How do you get your mail?

We use MyDakotaAddress.com which is a mail forwarding service out of South Dakota I have my drivers license and residency set to there as well.  When we know we're going to be setting in one place for a while we check with the campground to make sure we can get a package then have My Dakota Address send the mail to that campground. 

It's pretty easy then send us an email when we get something in the mail we then pick how we want it sent on to us.  There is a monthly (or annual) fee plus the cost of postage.

Some folks use UPS stores or relatives to do the same thing.

It's been covered here on the forum numerous times and I think Howard and Linda have something on this in there prepping for full time I'm not sure as we had this part worked out before finding this site.

Mallo

We use UPS Store.So far it has worked well for us although it is a little more expensive than we thought to have mail sent to us once a month.The mail box rent was $ 169.00 for a year in advance and it has been costing us $ 14.95 a month to have our mail transfered to us where we are at.We used them because we needed to keep our Colorado Residency but will be looking for a different method in the future.

We use the Escapees Mail Service out of Livingston Texas. It costs $85 a year and the postage for Priority Mail when we have it sent, which is usually about $8-9 a time . Quite frankly, it's mostly junk and magazines, as we do all banking, insurance and everything else important, online.

Fred, Do you have your mail sent to you from Escapees to general delivery at the local Post Office nearest your campground?

Sometimes, if the campground won't accept mail. But most of the time they will and we have it sent to our campground. In almost 5 years I don't think we've had to go to the post office more than 5 or 5 times.

Another vote for escapees mail service. They will send your mail where you tell them to send it. Funny thing is, the only time we used general delivery was when we stayed at a SKP park...go figure...

Just wondering how long you have to be in one place to feel comfortable getting your mail sent to you so you won't miss it?   5 days or 15 days or 30 days???

7 days is more than enough. We call one day, it goes out the next Priority Mail and you have it generally in 2 days, sometimes 3. If we are only going to be in a place for a short time, we call a day or 2 before we are going to get there and often times it's waiting when we arrive. Needless to say you have to have a reservation where you are going and clear it with them first. But generally it's not a problem. Getting mail is really no big deal on the road.

We use Alternative Resources out of Souix Falls, SD, we let them know where to send the mail and we also receive it within 2 or 3 days. We haven't been full timing that long and have been traveling around to see relatives so the mail is sent to them. But we are very satisfied with their service and we chose them because we most likely will become SD residents in the future. If you do your research and comparisons you will make the right decision for yourselves. Good Luck.

I'm not trying to hijack but has anybody heard anything about a mailing company in Tennessee?

There was one in Cleveland,TN that went under causing lots of inconvenience to lots of folks.  Then it was purchased and supposedly opened again.  I tried emailing the new company and received no reply.  Has anybody hear anything definitive about them.

I may well need to "move" very soon and Tennessee is close and still more friendly to my particular needs than any other state.  I understand voting may be problematic. 

I'd just as soon not use a UPS store but if it's all that's available, so be it.  Anything around I-40 or south is fine.

Thanks,
fleamarketeer

Can anyone tell me if we can use Escapees mail service without the hassles of becoming Texas residents and if so how could we keep our Colorado residency without owning property there. At this time keeping our residency in Colorado is to our advantage in many ways.As I stated in a previous post we now use The UPS Store but it is rather expensive.

-- Edited by Racerguy on Friday 10th of December 2010 10:18:30 PM

Racerguy,

Yes you can use a mail forwarding service and maintain a residency seperate from that service (there are states in fact cracking down on this and making cases that some people are not residents of SD or Texas or insert tax haven state here and going after lost revenues).  You would setup the mail forwarding and simply keep your tags licenses and of course any tax filing reguired by the state of CO.  Vote there and maintain ties there and your a resident there.

After changing to SD one of the things I've done steadily is cut my ties to PA in order to prove that I've moved on.  The opposite can of course also be done.

Mallo

You can use a mail service in Texas and be a resident of Colorodo, but you need an address in CO. We use Escapees for mail and my daughters address in WI just for licenses and registration. Do you know anybody that will let you use their address?

We have used Escapees Mail forwarding service for the last 3 years and are very pleased with it. We are homebased out of Alabama using our daughters home as our adress for our domicile. We vote, pay taxes and vehicle registration, and have our insurance from Al. all other mail goes through Escapees.

I checked into the USPS and they do still have a program sim to the snowbird service that was discontinued. It costs $10 filing fee and I think $14.95 per wk. they send out your mail. Our local office is looking into it because I didn't think we would need it sent out weekly and she thought weekly was a requirement. She said that no one had asked about it in over 2 years. Will let you know more as I find out about it. She said she would send info out with carrier tomorrow.

We kept our PO Box and my sister-in-law checks it every week or two, if it wasn't for the junk mail she could check it monthly. Almost all our stuff is done online so we don't get much mail. Bills that are mailed there (1 so far) she will scan and email it and I pay it online. Since we hit the road May 1, 2010 she has only had to send mail 3 times. We have it sent to General Delivery. USPS will keep it for 30 days and if not picked up they will send it back. This works well for us.

I guess I should chime in. We have an aunt doing our mail and we share her address for everything, including voting and jury duty. We bought her a big shredder for the junk mail. She is very reliable and she full timed in the 60s herself.

I got the corrected numbers from the post office and it is very expensive. The enrollment fee is $15 and the weekly shipping fee is $13.95 and it has to be shipped every week on the same day. We are going to see if my sis-in-law will collect ours and send it to us when we call for it.

We've been using America's Mailbox out of Rapid City, South Dakota since September.
So far things have been great with them.

Jo

I've been using this system, called Priority Mail Forwarding, for three years. Cost have gone up since I enrolled and I'm wondering where the money is being spent since the PO never makes any money.

Be that as it may, there are a few advantages. No one but the PO handles your mail on the sending end of the process. If you use a General Delivery Address, then the PO is the only one handling it on the receiving end. That pretty much eliminates lose of it by multiple handings. They don't guarantee it, but Priority is usually a three day deliver. I've gotten it + a day. There is no need to change your address with anyone who sends you mail.  The PO holds the mail that they would have normally delivered to your home and then sends it all out in one package. 

I prefer that my mail be shipped on the same day every time. I then know when to start looking for it to arrive. That's really important if you are traveling from place to place. 

You may have been given come incorrect info on shipping. I do not have mine shipped every week and therefore pay only when a package is shipped. Perhaps you could get by with once or twice a month delivery and save that way.  You do have to pay upfront, but can get a refund for any weeks not used. If you underestimate, you just send the PO a check and keep going.

I can call the PO and give a new forwarding address as many times as I want.  To them, it's just a sticker on the package. 

If you use the General Delivery address option and for some reason don't make it to the PO where the package was delivered, then just call that PO. They will reforward the package without another charge.  

I have found that most post offices don't have a clue about this product. Which is probably why most people get misinformed about it.

Thanks TXRVR That sounds much better.