How to avoid overload of junk mail when you are trying to balance your life better

Balance Life by getting rid of junk mail and spam emails

Daily Balance tip by Kim Jacobs

Prior to opening the mail or email, women already juggle a lot.  Some of you have families, extra -curricular activities, dinner, washing clothes, church, your husband’s needs and sometimes even school work.  The last thing you need is to open mail or read an email that is JUNK!

What we call junk mail or spam is usually an attempt to do a direct marketing campaign intended to get you to buy a product or service. Whenever you purchase a product or service and give the company your name and address, chances are you are being immediately added to some type of mailing list. Your contact information is put into a computer database. This information is typically rented to other businesses that are interested in enticing you with offers for their products. The following tips will help you cut down on the amount of junk mail and spam emails that you receive on a daily basis:

#1. BE VERY CLEAR.  Whenever you donate money to a charity, fill out a warranty card, or purchase anything via internet or mail you should write very legibly, “Please do not sell or rent my name or address“. Most organizations will put a special note in the records to not sell your information.

#2. Some Contest should be avoided.  Contest entries are typically an easy way to capture information about a person.  Have you ever noticed that shortly after you complete a contest entry, you start to receive so much mail from every other vender in the same industry.  One perfect example:  I submitted my information to get a quote for insurance and within 15 minutes, I received over 30 calls from insurance companies saying that I was pre-qualified. It was a nightmare.  I was so sorry that I put my information on the internet for all of the vulchers to retrieve.

#3. Check with your internet provider. See if they have a spam filtering system that detects spam emails and redirects them to a specific folder created just for spam mail.

#4. Never Reply to a Spam Email.  I do not recommend that you reply to the so called sender or to the chance to remove yourself from their distribution list.  When you reply, you are simply validated that your email address is legitimate.  This gives the spammer an opportunity to resell your accurate information. If you want to report something that looks suspicious you can send it to www.spamcop.net or if you suspect fraud send it to the National Fraud Information Center at www.fraud.org. You can also send an email alerting the company by sending an email to abuse@xyzcompany.

#5. Be leery of “Dear Customer” Emails. Even though we know that we will never win a contest we never entered or receive millions of dollars for helping a businessman in another country, people still fall prey to these pranks.  Always remember, that a real bank will address you by name, not Dear Customer or Dear Friend.

#6. OPT OUT of Credit offers: The major credit agencies all sell credit information to bidders. To stop receiving credit offers for 2 years simply call 1-888-5OPT OUT or 1888-567-8688.  This will Opt you out of all credit card offers for the next 2 years. All three credit reporting agencies – Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian will remove your information. You should be ready to provide your current address, former address if you moved within the past 2 years, and your social security number.  They are available 24 hours a day.  .  If you want to opt out permanently, there are a few additional steps.

#7. Be Free of Junk Mail.  If you wish to stop receiving junk mail you can send a form, which can be printed from the following site: www.privacyrights.org/Letters/jm1a.htm.

plus pay a $1 check or money order to: Mail Preference Service – Direct Marketing Association – P.O.Box 643 – Carmel, NY 10512 or you can register online for free by visiting: https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action

#8. Hire a Professional.  If your time is limited, and you know you will not put the necessary energy into getting removed from the junk mail list, then hire a professional junk removal service.  There are many organizations to choose from online. One environmentally friendly online group is called 41 pounds.org.  According to their website, they will help you reduce junk mail and at the same time help preserve the environment. According to 41pounds.org, they will do all the legwork to reduce your junk mail by 80-95% for five years — and donates $15 to Eco-Cycle!

#9. A little junk mail won’t hurt.  If it is not your goal to stop receiving ALL junk mail, then you don’t want to call DMA (Direct Marketing Association).   You will want to contact the individual companies directly to inform them that you do not wish to receive anything else from them and request to be removed from their mailing list.

 Some additional resources if you want to be removed from the following sources:

• Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes:  Call 1-800-645-9242 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting  between 8:30 AM -8:30 EST
• American Family Sweepstakes: Call 1-800-237-2400 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              

Balancing Life on a budget:

Living on a tighter budget simply requires you to add a little more creativity to your financial planning. There are plenty of ways to live life on budget without feeling like you’re not having a good life. Below are tips that will help you balance life on a budget:

Look for coupons. Coupons can save you a ton of money, especially when it is double coupon day at your local grocery stores. The goal is not to buy stuff that you really don’t need just because you have a coupon for it. Also, make sure you comparison shop to get the best buy for your money.

Shop creatively.  Visit your local consignment shops and see if you can get a good deal.  This can save you quite a bit of money, especially if you have multiple children that will be growing out of their clothes quickly anyway. Jeans are Jeans, they don’t have to cost 59.00 for them to look nice.

Comparison shop for Gas.  If you visit www.gasbuddy.com, it will show you which gas stations in Charlotte have the lowest prices.  It will also provide you with a list of the gas stations that have the highest prices over the past 36 hours.  Good resource.

Enjoy Free activities.  Look at your local newspaper’s entertainment section to see what free events are in town.  Believe it or not, there are so many free events that you can enjoy. You can also visit the local library and check out free book and enjoy the computer for free in their computer lab.  You can go for a walk in your local park on one of the walking trails.  This will be fun for couples or for families.

Barter. When times are tight, a lot of service-oriented businesses have to look at more creative ways to get their needs met. If you have a business and would like to work with another business to have mutually beneficial relationship, then discuss the option of bartering services.  This means that you will offer your service in exchange for them offering your business their service for no exchange of money.  For example, I will offer a photographer the opportunity to display their company name on the credits on my Talk Show in exchange for them doing the photography work during the  taping of my show.

Enjoy movie night at home.  Going to the movies can be extremely expensive! Don’t even think about adding on the 3-D cost or IMAX experience.  That will cost you additional money per person.  Unreal! Don’t forget the snacks and drinks for everyone.  This could add up to a mortgage payment if you go a couple of times a month.  Instead of spending money on going to the movies, why not rent a movie from the redbox for .99 or order a movie from your On Demand for one fee or rent from your local movie rental store.  This will save you quite a bit of money if you are trying to cut back financially.  You can pop some popcorn and still have a great movie night.

Create a fun amount.  Once you have allocated what you need to spend on bills and other necessary expenses, you have to determine how much you will be allowed to spend on fun things.  Whatever the amount is that you decide on, pull that cash out at the beginning of the week.  You won’t overspend, because when it is gone, it is gone!