It isn’t easy to stay organized when you’re going through a pile of mail. You can get in a mess when you need to sort through envelopes to look for something important. This is why you need to figure out what you need to keep and what goes in the trash.
You can throw away bank statements (if you get them delivered electronically), monthly bills, credit card offers, neighborhood coupons, invitations, thank you notes, and junk mail. Junk mail mainly consists of promotional material, requests for donations, and catalogs.
Can You Just Throw Your Mail Away?
Whether you can throw your mail away or not depends upon the information your mail contains. If it has your name, address, or any other personal information on it, you should shred it before tossing it in the trash.
That’s because you can fall victim to identity theft.
To keep yourself safe, you need to ensure that no one can get their hands on any of your information.
What Kind Of Mail Can Be Thrown Away?
It’s safe to say that you can throw away the following types of mail.
Bank statements
You can get rid of bank statements, especially if you have the option of getting them delivered electronically. There’s no need to keep them stuffed in a drawer.
Just make sure to shred them first since they contain personal information.
Some banks even reduce monthly fees when a person switches to electronic bank statements.
If you are not opting for them, you need to keep your bank statements safely with you for at least a year for tax or insurance-related reasons. Also, remember to discard those services you get with your credit card statements.
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Monthly bills
You can also throw away most of your monthly bills once you’ve paid them. If you still need them as proof of residency after you have discarded them, you can access them online.
Most companies keep previous bills for these purposes. They’ll be available to you for you to print for a few months.
Credit card offers
You may sometimes get offers for credit cards due to your credit card report. People who have great credit will usually find such attractive offers in their mail because credit card issuers want to do business with them.
If you meet their qualification criteria, chances are, you’ll get one of these preapproved offers every once in a while.
They do this because this results in a smart, cost-effective campaign that gets them to advertise to people who aren’t likely to get turned down for their product later on. These offers categorize as the mail that needs to be thrown away.
If you want to stop receiving them in the future, you can go to http://optoutprescreen.com/. There, you’ll be able to select whether you want to stop getting offers for five years or permanently.
If you go for the permanent option, you may have to provide your social security and date of birth. This will be optional, but it’ll help them process your request successfully.
Junk mail
Most people get shopping coupons in their mailboxes. They can be helpful if you’re planning to use them to go grocery shopping, but they’re just extra papers piling up on your desk most of the time.
Since advertisers can get your personal information from several sources, they don’t know how to stop them.
However, you can choose what type of mail you want to receive. To do that, you need to register at Direct Marketing Association’s called DMAchoice.org. There you can choose what catalogs, offers and other mail you want to receive.
You’ll have to pay $2 for the processing, but you can register for ten years. You will also have the option to stop mail from being sent to someone who has passed away or is living with you.
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How Do You Get Rid Of Old Mail?
You can get rid of the mail you don’t need by shredding it or simply manually tearing it into pieces. It’s best to be on the safe side and shred those papers instead of tossing them in the bin.
A criminal can get their hand on them and use your personal information for fraud. Identity theft can land you in some serious problems, which is the last thing you’ll want.
Is It Safe To Throw Away Mail With The Name/Address?
No, it’s not safe to throw away any mail that has your name and other personal information on it.
That can include your address, date of birth, and account number. If someone gets a hold of this information, you could fall victim to identity theft. To avoid this, you should always shred mail with your personal information on it.
The only mail you can throw away is the one that doesn’t have your information on it. That includes coupons and other junk mail.
Should You Shred Mail With Your Name And Address On It?
Yes, always opt for shredding mail that contains your personal information, such as your name and address.
It will prevent criminals from targeting you and your family and making you a victim of identity theft. This is a very common crime that can empty your bank account, harm your reputation and affect your credit card report.
When you don’t need something containing your personal information, you just always shred it instead of simply throwing it out.
If you don’t already own a paper shredder, you can get one easily at a reasonable price. Inexpensive ones will do the job for you just fine. If you can’t get a paper shredder, you can also use a pair of scissors.
You can utilize these shreds for your pet’s bedding or recycle them.
Related Post: What To Do If You Received Someone Else’s Mail?
Final Words
You can throw away mail you don’t need, such as old bank statements, credit card offers, and junk mail. However, you shouldn’t simply throw out mail with your name or address on it.
You need to shred the papers first in case your personal information falls in the wrong hands.
Martha had a chance to work for such major companies as USPS and FedEx, where she gained a lot of experience and learned quite a few nuances when it comes to handling mail and packages. Now she is a freelance writer who specializes in the logistics industry.
