The decision is now final... the price of mailing a 1 oz. First Class letter goes up to 39 cents on January 8, 2006. I stocked up on 2-cent stamps today to avoid the rush.

Hopefully, now the post office can afford to put more than one person at counter at 8 am.

Postage always goes up before Christmas. And postage always goes up after a postal strike.

luv4u said:

Ah, but this increase won't take effect until after the winter holidays.

Personally I don't understand why people get so upset about the price of a stamp increasing by a penny or two... but they do.

Who uses stamps anymore, even?

CarrieMpls said:

True. But there are still people that don't have access to a computer.

CarrieMpls said:

I do. First, I'm paying most of my bills by mail at the moment so I can use up a bunch of checks with an outdated address printed on them. Yeah, I know... who uses checks these days?

Second, I know a handful of folks who still don't have email... my grandmothers come to mind.

Third, there are some situations where email just isn't an adequate substitute for snail mail. Come to think of it, didn't you snail-mail me a holiday card last year?

And fourth, some stamps are quite attractive, especially if you go beyond the "definitive" (standard-issue) offerings. Have you seen the Greta Garbo stamp? It's beautiful, especially in person... it's engraved and feels kinda like money.

CarrieMpls said:

i still do, for my bills...gotdammit, and i still have a shitload of 37-cent stamps still left.

I still use stamps. One for my electricity bill and the other for my car insurance 'cause the company I go through is very out of it and doesn't let you pay online.

RaspberryWoman said:

I love the picture of me in your avatar

I blame Katrina.

matt said:

Yeah, yeah. But it didn't have a stamp on it. lol. I bulk-mailed them from work. Just about everything I send requires more than usual postage so I have to bring it in anyway.

I do still need to send my car insurance through the mail, but that's the only thing.

lovemachine said:

I love it to.

RaspberryWoman said:

Get a room, you two.

There is still such a thing as the post office

CarrieMpls said:

We had a postage meter at my old firm that we could use (it worked on the honor system--there was a coffee mug to collect money for personal use), but we actually still use stamps at my current place. We send a lot of stuff via UPS instead, though... they stop by every afternoon for a pickup.

notoriousj said:

Yes, but you might die of old age waiting in line, unless they've got one of those new "Automated Postal Centers" in the lobby.

RaspberryWoman said:

My bank offers online bill payment... if necessary, they'll print and mail a check to the payee at their expense. However, as I said, I'm trying to use up a bunch of old checks, so I've temporarily gone back to the old-fashioned way.