.

[chuckster57]

You can instruct your post office to hold your mail in person or go online to USPS' website and do it there. Change those bills that aren't auto deduct to online vs. paper, then pay with a bank generated check - I pay all mine that way (no postage!). If you need paper copies, see if you can find out what you owe each month on their website. I do our cell phone bill that way as I need the paper copy for taxes.

we always have the mail held if gone more than 3 days. Post office will bring it to you on the next delivery day. I'd rather not have my neighbor know my business ( paranoia from years of LEO).

[Javi]

Our daughter / granddaughter picks up our mail and checks on the house every day. She / they even turn on and off different lights and moves the cars around in the driveway a couple of time a week...

[labman]

My last time in Waco we had a great meal at Ninfas Mexican restaurant. Also, got caught in a speed trap northbound on hwy 6 coming into Reisel Tx. Real jerk of a police chief there, i'll never grace that little jerkwater town again.

[Javi]

My last time in Waco we had a great meal at Ninfas Mexican restaurant. Also, got caught in a speed trap northbound on hwy 6 coming into Reisel Tx. Real jerk of a police chief there, i'll never grace that little jerkwater town again.

Yep... I try not to drive through there but if I do I very closely watch my speed..

[sourdough]

Because it is only a month I would recommend having a friend, relative or neighbor collect your mail and then send it on to you every 7 days in preposted and addressed priority envelopes. DW and I have absolutely nothing good to say about our mail system nor our postal workers who have handled our "mail forwarding" in the past. We are once again attempting the temporary mail forwarding with the knowledge of the big kahuna at our particular office. However we receive no bills by mail, and only three checks by mail and we have taken steps to supply those individuals with prepaid envelopes so we get them sent to Florida address. Apologies to postal workers, but your service ....ah, never mind.:horse:


^^^^^What Jim said in caps!! I've tried twice to forward mail; once to the address where we stay and once to a PO box I rented. In both cases it is pure craziness. You will lose mail.....and it goes "somewhere" I suppose but never makes it to us. Our postmaster, and the postal employees, advise against forwarding.

All of our bills are paid monthly by draft so we just get paper bills for records. I have internet access to all of my accounts so that I can watch them. I have our mail carrier just hold our mail in a tub while we are gone (this time for 4 1/2 months). She's had our route for over 20 years and we know her well so it works well. I also signed up for Informed Delivery from the USPS (free). They send an email every day with a picture of the envelope of the mail you received that day - very handy.

[travelin texans]

We tried 2 different post offices & was informed that USPS does not forward mail. If being gone a while call & have them hold your mailor once your box is full they will return to sender.
When we went fulltime we got a box at UPS Pack & Mail store, they have done a great job of all our mail handling. We can call & they'll go through it & send only what we what/need at the time.

[sourdough]

We tried 2 different post offices & was informed that USPS does not forward mail. If being gone a while call & have them hold your mailor once your box is full they will return to sender.
When we went fulltime we got a box at UPS Pack & Mail store, they have done a great job of all our mail handling. We can call & they'll go through it & send only what we what/need at the time.

They will forward it for up to 6 months - you can fill out the form at the PO or do it online. Unfortunately they can never get the dates right, addresses right or forward in a timely manner. The first time we tried the forward was to start 5 days before we were to arrive in FL. 6 weeks after we got here I received a BIG pack of mail with all kinds of dates on them. After that it was hit and miss and some of it I never found.

[Eastham]

Keep loading the post office up with casuals and part time workers half the pay little benefits and see what you get.the days of full time regulars good benefits are a thing of the past. We pay $17.00 a week they put all the mail in priority envelopes send it out on wedsday we have all mail by sat.excellent service the last 2 yrs.also when forwarded very little trouble.

[labman]

^^^^^ I also signed up for Informed Delivery from the USPS (free). They send an email every day with a picture of the envelope of the mail you received that day - very handy.

i'll check in to that! thanks, I wasn't aware of that as an option!

[hankpage]

We have been forwarding our mail for up to 6 months for years. Only problems were when substitute carriers would leave mail in the mail box ..... This year I fixed that by cable-tying the box shut. :D Our regular carrier is very dependable but the temps are terrible.
http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=251&pictureid=1152

[sourdough]

We have been forwarding our mail for up to 6 months for years. Only problems were when substitute carriers would leave mail in the mail box ..... This year I fixed that by cable-tying the box shut. :D Our regular carrier is very dependable but the temps are terrible.
http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=251&pictureid=1152

^^^Same here. Our regular carrier is excellent but those that temp bring me mail for every kind of person around us and I'm sure my mail goes "out there" as well.

[bobbecky]

We are full time and have an annual membership at Americas Mailbox. They do have quarterly plans that would work for people that are not full time, so you would just do a change of address prior to hitting the road, and then again when returning home. We use their Gold plan where they are authorized to discard our junk mail, so we don't have to pay to ship us junk that we would just throw away. http://www.americas-mailbox.com/home/plans/gold

[notanlines]

I guess one should learn a little something every day. I had never heard of "Informed Delivery" but after looking into it on their site I immediately signed on. Easy-peasy! Now hopefully I'll be able to have some sort of record of what SHOULD be headed my way.

[Dave W]

I had never heard of the POs informed service and need to look into it as well.
(https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action)

For a month, and depending on when we trave in a month, check out our balances and statements on line and pay them off. If too soon right afterwards, then look at what and when they are due in a CG I'm pretty comfortable at security wise and then check them.

Additionally, there are mail forwarding services you can use. There is some delay but they will send the entire paper package to you at some unknown to me cost.

Then postal help - our long time delivery guy (20+ years) retired last month. He was great. The new one - well let's just say she still has a long way to go from what I've seen so far. Looks like about the only thing keeping the USPS going is AMAZON PRIME plus junk mail.

[sourdough]

I would encourage anyone traveling and still receiving mail from the USPS to sign up for informed delivery. To me it's very handy. The scans of the mail you receive every day is very helpful, ie; I filed an extension for my income tax. We had to leave before I received my refund check (first time in 12 years!!!). We were gone 3 days and bing....there's an email with the picture of the refund envelope! Called the next day for them to verify that it was in the tub and sure enough it's there. If it's not for some reason when we get back I have the email to show that it was at one time as well as my documented phone call. Pretty handy.