Reminder

I wanted to remind any readers I have out there that First Class letter rates went up 2 cents on May 11th. Last week, I saw some letters/bills that got sent back to their senders because they had insufficient postage i.e. 42 cents vice the correct 44 cents. The Postal Service will kick a letter/bill back to you for 2 lousy cents. This could cause you to be late with a payment causing you to have to pay interest on whatever. So, please make sure you use the new postage rate. Cheers All!

Reminder - Postage Increase

A reminder to my readers out there, the cost of mailing a letter First Class goes up 2 cents today. Also, if you mail a letter that isn't machinable, the surcharge for that has gone up 3 cents i.e. it now costs an extra 20 cents to mail such items. Lastly, the cost of mailing a regular postcard has gone up 1 cent. Please make sure you use the right postage. I have seen the Postal Service send stuff back for a lousy 2 cents. Or, they've had the carrier try to collect the 2 cents postage due.

Reminder

I just wanted to remind my readers that postage rates went up today. In the case of a first class letter, it went up 1 cent. If you have the forever stamps, you don't need to worry about the rate increase. Rates for other classes of mail also went up. To find out what they are, please check http://www.usps.com/.

New Postage Rates

I justed wanted to give folks a heads up that First Class postage for a 1 ounce letter will go up 1 penny on May 12th. If you own forever stamps, you won't be affected by the price increase. I don't know how much of a grace period the Post Office will give on the new rate. I do know that after a certain period, they will kick the letter back for 1 lousy penny. So, you can either buy some forever stamps now so you don't have to buy a bunch of 1 cent stamps or mark your calendars and be ready to add a 1 cent stamp on your letters. The increase is due to the cost of inflation. New rates for Express Mail, Priority Mail, and International Mail will be announced in March. (Source for all the information above: http://www.usps.com/prices/welcome.htm?from=bannercommunications&page=prices)

Reminder

I wanted to remind everyone that a 1st class letter now requires 41 cents postage. I've been seeing a lot of letters and bills missing the extra 2 cents in postage. I haven't seen the Post Office kick any of those back YET. Still, I wouldn't take a chance on the generosity of the Postal Service. If you want your letter or bill to get to its destination, please make sure you use the correct postage.

Another item, any letter or bill that you mail that weighs less than an ounce costs 41 cents unless it is more than 1/4 inch thick. All you have to do is stick a tape or something a little bulky and you may have to pay an extra 17 cents postage. I was reminded of this when I mailed a letter to my friend May Jackson. One thing I like to do with letters I write is seal them with sealing wax. It adds a nice touch to the letter and I think it looks classy. The flip side is the seal causes the letter to exceed to width requirements so I have to pay an extra 17 cents postage. If you seal your letters with sealing wax, please take note. The 17 cents surcharge is because the letter has to be hand stamped vice machine stamped.

New Postal Rates

In case you haven't heard, postal rates will be going up on May 14th. The price of a 1 ounce First Class letter will go up 2 cents. You can mail letters using the 39 cent stamps until May 14th. After that, you must have to have the increased postage on your letter otherwise it'll get kicked back to you. Believe me, it will. I've seen it. Your local Post Office should be selling the new 41 cent stamps as well as 2 cent stamps so you can use up your 39 cent stamps. For further information on the rate increase or to order stamps on-line, see http://www.usps.com.

Updated Sealing Wax

I've discovered a better way of using sealing wax on letters. I found out there is a thing called a melting spoon. While a melting spoon doesn't look like a spoon, it handles like one and enables a person to melt enough sealing wax to do just one or two seals. The biggest advantage of using a melting spoon is that you don't have any sealing wax that is on fire dropping on to your letter. What you do is place enough sealing wax into the small metal cup at the end of the spoon. You then hold the cup over a candle or lighter until the wax melts in the metal cup. Once the wax is melted, you pour the wax onto your letter, and then press whatever seal you're going to use into the hot wax. Since no flame makes direct contact with the wax, there isn't any way for it to catch on fire and possibly set your letter on fire. This is obviously a huge advantage over using sealing wax sticks that have wicks in them. I've used sealing wax sticks with wicks and I've had letters catch on fire at least two or three times because of them.

Another advantage of using a melting spoon is that you can use sealing wax beads. The beads are cheaper per seal then sealing wax sticks. Using LetterSeals.com's sealing wax beads, the cost of a wax seal is just 8 cents vice 35 cents using sealing wax sticks.

The one disadvantage with a melting spoon is trying to buy one. I searched for one and finally found one as part of a set sold by bridal people.com (I've removed the link here). The set costs $32.25 not including shipping. (THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER VALID.) The set comes with a melting spoon, a packet of red sealing wax beads, a stick of silver sealing wax, a small portable burner so you can have something to melt the wax in your melting spoon while your travelling, and three seals (a fleur-de-lis, a fish, and an anchor). Considering that a seal alone can cost you over $8 each, the set is a good value. Still, I do wish I could buy the melting spoon separately.

Updated December 24, 2012

Since people are reading this blog entry, I decided to check it and see if it needed updating. It did. First, as far as I can tell, the bridal people web site I posted no longer sells the set I mention. Second, you can buy a sealing wax melting spoon by itself from www.letterseals.com for $12.50 plus shipping. You will need something to heat the spoon so the wax will melt. I use a small alcohol burner which does a fine job of heating the spoon. Lastly, as an fyi, if you mail a letter with a wax seal on it, you will have to put an extra 17 cents postage on it if mailed in the United States. I believe the reason for it is because it increases the WIDTH of the letter or invitation and, U.S. Postal Service does charge extra for wide/thick letters. I remember my step-mother Kay getting hit with a postage due notice from the postal service because I'd put a wax seal on the letter I mailed her. Also, you may want to put an extra sheet of paper around your letter in the envelope so, you're letter doesn't get messed up where the seal is put. I believe the wax can cause writing on the letter in the envelope to smear like it would if you accidentally poured some kind of liquid on the letter.