Sick of Credit Card Offers and Junk Mail? How to Get Yourself Off the Mailing Lists!

Are you sick of those pre-screened credit card and loan consolidation offers you get by the handful each day in the mail? There's something you can do! It's free. It's online. And yeah, it's almost too good to be true!

Like many of you, I've gotten extremely sick of credit card junk mail. I was getting at least one or two every single day. But one day I finally got one with some useful information: an actual webpage printed at the bottom that you can go to in order to opt out of receiving those piles of incredibly wasteful junk mail.

This is how it works: There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They collect financial information about you from your bank, lenders, etc. (It's how your credit score is determined, among other things). These credit bureaus are permitted to include your name on lists used by creditors or insurers to make firm offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). I don't know if they're paid or not for this "service," but either way, I find it highly annoying. I imagine most everyone else does too.

So, exercise your God-given right to opt-out! Here's the link that will make your world a better, happier place: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

This is the link to the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to accept and process requests from consumers to Opt-in or Opt-Out of firm offers for credit and insurance.

To opt out permanently, you must print out a form and mail it to them (which is a hassle, and costs you a stamp), but you can opt out for 5 years by just completing the online request form. It includes your name, address, SSN, and birth date. I didn't fill out the latter two, because frankly, there's absolutely no good reason they need that information to remove me from their "please send me junk mail" lists. The request seemed to go through just fine without this information, too. There's the option of opting back in to these offers if you change your mind at any point, though I can't imagine why anyone would want to do so. At the top of the website, there is also a helpful Frequently Asked Questions tab that you can check out for more information before deciding to opt out.

With the incredibly large volume of junk mail that is made up of unwanted credit card, insurance, and loan offers, this is a great way to save yourself the hassle of tearing up and tossing this unwanted mail. Give it a try-you'll save a tree, your time, and your mailbox!