You can save much time and frustration by applying to remove your name, number and address from marketers’ databases. Some of the quickest ways to do this are:

1. Add your phone numbers to the national do not call registry.
2. Apply to have your name and address removed from the DMA database, which affects all DMA member companies ($1 fee).
3. Remove your name and address from the credit bureau database used to produce pre-screened credit offers.

For more information you can also read:

1. Reducing Junk Mail
2. Do-it-yourself: Stop junk mail, email and phone calls

My wife and I added our information to the do-not-call registry a year or two ago and have greatly enjoyed the results. I’ve just added our information to the DMA and credit bureau opt-out lists, notwithstanding that it is ridiculous to pay the DMA to do this. Can anyone who has done this report on whether it was successful for them? We don’t buy from catalogs anymore, anyway — we always search online or go directly to the store. Plus this removes an additional source of temptation to spend money.

HT: No Impact Man

Tags: catalogs, credit_bureau, direct-mail, DMA, do-not-call, junk-mail, marketer, marketers, marketing, no-impact, opt_out, spam, stop-junk-mail, telemarketer, telemarketing, tool