Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Will Be Gone for 5 Weeks - What to Do About the Mail?
Old 02-04-2020, 02:21 PM   #1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,127
Will Be Gone for 5 Weeks - What to Do About the Mail?

Another seasonal rental question.

We will be renting a condo in FL for the month of March. We will be taking our time for the drive down ( 2 or 3 days - no more "death march" 20-hour drives! ) and doing the same coming back.

So, I'm unsure what to do about our mail. I don't really want to pay to have it forwarded because, apart from bills, it's mostly junk mail. On the other hand, I don't want to miss something that might be important.

The USPS site isn't very helpful so I'm wondering what others do about mail and/or are there other options I might choose?
CoolRich59 is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 02-04-2020, 02:26 PM   #2
Administrator
Gumby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,971
We always have the post office hold our mail, but, IIRC, 30 days is the max. Can you arrange for them to hold it for the first 30 days, with pickup at the post office upon return specified and have a trusted friend or neighbor take the next 5-6 day's worth in? Or have the neighbor hold the first 6 days and start the post office hold after that.
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
Gumby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 02:33 PM   #3
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
GalaxyBoy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: The Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains
Posts: 2,781
Aside from the primary question, do you subscribe to the USPS informed delivery service? Even when not traveling, it's nice to get a daily email with images of the snail mail you're set to receive that day. Well, most of it anyway.
GalaxyBoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 02:36 PM   #4
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
We have great neighbors who pick up our mail for us when we take extended trips - and we do the same for them.
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 02:38 PM   #5
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
RetireAge50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,660
We do what Gumby just said. Works great.
RetireAge50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 02:52 PM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,127
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
We always have the post office hold our mail, but, IIRC, 30 days is the max.
Yes, 30 days is the max. So, I need to make other arrangements.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
Can you arrange for them to hold it for the first 30 days, with pickup at the post office upon return specified and have a trusted friend or neighbor take the next 5-6 day's worth in? Or have the neighbor hold the first 6 days and start the post office hold after that.
We could, but none of our friends or family are close by, and I don't want to inconvenience anyone to go out of their way to pick up our mail.

I'm wondering if I could have the mail held and then have one of my sons stop by the post office once a week to pick it up and let us know if there's anything that looks important.

The USPS website is not very helpful, so I'll probably drive to my local office and see if that's doable.
CoolRich59 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 02:54 PM   #7
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,127
Quote:
Originally Posted by GalaxyBoy View Post
Aside from the primary question, do you subscribe to the USPS informed delivery service? Even when not traveling, it's nice to get a daily email with images of the snail mail you're set to receive that day. Well, most of it anyway.
I saw this service, but it did not interest me. Most of our mail these days seems like it's bills and junk mail. But, if there was something important, getting an image of the item without the ability to get my hands on it wouldn't do me any good.
CoolRich59 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:15 PM   #8
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
harley's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,764
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolRich59 View Post
I'm wondering if I could have the mail held and then have one of my sons stop by the post office once a week to pick it up and let us know if there's anything that looks important.
You could absolutely do this. I do mail holds all the time, and never once have been asked for ID. Depending on what's more convenient for your son, you could hold the mail for a month, have it delivered to your house, and have the son pick it up there. Or the PO. Either will work. I think there's a form you can use to allow someone else to pick up your mail, but I've never had to use it.

Also, you have a period of up to 10 days after the hold to pick up the mail. If you're only going to be gone for 5 weeks, just let it sit until you get back.

Quote:
The USPS website is not very helpful, so I'll probably drive to my local office and see if that's doable.
Personally, I'd never deal with this stuff at the local branches. I almost always get what I want via the website, and whenever I've brought the humans in to the mix is when something gets messed up. JMO.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
harley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:21 PM   #9
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,858
We moved everything possible to email. A kind neighbour removes the junk mail and keeps the odd bit of actual mail for us.
brett is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:39 PM   #10
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
RetireAge50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,660
I would let the mail be delivered the first week and then start the hold for the last 30 days. I would be ok with this because all important stuff for me is paperless.
RetireAge50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:44 PM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,127
Quote:
Originally Posted by harley View Post
You could absolutely do this. I do mail holds all the time, and never once have been asked for ID. Depending on what's more convenient for your son, you could hold the mail for a month, have it delivered to your house, and have the son pick it up there. Or the PO. Either will work. I think there's a form you can use to allow someone else to pick up your mail, but I've never had to use it.
Thanks. I think some version of this will work for me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harley View Post
Personally, I'd never deal with this stuff at the local branches. I almost always get what I want via the website, and whenever I've brought the humans in to the mix is when something gets messed up. JMO.
Oh, I know what you mean. The folks at my local office are nice, but ...
CoolRich59 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:53 PM   #12
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
harley's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,764
I know you said you weren't interested, but IMO it would be worth it to set up Informed Delivery. That way, while you're gone you'll know if anything important (small chance, I know) comes in. Then when you're back, you can just turn off the notification. I like it because I got a jury summons once, and being gone for over a month almost made me late responding. That and incoming credit card replacements. But the odds are you'll see it's all junk.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
harley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:54 PM   #13
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,127
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetireAge50 View Post
I would let the mail be delivered the first week and then start the hold for the last 30 days. I would be ok with this because all important stuff for me is paperless.
I'm realizing that what's really driving this concern is old-school "paranoia" about missing or forgetting something.

My mortgage payment set up to be is sent automatically each month. All my insurance coverages are paid in full through May. Most of our monthly bills we receive and pay electronically. For those few bills we still get by mail, I plan on simply scheduling payment of an estimated amount on the usual due date and adding a "cushion" of 5% extra to make sure I don't underpay.

The chance of an unexpected bill or other item showing up that needs immediate attention is close to nil. But, if I can't worry about this then I have to think of something else to worry about.
CoolRich59 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 03:58 PM   #14
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,127
Quote:
Originally Posted by harley View Post
I know you said you weren't interested, but IMO it would be worth it to set up Informed Delivery. That way, while you're gone you'll know if anything important (small chance, I know) comes in. Then when you're back, you can just turn off the notification. I like it because I got a jury summons once, and being gone for over a month almost made me late responding. That and incoming credit card replacements. But the odds are you'll see it's all junk.
Good point. (And just when I was starting to convince myself I was getting worried over nothing! )
CoolRich59 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 05:27 PM   #15
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
OldShooter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: City
Posts: 10,334
Our local UPS Store offers mail holding and forwarding. These are independent franchises so I'd guess that your local version would be happy to work out whatever arrangements make sense for you, including selective forwarding of non-junk.
OldShooter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 06:42 PM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,003
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetireAge50 View Post
I would let the mail be delivered the first week and then start the hold for the last 30 days. I would be ok with this because all important stuff for me is paperless.
Might not be a good idea to let a pile of mail sit in the mailbox, even for a few days. That's a sure sign the homeowner is away.
Lewis Clark is online now   Reply With Quote
Will Be Gone for 5 Weeks - What to Do About the Mail?
Old 02-04-2020, 06:58 PM   #17
Moderator Emeritus
Ronstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 16,543
Will Be Gone for 5 Weeks - What to Do About the Mail?

We used to leave for 3 months in the winter. I set up hold mail at USPS for a month. A month is the maximum hold time - at least in Illinois. Had a friend pick up the held mail after the first month. Then I’d do another hold for month 2. Then have friend pick up after month 2. Then do hold for month 3. And I’d pick up the held mail for month 3.

Well the USPS didn’t like this arrangement, so last year we went with a mail forwarding to the nearby UPS store. It worked great. USPS didn’t forward any junk mail, so there wasn’t much mail forwarded. Can’t remember the cost though.
Ronstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 07:40 PM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: W Wash
Posts: 1,643
Quote:
Originally Posted by harley View Post
Personally, I'd never deal with this stuff at the local branches. I almost always get what I want via the website, and whenever I've brought the humans in to the mix is when something gets messed up. JMO.
We usually do two 4-5 weeks trips a year. I learned the hard way, using the online hold is the way to go. After returning from one trip, I found none our mail had been held--we had a slot that drops into a box in garage and the box inside was overflowing. After a face to face chat with the local PO Supervisor, he pretty much told me that putting their yellow card in the mail was a 50-50 chance getting to right place.
nwsteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 10:12 PM   #19
Confused about dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 6
We travel during the summer, sometimes for 3+ months at a time. We use traveling mailbox (https://travelingmailbox.com). You setup your account and have your mail forwarded to them. You can see your mail online and select what you want done ( forward, hold, delete, etc.). If we get a letter or check that we need, we can select it and they will forward it. When we return, we have all extra mail sent to us and then cancel the service.
Grey-son is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2020, 10:44 PM   #20
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
rk911's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: DuPage County IL
Posts: 2,702
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolRich59 View Post
Another seasonal rental question.

We will be renting a condo in FL for the month of March. We will be taking our time for the drive down ( 2 or 3 days - no more "death march" 20-hour drives! ) and doing the same coming back.

So, I'm unsure what to do about our mail. I don't really want to pay to have it forwarded because, apart from bills, it's mostly junk mail. On the other hand, I don't want to miss something that might be important.

The USPS site isn't very helpful so I'm wondering what others do about mail and/or are there other options I might choose?
option 1: post office temporary change of address form. online form takes effect in 48-hrs; paper version takes two weeks. free. post

option 2: a neighbor or friend picks up your mail at your house and alerts you to anything important.

other options cost $.
rk911 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Phishing e-mail & Yahoo Mail kaneohe Other topics 11 04-23-2011 06:30 AM
Mail Box for Garage Door Mail Slot summer2007 Other topics 14 12-07-2008 05:50 PM
I've Gone Two Weeks TromboneAl FIRE and Money 12 05-28-2005 11:13 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:10 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.