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Forwarding mail-- suggestions?
Since my H and I are headed to Chicago at the end of September, we are trying to figure out what to do with our mail. We will be moving in temporarily (1-3 months) with his aunt and uncle while we scout the city and decide where we want to live. Then after that time, we will hopefully be in our own house.
What would be the ideal situation to get our mail the whole time without inconveniencing his aunt and uncle? Forward our mail to the family address and then forward it again when we know where we are going permanently? Get a PO Box for a couple of months and then forward that mail to our address? Has anyone done something similar and have any suggestions?
(My H and my fear is that we will have mail forever coming to his aunt and uncle's since they share the same last name as us. Meaning- some mail will not get forwarded due to the same name.)
I realize this is a ridiculous post-- but I can't seem to come up with any good solutions on my own.
Re: Forwarding mail-- suggestions?
I'd get a PO box and keep the relatives out of it. We used to live in the same building as my FIL (different apartment #) and for a while his mail would sometimes get forwarded along with ours or our mail would just end up in his box. I think it was too much for the carriers to process that Dan and Sarah moved but Joel didn't, even though he lived on a different floor so part of his address was different.
Since you have to change your address twice anyway, I'd get a PO and permanently fwd your mail there, then when you have an address, permanently fwd the mail there.
also. take stock of your mail. what are you getting? most bills can be handled online only now (paperless option). other things like catalogs, ads etc might not be worth it. obviously personal correspondence is important too.
whatever you decide make sure to actually change the address with important places rather than just depending on mail getting forwarded.
This. We forwarded our mail when we moved a month ago and are only recieving a fraction of our mail (in other words very little is being forwarded). It's easier and less frustrating just to change your address on everything.
I would get a PO Box. You should be able to get one from a UPS Store or Mailboxes, Etc. over phone/fax. In my experience you can not get them from the Post Office except in person (but it's been years since we've gone that route). We had our mail forwarded to my IL's when we lived there after we moved to DC, and it's still a huge PITA because DH and his dad have similar names (only their middle initial is different). When we did the mailbox store thing, we picked a location near DH's work, since we didn't know where we'd end up living. It worked out pretty well.
As an experienced mover, I'd say be aware that it takes forever for stuff to forward (so annabear, you might not be missing mail, it just might not be getting to you yet; we regularly get stuff that was mailed weeks ago). You'll definitely get stuff more quickly if you can go ahead and directly change the addresses (which, I have to admit, I am lazy and almost never do). Catalogs won't get forwarded regardless, nor will anything that comes addressed to "or current resident." Magazines will get forwarded, but not for as long as first class mail (I think it's 6 months for magazines and 1 year for first class). The magazine DH gets didn't come for ages after we moved. Even if you change your address directly for bills, etc., it's worth it to submit and address change because you never know when someone you haven't heard from in a while will send you something, and then you're relying on the person who now lives at your address to mark it "not at this address" and put it back in the mail, which means it will just go back to the sender.
Looks like the Mailboxes Etc/UPS Mailboxes are the way to go! Especially since I can't go in person until we leave here.
Thanks for all the suggestions!