Stamps - going up AGAIN?

[WatchingThemGrow]

I went to usps.gov to order some stamps for the new baby's announcements. It is crazy, but they say the price is going up to $.44 on May 11. Did you know this? Didn't they already go up within the last year? The stamps I have left look hilarious with all this extra postage: 37cent state stamps with 1c, 2c and 4c stamps next to them.

So, do you think they'll come out with something more appropriate for a baby announcement in the next month? So far this is the only non-boring, non-wedding option available - The Simpsons (http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=26402&productId=44851&langId=-1&WT.ac=44851)!

[sste]

Well, at this point my buying a ton of the "forever" bell stamps last year has turned into a better investment than my retirement account!

[ha98ed14]

Seriously? It's like it gets a COLA increase, but in this economy, it's out pacing even that.

[ahrimie]

Well, at this point my buying a ton of the "forever" bell stamps last year has turned into a better investment than my retirement account!

Cheers to that! I only buy the Forever ones now.... I lose track of what the real prices of stamps are now!

[Wife_and_mommy]

Yeah, I thought they made those Forever ones so they could increase the price more often(read: very often since, after all, it is the govn't).

Go for the bell stamps. I can't imagine receiving a birth announcement with Simpson stamps.:ROTFLMAO:

[kijip]

The prices are going up so much faster than normal inflation because revenues are shrinking but costs are largely fixed unless people are prepared to accept cuts to their postal service- like 4 days of delivery instead of 6 each week. I believe that mail volumes have dropped by something like 1/5 or 1/4 in the last decade due to email and online/phone bill paying. When I paid my bills in 1998, I got them all in the mail and wrote a paper check for each one and mailed it back with my own stamp, each and every month to about 5-6 different places. Now I never pay a bill by mail unless it is a periodic oddity like a medical bill and I only receive a couple of bills on paper- mostly I get them online. Multiply me times a zillion others doing the same and that is a huge loss to the USPS. But since they have a congressional mandate to maintain certain facilities and services (like a post office in each zip code and daily delivery to nearly all US addresses) they can't cut their costs all that significantly. It costs them the same to deliver to my house more or less if I get 1 piece of mail a day or 40 pieces of mail a day. I really think we may need to reevaluate what we expect from the postal service.

That said, it irks me too to see it rise SOOO fast. But yet I still use that online credit card bill pay, LOL.

[rlu]

Supposed to be a Seabiscuit .44 stamp on 5/11. Not sure it really fits in with a baby announcement though.

We found some old stamps in my bill box before the previous raise. We did end up buying a pack of forever stamps for DS b-day invites and thank-yous as we couldn't fit all the stamps and make-up stamps on the envelopes.

I saw the columns about the increase and the suggestion they stop Tuesday (or Thursday, can't remember) delivery since that day has the least volume. I could just see the legal world coming to a stop if they quit delivering on a work day (or switching all mailings to private carriers - that would mess up the USPS even more)! If they have to drop a day, make it Saturday for pity's sake.

I found this interesting site when googling 2009 stamps, not sure what "soak" means, but the site lists stamps scheduled/rumored to come out.
http://www.virtualstampclub.com/2009usnew.html

eta: looking again, maybe Seabiscuit is only a prestamped envelope? If so, we'll just get another round of forever stamps this week. We mail maybe 3 things a month, excluding special occassion cards.

[tylersmama]

Here's how often I use stamps...I bought a roll of stamps not long after the rate increase before last year's. I had NO idea that postage had gone up until about six months later (seriously, it was at least October, maybe November) when I mailed some thank-you notes and got them sent back for insufficient postage. I had to go buy 1 cent stamps for all my Christmas cards last year...that was fun.

This time around, I was smart and bought the forever stamps at Costco, so at least if I still have them in three years, they'll still work!

[WatchingThemGrow]

We did buy nearly $100 in forever stamps not long ago, but somehow they're gone. I think DH uses several each week to mail out bible study lessons to guys in his group, and we send TY notes for Christmas or birthdays.

Since getting married almost 4 years ago, I've bought SOOOOO many stamps for - all the wedding stuff, thank yous, 2 baby births, a zillion thank yous, christmas cards x3, etc. I'm thankful to have so many fun friends and family to keep on our contact list, but it's just funny. I guess 100 $.44 stamps isn't really THAT much - just keeping up with the increases and NEVER having the right denomination is the thing that's annoying. I understand the price increase (thanks Katie).

I like to send use the fun stamps for kid mailings. DD used a bunch of children's book characters, DS used a bunch of classic wooden speedboats and poor DS2 might get bells or Homer?? Can't do it...

[vonfirmath]

Ugh. Our business would be in trouble too if they stopped Tuesday mail delivery!

[doberbrat]

I use stamsp so often that I still have .34 stamps. I think the forever stamps are pretty ugly but I wont buy anything else.

[caleymama]

I like to send use the fun stamps for kid mailings. DD used a bunch of children's book characters, DS used a bunch of classic wooden speedboats and poor DS2 might get bells or Homer?? Can't do it...

I love buying different stamps for different uses, too! I still use .39 "Happy Birthday" stamps (plus add'l postage) on all the birthday cards I mail out. :ROTFLMAO:

If I were sending out a birth announcement anytime soon (which I'm not!), my choice would be the .42 cent "Celebrate" (http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=21902&productId=39101&langId=-1&WT.ac=39101) or "Love: All Heart" (http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=21902&productId=38351&langId=-1&WT.ac=38351) stamps w/ .02 add'l postage.

[Octobermommy]

I think they are going to be going up every May now. I don't think they are supposed to raise the rates in between those set times.

[jerigirl]

I think they are going to be going up every May now. I don't think they are supposed to raise the rates in between those set times.

Yep!
http://www.usps.com/prices/pricechanges.htm
Prices for mailing services will continue to adjust each May. Prices for most shipping services, including Express Mail and Priority Mail, were adjusted in January and will not change in May.

[boltfam]

I'm definately going to buys some more forever stamps!