The USPS and Mail Forwarding

So, we’re moving.  Again.

You are, too, I bet.  Did you know that when you fill out a mail forwarding request with the USPS they SELL your new information to advertisers?

True story.  What to do- what to do?  I’m trying a new method to keep our new address from showing up online…

I spent several months mailing back junk mail by writing ‘Moved- no forwarding address’ if the company requested service.  As mail came in, I made a list of anyone I received mail from that needed to know our mailing address.  In the Online Privacy spreadsheet you can download here I included sections to list your own companies and keep up with your notifications as you make them.  They’re on the Website Specifics tab within the spreadsheet.  Below that list, you can also keep up with companies and others you have asked to remove your name/address/number from their contact lists.

I paid for a UPS mail box in the name of our business here for 3 months before our PCS.  More on that here.

For the junk mail (catalogs, magazines, charities, etc…) I wanted to keep, I called the companies & gave them the new address at the UPS box.

For companies we do business with like Amazon, banks, magazines, etc… I changed our addresses, either by phone or in the online account.

Now, every time I receive something at our current physical location, I return it, or update the sender.  Our mail at home has slowed to at trickle.

When we are assigned our new address and new location, I’ll get a new P.O. box on post and contact the few companies I want to have the address.  The current UPS Store where my mail is being sent will mail me anything I receive until I can update only companies who need to know our new address.  FYI, some catalogs & junk mail are printed and addressed up to a year ahead, so I may not receive them on time.  Probably save me huge $$$.

Why go to all this trouble?  I spent so much time erasing our physical address from the internet data brokers, I never want it part of our PII again.  From now on, our address will be a USPS mail box or other physical address.  Where we sleep will  never be available to anyone via the internet again.  Renting the UPS Store box this time was necessary only to allow me to fix my mistake of using this house address for mail the last time we PCSed.  Next time we move, we can skip that step.

I’ll update this information as we go to the next assignment.

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