I had a problem a couple of years ago. Despite the fact that I was perfectly happy with my financial situation, including the credit card I was using, I was getting between three and five credit card offers a day. It was clogging up my mailbox, and even though I recycled as much as I could, the enormity of the waste of resources was getting to me. It wasn’t just credit card offers either. Ever since I had shopped around for a car insurance company, the offers kept rolling in, from national offers to even local representatives.
With a little research, though, I found a way to at least limit the madness.
- Optoutprescreen.com is operated by the credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax). This gets you out of preapproved credit and insurance offers for either five years or you can set it up to operate permanently.
- Donotcall.gov puts you on the “do not call” registry to avoid telemarketers and their annoying after-hours phone calls. It’s not removed from the registry unless the number is disconnected, reassigned, or if you ask for it to be removed.
- Dmachoice.org is the Direct Marketing Association’s Main Preference Service lets you opt-out of commercial mail for five years.
I’m so thankful there’s something I can do. Signing up has definitely eased up my mail load, and my shredder is thankful for the lighter duty.
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