Poll: How often do you use postage stamps?

[meow]

when you live in a NYC shoebox, you cannot afford a junk drawer. this isn’t what george washington wanted.

[mikey]

But I also don't have to give him any quarter, which is nice...

[Troy Loney]

My move would have been to say use the flag stamps on my friends/family to get as many out the door as you can.

[meow]

But I also don't have to give him any quarter, which is nice...

it took my longer than I care to admit that I thought you were talking about actual quarters

[Pavel Bure]

We buy a book of “forever stamps” every couple years and that’s it.

[RonnieFranchise]

Mikey doesn't need a junk drawer. His junk is in his wife's purse next to the pretty stamps.

[Shyster]

Professionally, lawyers mail stuff all the time. Personally, I use maybe three or four stamps a year. The collectors for my property taxes want a fee to pay online, so being a cheapskate, I still mail two checks for that, and then there's maybe one or two other miscellaneous things I have to mail per year. Like I just mailed a form to roll over an old Health Savings Account into my current account. That was the first letter I mailed in months.

My mother used to buy me a book of forever stamps every Christmas, and she left a full roll of forever stamps among her personal effects, which my brother didn't want. I probably have enough stamps to last me the rest of my life.

[tifosi77]

So there's a couple references there of 'forever stamp' as if that's a special thing. I just want to make sure I'm not insane - 'forever stamps' have been 'stamp stamps' for like 10 years, right? (Which is an indication of how often I buy stamps)

[King Colby]

I believe "forever" is a reference to the fact that even as postage fees rise, they are still good.

I remember when they increased postage from $0.32 to $0.33 and you had to buy these little extra 1 cent stamps to put next to the 32 center on the envelope

[Troy Loney]

Yes, the forever stamp is not an elusive concept

[dodint]

Way better than Norm Gunderson's 3-cent duck stamp,

[tifosi77]

Right, I know what a 'forever stamp' is. My point was people were saying it as if there was some difference between that and every stamp they've bought for the past decade. I was probably reading more into than necessary.

[willeyeam]

Sidebar. How much does it even cost to mail a standard envelope now? Do they make those stamps that are 35 cents or whatever or are they all forever stamps now?

This probably tells you how often I use stamps

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

I think I have a 15 or 20 cent stamp in my desk drawer that is a holdover from before the forever stamp days. No idea how I came about acquiring it. My wife might have bought it for sending out our wedding save the date postcards.

[mikey]

Sidebar. How much does it even cost to mail a standard envelope now? Do they make those stamps that are 35 cents or whatever or are they all forever stamps now?

This probably tells you how often I use stamps

I learned that it was 68 cents. My guess was 52 (considering the last time I remember hearing about a change it was something in the low 40's I think).

And yes, "cent-ed" stamps still exist...but most retail buyers are just buying forever stamps at this point it seems...

[LeopardLetang]

I believe it's 62 cents now. That's why you can buy forever stamps that people purchased years ago for 52 cents for under current value. So some people bought thousands years ago and for example die and the inheritors sell them off cheap to just cash in.

Edit: What they're at 68? I thought I just checked last year in November when I bought them. Wow

[faftorial]

Postcards were 10¢ when I last sent one. Now 53¢.

[Nuge]

I am not anally organized, and I do understand what a junk drawer is. I just don't have one. There aren't a lot of drawers available in this apartment.

I'll give a brief explanation of things found in a junk drawer and how they're stored in my world...
Writing supplies - She is very artsy. She has a special thing where all of our art supplies are, which also includes day to day stuff like pens (though no one writes any more, of course). I keep a pen near areas where I frequent in case I want to capture an idea. On my nightstand and near the two areas I usually work.

Change is kept in a single cup on my dresser. It rarely receives any business because no one uses cash anymore.

Scissors are on hooks in the kitchen on a little storage unit thing that also holds boxed dry goods like noodles, crackers, etc.

Batteries and excess cords/chargers are in a drawer in my standing desk in my office.

Small tools are stored with other tools in my toolbox which is stored in a closet.

I'm not sure what else is junk drawer eligible, but I'd be happy to field these...I either don't have the thing you're talking about (like stamps) or it has a sensible place among its friends and relatives, but I don't find myself to be very organized overall. When I moved last, I had a box that had both pots and pans, but also a baseball glove, baseballs, and scarves. So I'm thinking, once again, I don't quite fit into a specific box here haha

Where do you keep your baseball and glove in an apartment too small for a junk drawer?

[dodint]

He wears all his clothes all the time because he has nowhere to hang them.

Couldibewearinganymoreclothes.gif

[mikey]

Baseballs and glove go in the bottom of the closet below hanging clothes with other athletic gear...

[genoscoif]

I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I placed a stamp on an envelope to mail it. I know my wife mailed one of 'her' bills in every month a years ago, but now calls in the payment instead (can't pay online). I just checked the accordion folder we use for any paper bill we still get, and paperclipped to it is a book of stamps with 5 left. That was bought probably about 6 years ago when we moved into our house and mailed the utilities in initially til we got everything situated.

We don't do Christmas cards, and anything I'd mail down to my parents would be sent priority.

Kinda weird to think about, actually. Picking up stamps was a regular thing back in the day. I remember when ATMs started selling them and it was a pretty big deal.

[Kane]

I just sent up auto bill pay on that lone bill through my bank, so my answer is now zero.

[mikey]

Good distribution, good discussion, and someone's life was made better by it...now, that's how you poll, baby...