Among Friends

[BunSnoop]

I know many of you have cut back and do not send much mail anymore that requires postage stamps; however, for those of you that still do, I read the following today:

You might want to stock up on forever stamps. The US Postal Service on Thursday announced plans to raise the cost of a first-class stamp, pushed to 73 cents in July, five  more times before the end of 2027. The price will climb next July and "each January and July thereafter,. This follows a 36% increase in price since 2019, when Americans could nab a first-class stamp for 50 cents. USPS didn't lay out how prices would be raised. Its last six increases have ranged from two to five cents.

[candys mine]

Curious thought.  Fewer and fewer people use the postal service for snail mail each year.   I Wonder if the price increases are just a way of slowly Pricing the market out of general mail delivery altogether over time.

[On It]

About six months ago, my husband discovered a partially used roll of forever stamps that were in a small box of office supplies. They are yellowed, and the glue does not securely adhere the stamp to the envelope. They are quite old.

We mailed a letter to ourselves using transparent tape to prevent the stamp from falling off during processing and delivery. It arrived without incident or delay. After the test mailing to ourselves, we use them on occasion. It may take a while to finish the roll, but they are being honored by USPS.

[FLGranny]

I remember 4 cents for a postcard and 5 cents for a letter. Almost forces you to do everything by phone or computer.

[Sooner]

And coffee drinks are $7 and $8 dollars at Starbucks.  Also, if fewer are using the mail of course the price goes up.  Just the world we are living in.  

[Lucky Charm]

I mailed a beautiful card to my aunt yesterday with a picture of her mother (my grandmother) at 16 years old.  I don't think she had a picture of her mother so young!  It was such a beautiful picture, I wouldn't think of texting it to her.  Nope.

I put a check in the mail, yes a check---remember those? to our former daughter in law who is settling on a house next month.

I will use the postal service till the very end.

[77yangya]

You may want to be careful with those stamps that you're using tape on.  Machines read mail so if it can't scan it may do return to sender and for bills that's not good. 

Check this out....I get our regular car insurance bill in the mail and see that it's due Monday.  I get it in the mail Wednesday evening.  Now, there's a weekend in between.  How's that gonna get there on time???   I called the company and told them.  They agreed and said oh, we sent it out two weeks ago.  Funny, I get every other bill on time.  Anyway, I had to pay by phone to not be late. 

That was off topic but it's only 5:24am.  sorry....uh...what a mess...LOL..

[deeva]

I stocked up on forever stamps early last year, so I'm set for a long time. 

[Pecky]

I can't even remember the last time I used a stamp.  

[PinkyPetunia]

@On It         I could be wrong, but I believe you can bring those old stamps to the Post Office and they will replace them with new stamps at no charge.  It's worth trying if it's easy to get to your PO.