Going postal

Posted on December 24, 2004 1 Comment

The U.S. Postal Service is relatively user-friendly – with post offices, stamp machines, drop boxes everywhere and a Web site, sending mail should be easy. And yet, somehow, my electricity bill has been sitting in my purse without a stamp for three days. The only person I have to blame is myself.

You see, I got so excited last week to send holiday cards that I only purchased those stamps during my last visit to the post office (which is only four blocks away). When I noticed I had no stamps left to mail bills, I refused to walk out of my way (a whole four blocks) – I planned to buy stamps at the convenience store near my work. But I forgot. Repeatedly.

Despite listings on my calendar, an e-mail reminder and the fact that I see the bill each time I open my purse, I still have it. Now I’m hitting deadlines for my student loan payment and cable bill.

Thank goodness for my mom’s intervention today. She is the neighborhood “stamp lady” – that’s what the local kids call her. Working at a corner store/pharmacy, she helps people send packages. She called today asking if I needed anything, “Stamps?”

“Oh crap! I do need stamps!” I exclaimed. I forgot again.



I want to blame the holidays for my lapse of memory, but that’s not the reason. A few of my friends actually chose not to send holiday cards due to the hassle stamps course. In fact, we e-mailed each other last week about how annoying it is to buy stamps!

In today’s digital world, stamps simply don’t compute. I would prefer automatic online payments directly from my account, but 1) I get nervous about digital security and 2) I feel like they’re ripping me off – they have access to my account, so why wouldn’t they just take all the money?

I suppose for now, I should just suck it up and deal with stamps. Mailing bills late can affect credit, according to the Frontline credit special; I’ve also heard this from people who pay their bills on time. So let’s get off our butts and get to the post office, before I have to write another0

“stupid payment update” for the late fees!

Stupid Payment Update

I wince every time I get a TCF account summary. Thankfully, I’m almost done with that bank. Today, I noticed $11.00 in fees on my “totally free” account, not to mention the clever way TCF buries the 30 cent charge per debit swipe and the additional $1.00 – $2.50 fees every time I use a non-TCF ATM.

Girls – if your bank is slamming you on a “free” account with charges each time you write a check or use your debit/ATM card, please follow my lead and change banks!

Category: Old Posts

Comments

One Response to “Going postal”

  1. myblog
    November 3rd, 2005 @ 12:41 pm

    Man, it’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. I’ve been surfing around the net checking out blogs related to Christmas to see if I can get some ideas for decorating, what kind of holiday cards to consider sending, and even more important, how to plan a great holiday party. My keyword search led me to Going postal. While your site is not exactly what I was looking for, I’m really glad I came across it. Very interesting read! Happy holidays to you!

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