Here's How You Can Cut Down on Junk Mail, Emails, and Unsolicited Telemarketer Calls

This stuff annoys me to no end, especially the hundreds of pieces of junk mail that I receive annually. So, I did some research and found out how to stop some of it.

Unsolicited Calls from Telemarketers

The National Do Not Call Registry, operated by the Federal Trade Commission, is a beautiful thing. It doesn't stop 100% of the calls, but on the rare occasion that I receive an unsolicited call, they hang up as soon as I mention that I'm on the DNC Registry and never call back.

Click here to Add Your Number to the DNC list. I added my number years ago when the registry first became available, and then check to verify or renew it every couple of years. I definitely noticed a difference in the number of calls I received after my number went on the registry (it takes about 30 days to process). Now I get maybe one or two calls a year. It is important to note that you will still receive calls from certain types of businesses, like debt collectors, and any business that you have interacted with, unless you tell them not to contact you anymore. For instance, if you ordered something from Joe's Bacon Barn, Joe can call you to tell you about their specials even if you are on the DNC list, unless you specifically tell him that he cannot contact you any more. After that, additional calls can be violations.

Click here to Submit a Complaint. Once you've been on the registry for thirty days, it's quick and easy to file a complaint (takes about 30 seconds) and it's okay if you don't know the name of the company or any other details. You just provide whatever information you have (such as the number and date/time of the call) and click "submit." Obviously, the FTC does not have the resources to investigate every complaint, but your complaint goes into a database so that they can prepare cases against the most serious offenders. I kind of think of this as a civic duty - the more people who use this resource, the better the government can go after the offenders.

Pre-Screened Credit and Insurance Offers (Mail, Email, etc.)

Did you know that you can "opt-out" of receiving all those credit card offers in the mail?! I only recently learned about this and I'm super excited about not receiving any more of that junk mail. In order to opt-out (or learn more about it), go to OptOutPrescreen. There, you can submit a form online to opt-out for five years; there is also information on how to request permanent opt out by mail.

Additionally, you can stop some direct mail and email marketing.

Email: You can register up to three email addresses with the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service (MPS), which will remain on the mail preference service for six years. After you register, it takes about two months before you start to see a decline in emails. 

Postal Mail: As far as "snail mail" is concerned, the DMA "lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a "delete" file and made available to direct-mail marketers and organizations. This will reduce most of your unsolicited mail. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that do not use the DMA's Mail Preference Service." 

Source: FTC website.

Click here to register with DMA's Mail Preference Service. I have not registered yet, so I don't know how well this works. I plan to register very soon!
Here's more information from the DMA website:

• What can the mail preference service do for me?
  There are plenty of reasons to keep receiving direct mail. But maybe you just want to cut back on certain types that you're not interested in. We can help you do just that. We've divided direct mail into four categories:
  
  

  1. Credit Offers
  2. Catalogs
  3. Magazine Offers (this includes subscription offers, newsletters, periodicals and other promotional mailings)
  4. Other Mail Offers (this includes donation requests, bank offers, retail promotions and more)

  For each of these categories, you can choose whether or not you want to receive mail from companies one at a time. Or, if you prefer, you can choose to stop receiving mail for all companies you haven't purchased from or donated to within an entire category. Any choices you make will be effective for five years from the date you make them.