Feb 23, 2009
The Daily Poverty Post.
Hana from Bossy’s fine Poverty council brought this up in the comment section the other day.
If you purchase some of these Forever Stamps, you can use them to mail a one-ounce standard letter despite any rate changes, for infinity time, and the Forever Stamp is less expensive than the current rate as an incentive.
So for instance, a current stamp costs $0.42, but the Forever Stamp is sold for $0.41 a piece. And on May 11 the postal rate will increase to $0.44 a stamp.
If you purchase a book of Forever Stamps now, you’ll see a $0.02 profit on your stamps when the rate goes up in eleven weeks, plus another cent for the incentive price, which means in one year of sending standard letters you’ll save $0.02 + $0.01 x 365 = who sends letters anymore?
But the Unites States Postal Service warns: don’t be fooled by impostor stamps. The Forever Stamp is denoted first-class and features a Liberty Bell. Oh and has the giant word Forever running up its side.
Even though the price is going up…….you have to admit, a stamp is still a darn good deal…..
Other than Bossy and my mail carrier, I don’t know anyone else who I can hand an envelope to and say “Hey, make sure this gets cross country for 41 cents!!”
We love the Forever stamps, not so much because they are cheaper but because my husband’s last name is Bell. He placed that stamp cover with a large Bell with “Forever” written on it over the Apple on his Mac.
Dang. We’ve only bought one book of stamps (besides Christmas Cards) since the fall. No kidding. We do all online bill paying these days, and except for the occasional card (which I usually forget to mail until weeks later) we barely mail a thing.
I like the idea of Forever stamps since I have a habit of not sending letters until the price has gone up and I’m stuck with eleventy billion 1-cent and 2-cent additions.
Forever Stamps are always sold at the current rate. There is no 1-cent incentive. And 2 cents takes alot to add up. For example, if you buy 100 Forever Stamps, you’re spending $42 to save a whopping $2! Just buy what you need.
I second comment #4 and #3
It’s nice to get a card in the mail every once in a while. It usually puts a smile on someone’s face. I think it’s worth every penny it’s costs to send one.
#5 is correct. Unless there is some special deal in small PA towns, the Forever stamp is sold at whatever the current rate is. I buy them all the time and always have to pay the current price. I like them because when the rate changes you don’t have to deal with penny stamps, but there is no real incentive to buy in bulk.
With the advent of automatic bill pay my only stamp expenditure is at Christmas–and then it’s a doozy of a bill!
I started buying the forever stamp back in ‘07 when they were 41 cents. I still have some because I buy and drop ship birthday and most Christmas presents and pay all my bills on-line. The grandkids birthdays are the only ones that get a real card with a forever stamp.
Is it me, or are things named Forever just BETTER than everything else? Thanks for the frugal mailing tip – I know e-mail is the way to go, but getting and giving non-bills mail is kind of fun.
I didn’t know that. I’d have probably put three three cent stamps on too. Thanks for the heads up. I’ve learned something at the poverty party. yeah.
You know, I read something about how forever stamps are actually not a good deal with inflation rates. If you were to invest that money instead of pre-buying stamps before you need them, your money would grow at a rate faster than the postal increases.
This was before the economy fell apart, though, so i don’t knwo what that means….
I use the forever stamps because I never know how much postage is at any given moment. But I do it grudgingly because I have loads of pretty stamps that are 34 and 40 and 42 and probably 23 cents and never get to use them. Cause I’m clueless.
Can’t they make Forever prettier than a boring brown bell?
I just bought some Forever stamps today as I’ve run out and since me like everyone else here rarely uses them I will have plenty long after the price isr aised.
I know it’s more practical to buy the Forever stamp, but I’m a sucker for a well-designed stamp. I’m the person looking over the selection at the post office, checking online to see what the new releases are, planning to get just the right stamp for whatever the occasion. Maybe because I’m a graphic designer and actually know some of the people who have designed stamps, for me they’re miniature pieces of art.
Not sure about the discount, but costco sells the Forever stamp for less than the current first class rate.
I think aside from Christmas, we never mail anything anymore thanks to online bill pay, e-mail, and the other two million ways people talk to each other now. If it were closer to Christmas, I might buy a book – but not all the way out in February, when i know I’ll just lose it before Christmas
Darn! The rates are going up again? You know how often I mail a letter? Between rate changes, because I swear every time I go to the post office, the rates have gone up again. I guess I’ll have to finish up this half a book of Nutcracker stamps left over from Christmas. Seriously? Who mails anything anymore?
Hm. In the UK you can buy stamps that are just ‘First Class’ or ‘Second Class’ and it doesn’t matter how old they are you can always use them. I know it’s only pennies of savings, it’s more about having stamps when I want them. I buy them in sheets of 100 and use them so infrequently that normally I inhale my tongue whenever I have to buy a new sheet….
Canada Post has come up with something similar and for that I thank them. Chances are that when I buy a book of 10 stamps by the time I actually use them all the price has gone up. Good idea all round.