I've always loved receiving and sending post, but prices are so high that most people even if they want to write letters and send cards are hesitant because of the cost. This year in Canada, the lowest price of letter stamps went from $0.63 to $1.00!

 

Do you still send mail? Frequently or only seasonally? Letters, cards, packages?

In my childhood (pre-email and instant messaging, although we continued it even after that came along because it was fun!), my best friend and I used to send handwritten letters to each other, but addressed backwards since we didn't want to pay for stamps (at the time, we thought we were SUPER clever rather than breaking the law). I still remember receiving her Christmas letter in February. I'm contemplating sending her (she also loves receiving post) and another friend some pet things closer to Christmas. I also had a penpal for a few years in my dad's friend's daughter who lived in Chicago.

I remember my parents used to receive letters from China too, but those seldom come along anymore. My parents don't even send Christmas cards out anymore, and where we used to receive tens of Christmas cards, we receive 5 or 6 now. Even their friends and siblings are sending eCards and Facebook greetings instead... a bit of a shame!

I use ordering online as an excuse to receive packages. It's like unwrapping a gift for myself every time!

Very rarely and it will be even less since the cost of a stamp is ridiculous. I tried to send my grandma a tiny photo album of pictures of my daughter once (since she's never met her) and it was like $12 for shipping. I ended up taking them out of the album and mailing it for the cost of a stamp.

Very rarely for many years now.  I send birthday cards (with a check) to all my nieces nephews at their birthdays, and at the holidays.  Cash is king to all of them. Sheesh but the price of a basic card from Hallmark has skyrocketed!

The only other thing that gets mailed, are a few bills which don't have online access yet.  And as far as gifts, I let the company do it for me.  No point in having it sent to my home only to have it sent back out again.  The only package I've sent in a year, is the one I sent to my Secret Santa recipient last year   

Shipping is outrageous! The price jumps like $10 if it's 1cm too thick. It's pretty ridiculous.

I was a bit hesitant to join Secret Santa this year knowing what the prices would be like, but I convinced myself to do it anyway. Worst case scenario, I would get someone half way around the world and slowboat something homemade or bought to them 3 months early for $15-$30 with good faith that it would someday arrive. Forget $60-$120 tracking numbers...

All of my family is in Canada and I am now living in the States. I did send Christmas gifts once from Canada to the US one year when I was home for the holidays... taxes ans shipping is outrageous! Then, vice versa from US to Canada and my parents have had to pay customs taxed just to recieve their gifts. My parents and I have mutually decided cards only. Anything else we can ship directly to each others home instead of worrying about if it is wrapped or not!

Other than birthday and Christmas cards, no, not any more. I still send cookie boxes and a birthday cake to a close friend. I still send gift packages to a close GF. That's about it now.

I send cards and photographs of the cats to my parents periodically. My father has a warped sense of humour and saves the silliest newspaper articles and sends them to me once in awhile. Mum sends recipes. I guess she still hopes I'll learn to cook, but its so much easier to eat out of cans. Its so nice to get mail that isn't junk or bills, and I still look forward to checking our mailbox each day.

In my childhood (pre-email and instant messaging, although we continued it even after that came along because it was fun!), my best friend and I used to send handwritten letters to each other, but addressed backwards since we didn't want to pay for stamps (at the time, we thought we were SUPER clever rather than breaking the law). 

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I don't understand, what does it mean to address something backwards? If you switch the addresses around, it would only come back to you. 

My husband sends out Christmas cards every year, and I have to mail things a couple of times a year for work, but that's about it.

When postal workers went on strike in Canada a few years ago, they really did a disservice to themselves. The strike dragged on for 2-3 weeks, I don't remember exactly, but it was long enough that everybody had to set up online payments, email, or whatever else they needed to go on with their lives without postal service. Now, use has dropped so much (not a surprise) that we will no longer get home delivery for mail. Everybody is going to have to go to a post office box to get their mail, which is just an additional reason to not use Canada Post.

When you address something backward, you write the address you are sending it to where you would put the return address and vice-versa. My father and I used to exchange messages with hand-drawn stamps until the postal service got wise.

SwampWitch said:

 
I don't understand, what does it mean to address something backwards? If you switch the addresses around, it would only come back to you. 

My husband sends out Christmas cards every year, and I have to mail things a couple of times a year for work, but that's about it.

When postal workers went on strike in Canada a few years ago, they really did a disservice to themselves. The strike dragged on for 2-3 weeks, I don't remember exactly, but it was long enough that everybody had to set up online payments, email, or whatever else they needed to go on with their lives without postal service. Now, use has dropped so much (not a surprise) that we will no longer get home delivery for mail. Everybody is going to have to go to a post office box to get their mail, which is just an additional reason to not use Canada Post.

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You put the intended recipient's name/address as the return address and your name/address as if that is who you are sending it to. When it gets returned to sender, it would go to the person you intended it to go to to begin with although it may take longer to get there as the post office (at least the USPS) may try to deliver it (to you) postage due and leave one of those yellow cards and give you a week or so to get it before doing the RTS.

I send out holiday and birthday cards and I send packages to my daughter at college in between visits if she needs something. Since the school is only 1.5 hours away, she gets it the following day and the postage is cheaper than the gas would cost me to drive there and back.

i send very little mail. i never send cards, as i feel the cost of the cards and postage are an unnecessary expense for me -- i make phone calls for birthdays and holidays. i pay one bill by mail, only because it's not possible to pay it online. occasionally, i need to mail forms of one sort or another. i haven't written a letter to be mailed via the postal service for decades. it's been a couple years since i have mailed a package, but i will be mailing gifts to my mom and aunt (for christmas) in november.

just before the last time the US Postal Service raised the price of postage for 1st class mail, i bought 40 forever stamps. it'll take me years to use them all.

I still mail Christmas cards, though I get very few in return, most people don't send them any more.  I send cards or small packages to the grandkids sometimes, because it's fun to get mail when you're a kid.  And I like to send hand written thank you cards.  

I very rarely mail anything anymore.  I mailed my final bill for my old cable company a couple of weeks ago and it had been well over a year before that when I had mailed something.  I tried to pay online couldn't do that because I was no longer a customer, tried to pay by phone and they were going to charge me $5 because I was no longer a customer so I mailed the final payment.  

 I seldom mail anything, except some bills; most of those are paid online. I do that mainly because last year, the electric company kept saying that I hadn't paid them. The check hadn't been cashed. If I pay online, I get a receipt. I also had a similar problem a few years ago with my car registration. They claimed they never got it (I did send it out!), so I had to pay it twice. I now do that online, and and you can print put a temporary registration at no charge, plus you get a receipt.

I don't send Christmas cards nor gifts. About the only Christmas cards I gave out were for co-workers; now, nobody wants to exchange gifts, so I no longer do cards, either. 

This past year has made up for the lack of mail! I hosted a bridal shower, and now am addressing envelopes for a baby shower, so I made invitations to send out for those events. It gets pricey, especially since I just used an entire, new printer cartridge set for the shower invitations (that cost $35).

Only if I have to will I send a letter(Gov, medical bills...).  Personal letters/cards/gifts I send nothing.  My family is hour drive so I just pile up the stuff going to them in a box and drop it off to whoever I see first.

Rarely do I mail things nowadays. Its a shame because when i was younger I use to enjoy sending letters to friends who lived in other countries. Lately I've decided to pester a friend from time to time with a letter. We'll see how that goes.

Twice a year I mail birthday and christmas gifts - cards inside - yo two friends. One in England and one in America. Our postal charges are a lot less then yours. Thankfully.

Seasonally to family members