Never look at it = right in the trash it goes.

"Never look at it = right in the trash it goes."

Same here...

Many ads are for stores/products that I know I won't use and those go right into the recycling. Still, I get flyers from Big Lots, etc, and I usually check those, as occasionally they have something I want. We get grocery store fliers bundled together and put by the mailbox each Saturday, and I plan my weekly shopping with these.

Right into the recycle bin, I never look at them.

Ditto. In fact, if I could find a way to kill those at the source .... The worst offenders are from the two local newspapers (I subscribe to neither, so I suspect they're spamming everyone with them); doubly troublesome because the circulars are only reprints of ads already in the newspapers. I get to ignore it twice.

Most go in the recycling pile immediately.

I always browse the grocery adds, to see if there are any super good deals of things I can stock up on if I happen to be in town that week.

I also browse the 'Ace" ad, as often they have deals where the items are 'free', nearly free, or very reasonable after mail in rebate. Their rebate slips are all on one form. so if I have 5 rebates, it just takes filling out the one form. Also, they have never missed sending the rebate, unlike some other places/companies.

I often browse the farm and hardware ads as well. Sometimes I see things of interest there...bird food, suet, feeders, etc.

I too sometimes peruse the Big Lot ad, though seldom need anything there.

Sue...who doesn't like to miss a good deal

Just because it enters your home doesn't mean it should get your attention. I do scan for local stuff. We get a value pack of flyers, which have coupons I occasionaly use for things like Baskin Robbins, Chuck E Cheese, etc.

Most of our ads come in the Sunday paper. We also have a company which sells space for flyers and they are put in a bag on the doors. I'll look at those, again, because they are local companies like house painting, yard work, etc. which I might be able to use.

Gloria

I check grocery fliers for bargains, buy ahead when I can.

Sometimes too far ahead - found a can of Pink Salmon the other day, date stuck on top over 10 years ago - probably moved up to the surface when I moved.

But not often good prices on basic foods - usually the processed stuff.

One can pay $1.50 for 10 lbs. of potatoes ... or for a few ounces of chips. One may get a "savings" coupon for the chips ... hardly ever for the raw potatoes.

Corn flakes, also - especially if "frosted". Or about a bushel of corn.

ole joyful

found a can of Pink Salmon the other day, date stuck on top over 10 years ago
Wow, I think that beats anything 'old' I've discovered in my pantry.

Anymore, I try and notice the dates on everything I buy, and then mark it boldly in black magic marker if it is small and hard to read. I've gotten so I refuse to buy anything that doesn't have the date on it anywhere...If the manufacturer can put a bunch of code numbers and letters on stuff (so they know the date and other info,) why not just put it in plain simple date format for the rest of us?

Sue

If the manufacturer can put a bunch of code numbers and letters on stuff (so they know the date and other info,) why not just put it in plain simple date format for the rest of us?

Hear, hear! I can understand encoding plant locations and the like. But why dates are encoded and (strangely, considering how extensive U.S. packaging laws are) not in a standard format is not something I have figured out (and I work at a manufacturing company).

I was curious when I posed the question.

Years ago, I got the newspaper. Sunday ads were a "must look at" thing with me. It prompted me to SHOP - which led me to buy more than I anticipated! Other than that, the papers just piled up and made a mess. I finally discontinued the newspaper - (got tired of the mess).

Junk mail is out of control! It comes in the house and gets thrown in a "pile" in the den. The only time I read it is if I'm thinking about going grocery shopping...I want to know if chicken breasts are on sale or?

I get the big-lots, and some linens and some other misc ads that I may be interested in. Usually by time I read them, they are expired! lol. (A good thing - saves me money!)

What I've found...IF I don't read the ads, I SAVE lots of $$$! And by cancelling the newspaper, I save more there too. I KNOW I can "save" using coupons from the paper, but if I don't SEE the coupon, I won't go to store!

There is a way to cancel ALL junk mail delivered to house, but I won't do it - as there are two major and two minor grocers that I WANT ads from - to look for any sales on what I want to buy. (This is done sporadically - like, if I suddenly decide I want to cook a roast, "Are there any on sale?". (If not, I won't buy-lol!)

I am currently gearing up for a huge shopping excursion on the sale items for Easter! (I like to buy lots while on sale to last for a few months - the good thing about holidays! lol)

Other junk mail - like for auto related, I never know what to do with - as it seems everytime I throw them out, someone needs a coupon for oil change or something.

There are two types of junk that REALLY irritate me:

1) CRAPPY PIZZA ads... they come in every week but expire three months from receipt. DH loves pizza, but geez...why pay for all the ads? (I think most people have their desired pizza places, and no ad will sway them.) So, if they just would QUIT, they could offer the same pizza at much lower price, and everyone would make out!

2) That MAJOR company that provides cable TV service! (I've been fighting them for three years now for "services not rendered" - so I especially have a very bad distaste for them). Now they "offer" phone and internet - as well as the "whole package deal". And I get NUMEROUS ads from them every single week, not to mention the ads on TV, and even when I call to complain about NON-service of TV, they STILL try to push off their new services! NO WAY!

OK, that #2 was too graphic - need another thread for that one!

To sum it up...I've actually SAVED a lot of $$$ by NOT reading the ads - even tho they enter my house. OTOH, when I DO decide I want to shop, I can scan the ads at home to see if what I want is on sale to save money.

cathie54,

How's that again ...

... most of the time you scrap (recycle?) 'em ...

... but ...

... occasionally - you read 'em.

Selectively.

So - how are we to know the difference?

And, I'm with you - too much paper coming in - loss of too many trees ...

... the lungs of the world.

Well, providing essential sustenance to the lungs of the world.

ole joyful

I'm not a fan of junk mail. I throw it all in the recycle bin the moment I identify it. None of it is read past the first sentence, and some of it doesn't even come out the envelope. I'm just too busy for it and have never previously been impressed by any of the junk mail offers. Had I felt there were real savings there I might take it more seriously, but mostly it's pretend savings and over priced items I don't actually want.

I think your time is better spent looking for deals on items you want in places you like to shop. There are web sites now that list offers in the major supermarkets, and many stores have their own on-line listings too.

There is a way to cancel ALL junk mail delivered to house, but I won't do it - as there are two major and two minor grocers that I WANT ads from

If I were you, I would call those grocers and ask if they have an electronic mailing list or Web site you could consult for the sales. Many organizations have "opt-in" mailing lists which exist independently of the mass mailings they make every week. I would, however, give them a throwaway mail address (like Yahoo! or gmail or something) rather than your personal address. Even if they're entirely on the up-and-up, too many companies use unsecure (cough *Microsoft* cough) mailing software and may expose your email address to snoopers.

*** How to stop the junk mail***

You know there's a form you can fill out to stop receiving "offensive" material. It doesn't specify what may be offensive but obviously it's geared towards pornographic stuff that might arrive in the mail. So I collected all the junk mail for a month, an obnoxious 30 lbs of it! Then filled out a form for each one and took it into the post office and said I'd like to stop receiving this offensive material.

They looked at me like I was from outer space and had evidently never had anyone fill out that official form before so I had to wait there for about 30 minutes and then they called in a supervisor who had also not seen the form before but said she'd take care of it. The 1-2 months that followed I continued to receive the garbage. Not surprisingly since a lot of the junk mail flyers and crap don't have return addresses or any way to contact the sender. But then all of a sudden one day it stopped. There was no more. This was maybe a year ago that I did this and to this day the junk is very light. The occasional junker comes in but I've divided my mailbox into two slots, one for the circulars and one for everything else and the letter carrier is gracious enough to cooperate most of the time so that my bills don't get trapped inside the circulars and accidently tossed.

The bottom line is this. I don't think the USPS gives a flying buttcrack about the everday customer like you and me because if they did, they'd irradiate the mail like they said they were going to do after that whole antrax thing. No, no no. They make the big bucks from the spammers who fill up our trashcans and landfills with special offers and coupons. The only way they know to send the garbage to your address is because the post office tells them it's a valid address. Nice of them to do that, eh?

*** It's form 1500 that you need. Note it takes quite a while to fill them out for each mail piece you want to stop coming. I filled up a whole box of mail pieces and forms***

I read all the ads that come in the mail and save the ones (coupons) I know I'll use. I buy loss leaders from Albertson's and some specials from another grocery store.
I buy the Sunday papers (Local and the Dallas) mainly for the coupons and usually there are enough useable ones to pay for the papers. I don't subscribe to the daily paper- I used to - but hated going out to the curb or street gutter to pick it up everyday.

Toss. Junk. Trash.