Reminder: Postage Increase In Effect
If you didn’t stock up on Forever Stamps on Saturday in order to save money when the cost of postage increases today, then you’re one of the smart ones. The price of a stamp “shot up” from 41 cents to a whole 42 cents, but that doesn’t mean you should go hoarding forever stamps unless you’re in the mass-mailing market.
Since the postage rate increases are pegged at no more than the inflation rate, you won’t “make” any money by stocking up on more stamps than you think you’ll use in the next year or so. Just buy a book of forever stamps when you need it and no more than what you need. We go through about 20 stamps every 6 months unless it’s Christmas time. And a majority of our mailings are greeting cards for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. anyway.
So don’t fret about this 1 cent increase unless you ship out huge amounts of mail because you probably won’t even feel the effects.
On Friday, I needed to go to the post office to mail some cards. I had used up my last two .41 cent stamps, so decided to buy a book of the Forever Stamps. I was excited! I won’t need those annoying penny stamps, and I have enough to last several more months.
And for the record, I think ALL first-class stamps should be “forever.” When they were purchased, they were good for mailing a letter, after all.
@Kacie, I agree that all “regular” stamps (i.e. the 42 cent stamps now) should be Forever stamps. I’d like more designs than the liberty bell, especially around Christmas. We’re still using 37 cent stamps from 5 years ago (we found them with our wedding invitations).