mail on the road

[Bill M.]

How do you handle mail when on the road? Is there a mail service that can separate junk ad important stuff and pass it on somehow? Or maybe receive it and mail it in a bulk package to different addresses though out the summer?

[AnnArborBob]

A lot of folks use the mail forwarding service offered by the Escapees RV Club (aka SKP):

Escapees RV Club

[moosetags]

On our longer trips, we spend two to three months gone from home. Over the last five years, we have arranged our lives so that all all important correspondence and statements come to us electronically. We no longer receive any paper mail that needs to be addressed.

Brian

[sinjin]

We have used Good Sam Mail for the past couple of years and have had no problems. Very friendly on the phone.

[RickDavis]

We have a friend check the mail and let us know if he sees anything important. He can then scan it and send it on.
We have set up up pay everything we can on line. The few we can not pay on line, here that is the gas and water we simply send a check to cover the time we will be gone. No one seems to have a problem with getting money in advance.
You can also set up recurring payments with some of the bill pay services checking accounts offer..

From a practical standpoint we are gone 2 to 2.5 months each winter and it has been several years since we had to have anything opened and scanned. A far cry from 14 years ago when we had to scan bills and carry a bunch of phone numbers to keep up with things.
We also turn off the sat. TV which we don't carry with us and are able to put the vehicle insurance on vacation for the ones at home.
All in all mail does not seem to be a problem these days.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

How do you handle mail when on the road? Is there a mail service that can separate junk ad important stuff and pass it on somehow? Or maybe receive it and mail it in a bulk package to different addresses though out the summer?

There are several companies that are in the business of collecting and forwarding mail for transients. MyRVMail.com is just one example.

[Edistobob]

Used to use a mail forwarding service when we traveled but like others have mentioned have now got most of our important stuff coming electronically. We have a neighbor check our mail for anything that looks important and leave him some prepaid Priority Mail envelopes in which he can forward us some mail if need be.
Our mail forwarding service did an excellent job at a very reasonable price and has the convenience of electronic scanning available. It was also very easy to suspend when we were not using it. If you are interested, it is St. Brendan's Isle in Florida. You will not be disappointed if you decide to use them.

[AnnArborBob]

Moosetags obviously has never received any notices from the IRS that might require prompt attention!



While auto bill pay is super and saves a lot of grief, it is still prudent to have someone glance at the accumulated mail every once and awhile to see if something does need attention. A trusted friend, relative or professional mail service is highly recommended.

[Bill M.]

Letter season at IRS is one of the things I worry about. And the settlement they offer in the first letter is often not one you want automatically because youdid not respond in 30 days.
Thanks for the replies. I do a lot of it electronically, but still there are doctors bills, red light camera tickets, IRS letters that show up sometimes.

[oldfulltimer]

We full timed for 10 years and used Escapee Mail Service and in fact still maintain an active account with them for when we go out traveling and only know the general direction in which we're heading. I would usually figure out where we would be in three days, call Escapee Mail Service and give them an address or a General Deliver Post Office and mail was there when we arrived. They would cull out all the 'junk' mail and only forward first class mail. Very reasonable price for the attention you get.

Hint: If you have mail forwarded to General Delivery, find some small town to which to it could be sent. Reason is that if you have it sent to General Delivery in a city, and there are several Post Office locations, you won't know which one has your package and trying to maneuver a rig through streets in a strange city and trying to find a parking space can be very frustrating.

[Siegmann]

I too can recommend Escapees Mail Service. I've full-timed for 16 years with them forwarding my mail to countless destinations. Their service has been flawless.