What about the mail at home?

[slarsen]

My wife just retired, and we are free to take longer trips than before. Our post office will only hold mail for 30 days, but in a few weeks we plan on being gone longer than that.

I don't know if 30 days is a typical limit or not, but anyway, that's what it is. How have others dealt with mail when gone for extended periods?

[paulm999]

1)Everything important should always be handled online. 2)Put in a temp forwarding order to anyone you know. Only 1st class will be forwarded. The rest....99.99999999999% will be garbage mail and will be thrown away by the PO. 3)Remove your mailbox to ensure nothing gets delivered by the 10s of thousands of day to day temps that work at the USPS.

[Dixiechick]

lynndiwagon wrote:
I built a custom brick mailbox with a big storage container inside it. I cut a hole in the bottom of the inserted mail box and cover it with a flat metal plate when we are at home. When we leave I remove the plate and when the mailman puts the mail in it falls into the storage area. I access the storage area from behind with a locked door. It will hold a lot of mail.

We have done something similar. We purchased a heavy duty plastic, "vandal resistant" mailbox from ACE Hardware. It sits on a hollow column and has a removable floor. We remove the mailbox floor so everything drops to the bottom of the column. It has a locking door on the back side. If we are away for several months, our son checks periodically but he has never had to open the box. We cancelled any subscriptions we didn't really care about. The UPS mailbox is a good idea but our local UPS store doesn't offer that service. We use online banking so we don't have sensitive documents sitting in the box waiting to be stolen.

[lynndiwagon]

I built a custom brick mailbox with a big storage container inside it. I cut a hole in the bottom of the inserted mail box and cover it with a flat metal plate when we are at home. When we leave I remove the plate and when the mailman puts the mail in it falls into the storage area. I access the storage area from behind with a locked door. It will hold a lot of mail.

[jrs1871]

In the past when we go to TX for five months we just did a temporary change of address. When we were on trips of 30 days or so, we had the PO hold our mail. This summer when we went to the PO to put a hold on for 30 days, we were told they could only hold it 10 days. We had our son pick it up. When we got back and went to get the mail we were told that the 10 days was wrong, they could have held it 30 days.
BUT when we do the temporary change of address, that is only for first class mail. They don't forward the fourth class (magazines) and bulk mail. In the past they just held it and we got the tub of stuff when we got home. Now they are telling me they can't hold the fourth class and bulk for over 30 days but we can't have our son get it because we have a temporary change of address. Most of it I would just say pitch it but there are magazines that I want and I have no confidence in our local post master to not mix first class in with the junk. It has happened before. So I am not sure what we will do. I will go to the USPS web site and check my options.

[slarsen]

Great ideas and suggestions, thanks to you all.

I do use the bank's online pay for almost all my bills, and I have online access for credit cards, etc, but I just don't (or didn't) know what to do about the accumulation of all that 'stuff.' At the end of 30 days, no way would it fit into the mailbox. No, I don't have family nearby and I don't know or trust neighbors. But now I have several good ideas to pursue.

So thanks again.

[tatest]

For two years away, we did a permanent change of address to a mail forwarding service. Coming back, we had a friend get us a PO Box, and watch it for us, so we could do a change of address to that.

We kept the PO Box because it was a useful place to let mail sit, provided you rent a big enough box.

We had to watch online in the few places that had such a service, and pay bills ahead, usually deliberately overpaying, because forwarding didn't always work fast enough, especially overseas by two-way mail pouch service. That was 10-12 years ago. Now you can check and pay most bills online, or autopay. Other than bills, most mail can sit for a few months.

About the only thing that might get you into trouble would be court summons you miss, but to arrest you, they still have to find you. I was summoned to jury duty twice while out of the country, but was able to straighten out my non-appearance using immigration records. If you are just on the road, documentation might not be so easy.

[lbrjet]

Get a box at the UPS store and have mail forwarded there. Runs 15-20 bucks a month, is worry free and doesn't inconvenience anybody else. They will also hold your packages for you as well.

[rk911]

slarsen wrote:
My wife just retired, and we are free to take longer trips than before. Our post office will only hold mail for 30 days, but in a few weeks we plan on being gone longer than that.

I don't know if 30 days is a typical limit or not, but anyway, that's what it is. How have others dealt with mail when gone for extended periods?

we're on the road for 3-months at a time. we've reduced the amount of incoming mail by over 90% simply by setting up automatic payments for virtually all of our monthly bills such as electric, gas, phone, cable, cell phones, etc. about the only bills that don't offer this is some of our insurance and those come just once a year. my bro-in-law picks up our other mail and simply tosses it in a box for our return. he looks it over and if there seems to be something important he will open it, scan it and e-mail it to us. if that's not practical then you'll need a mail forwarding service.

[Chuck_Gail]

Autopay on monthly bills.

We give mailman (or neighbor if mailman doesn't want to) handful of 30 day PO hold slips. When 30 days is up, mailman puts our crated mail in our car (left unlocked) in driveway. Neighbor who waters our plants brings mail crate indoors (and puts out new mail hold card if mailman doesn't).

We have held mail for as long as four months that way.

Be nice to your mailman!!!!!!!

[Jim_Shoe]

I have my monthly bills set up on autopay through my bank. Mine is just set up to pay the balance, and I can track both the monthly bills and payments on
line. For other mail, which is almost always junk mail anyway, the P.O. will hold it for 30 days, and I have a friend that picks it up once a month for me until I return home.

[pitch]

30 days depends. How much longer than a month are you going to be gone? The PO will not hold your mail for 3 or 4 months, but can extend the thirty days.
If you have a small PO and you have a good relationship with your carrier, there may be something that your carrier can do to help. Go down and speak to the Post Master face to face, Post Offices are like ships, the Post Master is Captain and the final word,he can bend policy for a good customer. If you are the guy whose trash can is always blocking the box, or dog is snarling at the carrier this probably won't happen.

[2oldman]

Mail Forwarding
RV quick tips -mail

[PapPappy]

Are there any Family or Friends you can ask to pick it up for you?
Do you have a neighbor you trust?
If you do that, you can ask them to send it on to you from time to time....maybe to a CG you decide to spend a few days at....and have it sent FedEx.

Outside of that, you can rent a mailbox, at one of those private places, and have your USPS stuff forwarded there....they will usually hold it longer, as long as you're paying.