U.S. Postal Service Proposes New Prices for 2024

[DancesWithWife]

Go to the official website to read the changes.  The first letter I ever mailed cost me 6 cents in 1968.  U.S. Postal Service Proposes New Prices for 2024 - Newsroom - About.usps.com

[The Deej]

With online banking that I've been using for the last 20 years I don't even think I use one stamp a year now. 

[DancesWithWife]

3 minutes ago, The Deej said:

With online banking that I've been using for the last 20 years I don't even think I use one stamp a year now.

Since I am physically limited, I do a lot of letter writing. I have tried phone witnessing but have a hearing problem. Other than our ministry we rarely use USPS other than to ship a package now and then. 

[Tortuga]

3 hours ago, The Deej said:

With online banking that I've been using for the last 20 years I don't even think I use one stamp a year now. 

I wrote a lot of letters during the pandemic and I still write a lot of letters. We have used thousands of stamps in the last 3 years and we just ordered 200 more.

[Witness1970]

10 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

Go to the official website to read the changes.  The first letter I ever mailed cost me 6 cents in 1968.  U.S. Postal Service Proposes New Prices for 2024 - Newsroom - About.usps.com

 

Same here.  I graduated high school in 1967.  I didn't do any mailing before I graduated.

 

10 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

Since I am physically limited, I do a lot of letter writing. I have tried phone witnessing but have a hearing problem. Other than our ministry we rarely use USPS other than to ship a package now and then. 

 

I am limited physically also.  I have only been able to attend a few meetings at the Kingdom Hall.  I am the Zoom Coordinator for our congregation.  I want to teach others to do the job.

 

7 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I wrote a lot of letters during the pandemic and I still write a lot of letters. We have used thousands of stamps in the last 3 years and we just ordered 200 more.

 

I like to buy the stamps 200 at a time myself.  I have trouble getting to the Kingdom Hall and I have not been able to go door-to-door due to physical limitations.  I fell and injured my knee and was bedridden (by doctor's instructions) for a while.  This was 2 weeks before I was scheduled to attend Pioneer Service School.  Right now I am forcing myself to walk to strengthen my legs and restore my balance.  I walk daily about 6,000 steps, but it took me a while to get up that high.  I was doing at least 6,000 steps each day before my fall.   I was conducting Field Service meetings on Zoom on Friday and Saturday from January 1 to August 31, 2022, but my deteriorating health caused me to have to stop.  Some days if I feel up to it I make Phone calls, on other days I just write letters.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Witness1970

[dove]

9 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I wrote a lot of letters during the pandemic and I still write a lot of letters. We have used thousands of stamps in the last 3 years and we just ordered 200 more.

I have used so many too since my main ministry is letter writing. I think I will be ordering the 200 before the raise in price. I always get the Forever stamps so they are always good. I just feel bad that so many letters get returned because it's such a waste of stamps. I do write current resident on them but was recently told not to, again. It seems like that goes back and forth according to different instructions from CO,s, different areas.  🤷‍♀️

[Tortuga]

47 minutes ago, dove said:

I do write current resident on them but was recently told not to, again. It seems like that goes back and forth according to different instructions from CO,s, different areas.  🤷‍♀️

Did they give a reason why?

[Witness1970]

My wife went out in Field Service on Monday, November 21, 2023.  After the Field Service meeting, she went to a store which I won't name at this time.  She was going to get some lozenges for her throat.  The floor was wet and there were no warning signs.  Her feet slipped out from under her and she had a bad fall.  She sprained her ankle, hit her head on the floor (she had a hematoma), and hurt her back pretty badly.  She has been in a lot of pain and can't get around very well.  I have been hobbling around doing dishes and folding clothes which she had washed before she was injured.  I managed to write a few letters and hobbled out to the mailbox to mail them.  I also managed to hobble out to the road to take the garbage can out, but I had to stop and lean on the can a couple of times on the way out.  On the way back I didn't have anything to lean on but I managed to (barely) make it back to the house.  I was beginning to stagger a lot by the time I got to the door.  

 

Somehow I need to make out a shopping list and get someone to go pick it up for me.  I might use Walmart pickup and try to drive myself since I won't have to actually get out of the car.

 

It is already the 21st of the month and I only have 15 hours in Field Service this month.  I have a long way to go to get in my Pioneer hours.  

Edited November 21, 2023 by Witness1970
added last line

[DancesWithWife]

47 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Did they give a reason why?

The USPS has guidelines for the use of addressing envelopes with "resident" or "occupant". Here is the link, but in a nutshell the use of those terms are for business mail, which requires paying for that right. DMM 602 Addressing (usps.com)

[Lee49]

I just ordered some new   forever stamps, the 1st one on the page made me laugh !

 

 

 

[Parale]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

Did they give a reason why?

 

I understood that, pre-COVID, the Governing Body's direction was to not address witnessing letters to 'The Occupant,' but rather to use a specific personal name (ie 'a complete address'), as seen for example in the Kingdom Ministry for November 1996, page 2:

 

Question Box: What should we keep in mind when writing letters to householders whom we have been unable to find at home?

Do not address letters to “Occupant”; use a specific name.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/201996405#h=6

 

IANAL though I always believed this was why we did not do letter witnessing in the UK pre-COVID - because in the UK you could not write a personally addressed postal letter to a stranger you did not know without their permission (even before GDPR et al.). Therefore we could not legally follow the Governing Body's direction, and there where plently of other forms of witnessing available, such as house-to-house and public witnessing, so it was not really an issue.... that is until COVID.

 

With the advent of COVID, the Governing Body loosened their previous direction (reference? I think it was country-specific congregation announcement/s), and allowed publishers to write to 'The Occupant' et al (ie 'an incomplete or simplified address') - which opened up letter witnessing in both the UK, and Europe, though - again IANAL - in a generally 'untargeted' / 'unprocessed' way.

 

As @DancesWithWife has linked to above, apparently the USPS does not allow personal mail (non-commercial) to be addressed to 'Occupant' et al, so in the US publishers would need to continue using the personal name in the address of letters they send, ie continue using 'a complete address'?

 

[Tortuga]

3 hours ago, dove said:

I have used so many too since my main ministry is letter writing. I think I will be ordering the 200 before the raise in price. I always get the Forever stamps so they are always good. I just feel bad that so many letters get returned because it's such a waste of stamps. I do write current resident on them but was recently told not to, again. It seems like that goes back and forth according to different instructions from CO,s, different areas.  🤷‍♀️

Maybe I misunderstood what you said. We find the resident name and add "Or Current Resident" to it just in case we have the wrong name.

 

I thought you were saying that you were told not to add "Current Resident" to the name.

[Lori]

16 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

Since I am physically limited, I do a lot of letter writing. I have tried phone witnessing but have a hearing problem. Other than our ministry we rarely use USPS other than to ship a package now and then. 

I also do letter writing.   Because of being low income I've had to reduce my hours of my field ministry.  I can't do phone calls because of my anxiety issues.   

I've tried emailing people that I know but that hasn't produced any fruits. 

 

[Lori]

4 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Maybe I misunderstood what you said. We find the resident name and add "Or Current Resident" to it just in case we have the wrong name.

 

I thought you were saying that you were told not to add "Current Resident" to the name.

 

That's what I do.  If I have a  name I will write their name and then OR Current Resident.  For example.   The name  Timothy Hill.  I'll write Timothy Hill or Current Resident and then the address.   

[Loopy]

Huh! In our small town/area I tried “Or Current Resident” - Still got letter(s) back 😬

 

So I stopped doing that a long time ago and now just hope for the best.

 

I find USPS far over priced and useless in doing their job at times😊

[Lee49]

37 minutes ago, Parale said:

apparently the USPS does not allow personal mail (non-commercial) to be addressed to 'Occupant' et al, so in the US publishers would need to continue using the personal name in the address of letters they send,

 Because people move around alot and many rent it always is not easy to find out who really lives or owns a certain residence if you just put down an assumed residence name and they were no longer occuping the residence it would get sent back so, why not put down a name like John Smith or whoever you researched that lived there,  then add - Or Current Resident ?

John Smith

or Current Resident

[dove]

Yes that’s what I did mean. I  write the personal name and address, but since a lot of our territory is apartment buildings and condominiums and people are so transient, many are returned because they’ve moved. So I always add to the right side of the name ‘or current resident’ so maybe the new resident will get it and read it, and the stamp won’t be wasted. 
The sister that returned them to me was in a hurry, and a little unsure of what she was told So I didn’t get what she said was the reason, but I will try to find out and get back to you. I would like to know myself🙂

Edited November 21, 2023 by dove

[Miss Bea]

In the past, I really really enjoyed letter writing. As I’ve gotten older, and relied on texting, I’ve gotten out of the habit. Lo and behold, here comes the pandemic. We do not have trusty phone service, so out came my pen. Until I figured how to write and print, using my iPad. Then my challenge was to write in such a manner that they did not feel the letter was being generated by, “pushing a few keys”. 
The cost? As long as I can remember, I’ve thought sending mail was a bargain. 
If I had to get in the car, and take that letter to whom it was intended, how much would that cost?

In reality, there are some things that cost more than we like, or are used to, but, if it’s necessary in our worship of Jehovah, the cost is worth it. 
We can mutter about it, pay the same, or, move on, knowing it’s all temporary. 
Plus, I see it as fulfilling Bible prophecy. 

 

 

[Witness1970]

5 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

The USPS has guidelines for the use of addressing envelopes with "resident" or "occupant". Here is the link, but in a nutshell the use of those terms are for business mail, which requires paying for that right. DMM 602 Addressing (usps.com)

[Witness1970]

5 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

The USPS has guidelines for the use of addressing envelopes with "resident" or "occupant". Here is the link, but in a nutshell the use of those terms are for business mail, which requires paying for that right. DMM 602 Addressing (usps.com)

I went to the link but did not find anywhere it specified that Resident could only be used on commercial mail.  When the pandemic first started we were told not to use or current occupant/resident people would often just throw them in the trash.  The circuit overseer's wife said that she used "or family currently residing at" as the second line of her envelopes.  She said she never had one returned in months.  (I mailed a letter to a PO Box once without using "current occupant or anything like that.  It was returned and the yellow sticker said "no mail receptacle."  I was pretty sure when the person left that he didn't take the PO Box with him.)

[Lee49]

[Tortuga]

On 11/21/2023 at 10:35 AM, dove said:

The sister that returned them to me was in a hurry, and a little unsure of what she was told So I didn’t get what she said was the reason, but I will try to find out and get back to you. I would like to know myself🙂

Thanks. I'm really curious if they said not to address the letter that way.

 

I address mine like this,

Smith Family

or Current Resident

223 Main St

Town, State Zip

 

[Witness1970]

21 hours ago, Lee49 said:

I read that before, but I don't see anywhere that it says it is "for businesses only"  

 

I worked for the Post Office as a carrier for several months and also as a clerk for 20 years.  

Edited November 23, 2023 by Witness1970

[Lee49]

I think you could put the name as - Alfred E. Newman , or current resident ! The carriers only need an address! ( " What, Me Worry " )

 

 

 

[dove]

11 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Thanks. I'm really curious if they said not to address the letter that way.

 

I address mine like this,

Smith Family

or Current Resident

223 Main St

Town, State Zip

 

 

I'm sorry, I've texted the sister about it but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. It was told to her by a remote Bethelite who works at the Depot where this sister helps out regularly. The remote sister is the one that gets all the returned mail for our congregation and the adjoining one.

But I seem to remember a while back a brother who was a mail carrier said to use the "Occupant" addition to our letters to save many being returned, and also stamps. We have a mail carrier in our congregation that might have some answers, but I've gotten the feeling that it seems to vary in different parts of the country.

I think brother Randall's post should answer it.🙂