Simple tips for cleaning out your mailboxes

There’s nothing better than having a sorted email inbox, or even better, an empty one. If there are no photos, documents, receipts, or important information in your email then empty your inbox completely and start 2019 fresh. If that seems frightening or you use your email as a place to archive necessary information then start cleaning and organizing it. Try unroll.me to scan your email and locate all newsletters you’re receiving. With this free service, you can easily go through each one and unsubscribe to the ones you no longer want and keep the ones you do. If that doesn’t do the trick, or you don’t want to sign up for anything, then try unsubscribing to the unwanted emails or solicitations by clicking the unsubscribe option on the bottom of the email. Also, make sure to spam or junk the original email.

If you use Windows then you also can try Sweep or the Archive features. Sweep allows you to quickly delete unwanted emails in your inbox and gives you the option to delete all incoming emails from a particular sender, keep the latest email, or delete emails older than 10 days. Select an email message and on the menu bar in the email select Sweep, choose how you want to handle the email, then click Sweep. Remember the Sweep option isn’t available for Junk/Spam, Drafts, Sent, or Deleted folders. To store an email in your Archive folder, select the email then select Archive.

Once you’ve cleaned out your email of all unwanted newsletters and emails you can create additional folders and either use the Move To feature or hold your cursor over the email and click and hold on it to move it to the folder you desire. These folders can be named by a particular year, a command like print or respond, or any significant importance or task. Sometimes it’s easier to sort and delete emails from the oldest date since most of those emails are no longer relevant. If you have thousands of emails and the task seems too daunting, then start by sorting only the new emails you receive and immediately sort it into a folder or delete it. Don’t forget to empty your deleted messages and your junk/spam and drafts folders.

Now that your email is cleaned out, it’s time to clean out your physical mailbox. More than four million tons of junk mail are produced each year with half of that ending up in a landfill. The first step in reducing your mail is to switch all of your bank, credit card and utility companies to a paperless option where you receive your statement via email. Even if you print it later, you’re still saving paper without the envelope and any offers that are included with the statement. Sometimes the company will even reduce your bill by a few dollars just by going paperless.

Another way to clean out your mailbox is to stop all those pre-approved credit and insurance offers you receive by signing up at optoutprescreen.com. This is a free service offered by the major credit bureaus and recommended by the Federal Trade Commission. It allows you to opt out of those offers for five years online, or you can mail in a form to opt out permanently.

Catalogs are another reason you’ve got a clogged-up mailbox. According to the Data & Marketing Association, 9.8 billion catalogs were sent to U.S. consumers in 2016 and with 221 million people in the US shopping online in 2018, catalogs have seen a resurgence. One of the easiest ways to stop catalog mailings is to log onto catalogchoice.org and create a free account. This will allow you to unsubscribe from catalogs one at a time, and even if they don’t have the company in their database, they will direct you to the correct page for the company where you can easily unsubscribe.

Coupon books are another source of unwanted mail. One of the biggest mailing lists companies comes from the DMA. By registering at dmachoice.org and paying the $2 service fee, you’ll be able to be removed from DMA’s list. If you don’t want to pay, you can contact the coupon magazines directly and request to be removed.

Token Coupon Magazine and Get1Free are two of the coupon books received in Canyon Lake. Log onto tokencoupons.com and scroll to the bottom and click contact, complete your information and alert them that you want to be removed from the list. You also can reach them at 951-506-1332. For get1free.com, log on then click contact and fill out the form or email them at contact@get1free.com or call them at 619-900-1174. The magazines and coupons can still be accessed online at both of the company websites.

If you get too many magazines you can easily switch to digital subscriptions. Download each magazine’s corresponding app on your iPad or tablet, have your current magazine handy that has the delivery label and verify your subscription. Once you sign up for the digital version, you’ll need to cancel your physical delivery. If you love your paper magazine and can’t give it up, then once done make sure to pass it on or at least recycle it. Decluttering your email and mailbox of unwanted mail is freeing and will allow you to concentrate on the information you actually want to receive.




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