Rushing to save one cent per envelope
Filed under: Bargains
First class postage is going from 41 cents to 42 cents for a regular sized envelope on Monday. And the U.S. Postal Service is selling tons of "Forever stamps" to people who want to save a penny. I'm all for being frugal, but rushing out to buy special stamps that will save me a penny per envelope isn't high on my priority list. (Especially since I use so few stamps these days thanks to online bill pay.)Since the Forever stamp was created, the USPS has sold about 6 billion of them. The stamps are sold at the current postage rate, but can be used at any time in the future. So you can buy them today for 41 cents each and still use them when the rate goes up to 42 cents or higher. And there are lots of people doing just that this week.
I guess it makes sense. That penny you save is 2.4% of the current postage rate. Depending on when you use a Forever stamp, that could be considered quite an investment. But I'm not impressed enough to go buy any. I probably mail about 5 envelopes a month. I'm not wasting my time going to the post office to buy special stamps just so I can save 5 cents a month. I'll leave the Forever stamps for the other postal customers who are excited about them.
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-08-2008 @ 9:52AM
Michael Goode said...
Tracy, there is also the benefit of not having to deal with an extra trip to get $0.01 stamps. The post office should just do away with marking the value on first class stamps and make them all forever stamps. It would save so much time (fewer trips to the post office) it would pay for itself.
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5-08-2008 @ 5:37PM
Smelly Sock said...
Hows about just making all mail free period like the military in warzones get. We are all part of the war effort in one way or another.
Free mail for all Americans anywhere!
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1-01-2009 @ 6:40PM
Gwen said...
WE DO NOT NEED SATURDAY MAIL DELIVERY/SERVICES. JUST THINK OF THE HOURLY WAGES SAVED. BY THE TIME SATURDAY MAIL IS REEIVED BANKS ARE CLOSED. WAY TOO MUCH MONEY SPENT ON SATURDAY SERVICES.
THIS NEDS TO BE DONE IMMEDIATELY
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1-01-2009 @ 10:16PM
dale lehman said...
Gwen first of all you know nothing about USPS, it is a 24/7 operation and needs to be so you get your mail on time, alot of companys depend on this also without us working weekends the mail would be so backed up on Monday it would not get delivered until Thursday I move several semi trailers full Saturday, and Sunday A big day also up to fourteen loads, that amounts to alot that would sit for two days
1-01-2009 @ 10:39PM
valente h. aguilar said...
when the postal service is in the black - it goes into paying the deficit. the reason the forever stamp came about for the first time in postal history - is to pay for the wars in iraqi and afganistan. it was like war bonds of the past. buy a war bond for a price now and in a few years cash it in with interest. it's the same concept - buy a forever stamp for 42 cents now and you may use it in a few years even if the stamps go $1.42. the u. s. postal service prices are being raised again - not only to pay its own cost but to pay the cost of the wars and the bailouts.
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