When you go to the grocery store, it’s tempting to drop a little more cash on those little convenient items. Why buy whole apples when you can buy prepackaged sliced fruit? Who wants to make their own salad dressing when it’s already bottled? These things may be cheap and easy time-savers, but consider the larger scheme of things.
There are some items at the store that you should skip buying entirely, whether it’s to save some money, reap the health benefits, or to do your part when it comes to saving the environment. The next time you run to the store and feel tempted to buy some of these things, think twice about putting them in your cart.
Bottled water
Unless you’re dealing with unsafe drinking water, bottled water is an unnecessary expense that can add up quickly. While it’s portable and convenient, it can also cost both you and the environment dearly over time.
Your best bet? Buying a reusable water bottle and keeping it filled with tap water.
Greeting cards
Not only is a grocery store’s selection of greeting cards lacking, but you’re going to be paying upwards of $3 or $4 for even the cheaper brands. It’s best when it comes to picking the perfect card to peruse a department store to pay less and have additional options.
Your prescriptions
It might be far easier to go ahead and pick up your medications while doing your weekly shopping, but grocery stores charge higher premiums for even the most common prescription drugs. If you find you’re routinely paying more out of pocket, you might want to find a dedicated pharmacy.
There are numerous more tips in this article by Brittany Vincent for House Beautiful. See them all by clicking the link below.
Source: Always Avoid These Things At the Grocery Store (msn.com)
“I used to pride myself on being able to juggle a bunch of tasks at once, and as a mom it’s not only necessary, but impossible not to. But lately just reading a paperback without distraction or going for a walk without my phone brings me more joy while freeing my brain for more creativity. But here’s a surprising productivity tip: Science shows that focusing on one task at a time is better for your brain. One Stanford study found that high-tech jugglers, those who are trying to do it all, retain very little of what they actually consume; and their memory and attention spans are less robust than those who focus on one task at a time.
I recently chatted with Thatcher Wine, author of The Twelve Monotasks, about ways in which we can slow down in order to get more done. From reading and listening to creating, eating, and sleeping, there’s a science to how we can approach these tasks with focus and attention to ultimately do them better. Drawing on research in psychology, neuroscience, and mindfulness, Wine provides a roadmap for resisting all of the distractions we encounter in a day to bring a renewed focus on getting things done. Scroll for more tips from his new book.
What are the benefits of monotasking?
Wine: Monotasking can help us be more productive, less stressed, and more connected to other people. When we multitask, we make more mistakes and things take longer. Plus, constant multitasking tends to make us feel overwhelmed by how much we have to do. In contrast, monotasking provides satisfaction from doing one thing at a time with our full attention.
What are easy ways we can break free from multitasking?
The first thing we have to do is put down our phones and keep them out of reach. They are good at convincing us that we can and should multitask all the time. The second thing we can do is to do something every day that builds our ability to focus. I love to read for 20 minutes each morning. When you’re feeling stressed out and have too much to do, I also recommend going for a walk for 20 minutes. Keep your phone in your pocket and monotask the walk, doing nothing but walking, paying attention to the sights and sounds, but resisting all temptations to multitask… this will help you reset and multitask less at your desk and in life.
How has technology played a role in our desire to multitask?
We invented all of these devices and technology over the past few decades and have built them to be faster and faster, and to multitask more and more. It’s confusing to us that if the smartphones and computers we invented and configured can multitask, why can’t we?
However, we have the same brains that humans have had for thousands of years, yet we are asking something different of them and are frustrated and overwhelmed when they can’t keep up. Advertisers and technology companies have figured out how to get our attention with various notifications and rewards. They are constantly tempting us to multitask. The sooner we release that these are just distractions, the sooner we can reclaim control of our own attention to get done what we need and want to do.
Parents, especially moms, are overwhelmed with the tasks of childcare, navigating a pandemic, and work, plus finding time for themselves. What is your best advice for slowing down when it seems impossible to do so?
There is way more economic, cultural, and societal pressure to do more than ever before in the history of human beings. We’ve tried to keep up by doing more, and doing more than one thing at one time (multitasking). However, as a parent, I have found that I’m much better able to take care of my family, and myself, by slowing down and being present in every moment. It seems hard to do when we have so much on our to-do lists, and our kids need us and want our attention. However, we always have a choice with everything we do: we can do one thing with our full attention (monotasking), or we can do multiple things with partial attention (multitasking). The more we choose to monotask with our full attention, the more we’ll get done, and the more our friends and family will value our presence and learn from our example”.
THE AGENCY IS MAKING A MAJOR CHANGE TO HOW USERS ARE ABLE TO ACCESS ONLINE TOOLS.
The start of a new tax season is fast approaching. This year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is strongly encouraging people to stick to filing their taxes online and not on paper, as the agency is already struggling under the weight of a backlog of paper returns from last year. But before you do that, you should be aware of a major change from the IRS that might affect the way you’re able to file online and access other online tools. Read on to find out what you must do first before filing your taxes online in 2022.
If you do all your taxes online rather than on paper, the IRS is gearing up to make a major change that will impact you. In Nov. 2021, the agency announced that it was updating how users sign in and verify their identity for certain online services. The IRS will now use ID.me, an identity verification tool for sign-in service, to allow taxpayers to securely access most of the agency’s tools in an effort to prevent identity theft.
According to the IRS website, the agency has transitioned to the new sign-in and identity verification system for five different online applications. This includes accessing your account online, which has information on how much you’re owed for your return, your payment history, stimulus check information, payment plan details, and more. You’ll also need ID.me to obtain transcripts, apply for payment plans, manage child tax credit payments, and retrieve an IP PIN, which is a number that prevents someone else from filing a tax return using your social security or taxpayer ID number.
This new identification recognition system will require a number of different things, centered around facial recognition technology. If you have never created an ID.me account with a government agency, you’ll “have to provide a photo of an identity document such as a driver’s license, state ID or passport as part of the identity verification process,” the IRS warns. But you’ll also need to snap a pic: You must have a smartphone or a computer with a webcam to take a selfie in order for the software to match you with your ID document.
“Once they verify their identity, they can use their account across multiple IRS tools and at other government agencies that also use ID.me,” the IRS states on its website.
You can still use your old sign-in credentials until the summer.
The new ID system will most likely end up affecting how you file taxes online next year, as the tax deadline to submit 2021 returns this year is April 18 for most people. However, if any extensions are made or you need to utilize the agency’s online tools and applications this summer or beyond, you’ll want to take note of the change.
According to the IRS, people can use their credentials from the old system to sign in for most applications until this summer, when ID.me will be fully implemented. Existing accounts only need an email and password for access currently, per UPI. “You won’t be able to log in with your existing IRS username and password starting in summer 2022,” the agency warns, noting that taxpayers are “prompted to create an ID.me account as soon as possible.”
There is some backlash against the IRS implementing ID.me.
Not everyone is ready to give into the new IRS system, however. Notable security blogger Brian Krebs reported that when he created a new ID.me account to access online IRS services, the sign-up process was both time-consuming and glitchy.
“Successfully verifying your identity with ID.me may require a significant investment of time, and quite a bit of patience,” Krebs wrote in a Jan. 19 blog post. “For example, stepping away from one part of the many-step application process for a little more than five minutes necessitated another login, and then the re-submission of documents I’d previously uploaded.”
Others point to problems ID.me has experienced in the past. In June 2021, Vice reported that the system had failed to identify unemployment benefit applicants in various states that required it, noting that they also ran into trouble trying to reach anyone from the company to fix the issue. But the IRS has said that there are plenty of other ways for taxpayers to file their tax returns if they don’t want to make and utilize an ID.me account.
“The IRS emphasizes taxpayers can pay or file their taxes without submitting a selfie or other information to a third-party identity verification company,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement, per UPI. “Tax payments can be made from a bank account, by credit card or by other means without the use of facial recognition technology or registering for an account.”
The 80/20 is also known as “The Pareto Principle” or “The Law of the Vital Few” — referring to the vital few factors that contribute to the majority of the outcome.
So, what is the 80/20 Principle?
Imagine you are the CEO of a company and you have a salesforce. In a world where everything is equal, you will assume that everyone contributes to your sales proportionately — i.e., 20% of the employees contribute to 20% of the sales, 50% contribute to 50% of the sales, and 80% of the employees contribute to 80% of the sales. But what if instead of a 1-1 relationship, you find out that 80% of your sales are actually contributed by 20% of your staff?
What the 80-20 Principle is About
This is what the 80/20 rule is about — 80% of the effects in a situation come from 20% of the causes. This phenomenon was first discovered by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian Economist who found that 20% of the people in Italy control 80% of the wealth and land. He first observed the principle when gardening and noticing that 20% of his peapods in his garden yielded 80% of the total harvested peas.
Examples of 80/20 in Action
Here are just some of many situations where the 80/20 rule can be observed:
Population: 80% of the population in England (25.8 million out of 32.3 million) comes from 20% of its cities (53 out of 263 cities).
Resource Consumption: 70% of the world’s energy, 75% of its metals, and 85% of its timber are consumed by 20% of the world’s countries (which have far fewer than 20 percent of the world’s population).
…. and so on.
Applying 80/20 Principle in Our Life
The 80/20 rule tells us that a large proportion of effects is due to a small portion of causes.
20% of causes lead to 80% of results. These are what I call the 20% high-impact-tasks. High-value because they lead to high-impact results.
On the other hand, 80% of causes lead to 20% of results. These are what I call the 80% low-impact-tasks.
It doesn’t have to be a literal 80-20 ratio — for example, 70% of the effects can be contributed by 15% of the causes, or 60% of effects can be contributed by 30% of the causes. The percentages of effects and causes don’t have to add up to 100% either — 80% refers to the effect while 20% refers to the cause, meaning they are not of the same denominator. It just happened that Pareto’s observation was 80-20 (rather than 70-20 or 60-10).
The point of the 80/20 rule is to know that (a) the relationship between cause and effect is often not 1:1, and (b) some causes have more weight than others.
Start a conversation with potential to head in any direction you want.
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Conversation, as a social construct, serves as a building block in the creation and maintenance of relationships. It also serves as a gateway, which if navigated successfully, can lead you to the information or results you want. On the surface, conversation is a simple dialogue of thoughts and ideas, but underneath, it carries rich opportunities to build and strengthen bonds, uncover new information, and present information of your own.
When talking to strangers or professional colleagues, you don’t have a lot of breathing room in terms of topics and conversation patterns. You might excitedly tell a friend about a new book you’re planning on releasing, but if you do that to a total stranger, they might just think you’re trying to sell it to them. Skilled conversationalists are able to direct any conversation–even an innocuous “hey, what’s up” to a place they want it to go.
So, how can you do this? Here are seven ways to start a conversation with potential to head in any direction you want:
1. Start with weather (or sports).
Small talk gets a lot of hate, but it’s a perfect way to enter into a dialogue that isn’t committed to any one subject. Starting with the weather, for instance, gives you plenty of avenues for further exploration–you can use it as a segue into your geographic location, how you used to live somewhere else, how you’re anticipating an upcoming seasonal change, and so on. From there, you’ll be able to springboard into an entirely new topic. For example, you could talk about how cold the weather is, then about how the upcoming winter will give you more time to work inside on your new book (drawing on the conversation topic example in the introduction).
2. Come out with a compliment.
Compliments are great conversation starters because they instantly flatter the recipient, making them warmer to you and more willing to participate in your conversation–no matter where it heads. Be specific and sincere in your compliment, however, or you’ll risk alienating the person. Let the other person talk about the source of the compliment, and once the topic has been more or less exhausted, you can move in with almost any somewhat related topic you can think of–your flattered conversation partner will be much more open to hearing whatever you have to say.
3. Talk about the venue.
Talking about the venue or your environment is another great conversation starter that can work anywhere (and with anyone). If you’re at a networking event, you can talk about the coffee or the seating. If you’re in the office, you can talk about the changes to the break room or the parking lot construction. It doesn’t matter; all you have to do is find something around you that your conversation partner can also find. This will create a near-instant sympathetic connection, especially if you have the same feeling toward the topic. Then, you can shift gears and enter into a new topic.
4. Ask a favor.
Asking for a favor is a psychological trick invented (or first described) by Ben Franklin. For some evolutionary reason, when someone does a favor for someone else, it sparks an inherent connection with that person, making them more open to hearing whatever it is you have to say. The favor doesn’t have to be a grand gesture or anything strange–it can be as simple as “Can I borrow your pencil?” or “Can you tell me where the bathroom is?”
5. Open with a joke.
Everybody loves jokes. Tell an intelligent, clean joke that makes the other person smile and you’ve instantly created a sympathetic connection that can sometimes sustain for an entire conversation. With premeditated jokes, you can easily find a joke related to your intended topic of conversation and lead in with it–it will seem innocuous and give you an opportunity to lead the conversation to your ultimate destination.
6. Start with an innocuous observation.
Any observation will do, but try to find something related to your intended topic of discussion. Point something out and ask your conversational partner what they think of it–it could be a strange mark on the floor or a piece of news that recently came out. Then, gradually introduce a string of conversation that points toward your intended goal.
7. Ask a question peripherally related to your intended topic.
People participate in conversations best when asked specific questions. Rather than trying to open a conversation with your intended topic directly, ask a related question to prime your conversational partner and loosely open into it. For example, if you want to talk about the book you’re about to release, you could open with something like, “have you read any good books lately?”, then gradually shift to your own writing.
Once you’ve started a conversation that has the potential to lead just about anywhere, all that stands between you and your intended topic is a directional series of questions and responses. That’s a fancy way of saying all you need to do is hang onto the conversation long enough to gradually introduce the topic you want to explore.
Remember, the key to successfully leading a conversation into a direction is to do so subtly–trying to force a topic onto somebody is a sure way to turn them off. Practice this regularly, and eventually you’ll get the hang of it.
Today I’d like to talk about the life wheel. It’s one of the tools I use in my coaching and will be an essential tool in your growth journey.
What is the Life Wheel?
The Life Wheel is a tool that gives you a snapshot of how you’re doing in your life now. It is essentially a circle divided into segments, usually 8, that represent the key areas of your life. Here’s a sample diagram:
There are many variants of the life wheel, with common segments being career/studies, family, love, friends, finance, and health. The remaining few are more varied. They can be recreation, spiritual, or others.
Each segment comes with a scale of 0-10 where you rate how well you are doing in it right now. 0 is the lowest score and 10 is the highest score. After you rate each segment, you mark out your scores on the wheel and connect the dots. At the end, you will get a web-like diagram that gives you a visual representation of how you’re doing in life.
The most useful part of the life wheel is the visual representation of how you’re doing in life. After all, it’s hard to know how you’re doing in your life when you’re focused on day-to-day tasks. You may subconsciously know that you’re putting an area of your life on hold, but this neglect may not be obvious. Subsequently, you have no real call to action.
The life wheel lets you spot gaps in your life right away so that you can intervene and work on the low scoring areas before it’s too late.
When I first used the life wheel with my clients, I used an 8-segment wheel. After a while though, I realized that there are other important areas that are left out in an 8-segment wheel. I have since created a 10-segment wheel as you can see in the diagram below. These 10 segments are listed in no priority order as they are all important to live your best life:
(Image: Personal Excellence)
Career/Business/Studies — The name of this segment depends on what’s applicable to you now. Use ‘Career’ for employees, ‘Business’ for entrepreneurs, and ‘Studies’ for students. This is considered a crucial segment as work/studies makes up a big portion of our waking lives.
Finance — How you’re doing in your finances.
Health —Your physical health as well as your lifestyle. Diet, sleep, rest, and exercise fall under here.
Social — How you’re doing socially. Do you have friends? Do you have positive, like-minded friends whom you can talk to about anything?
Family — Your relationship with your family members.
Love — If you’re in a relationship, this represents your satisfaction with your relationship. If you’re single, it represents the amount of love you feel in your life and how vibrantly you’re living your life as a single. Just because you’re single doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically get a 0/10; similarly, just because you are with someone doesn’t mean that you’ll get a 10/10. A single can rate him/herself highly here just as someone in a relationship can rate him/herself lowly here.
Recreation — Whether you have the space to explore your hobbies and interests outside of work.
Contribution — How much you’re giving back. How you are caring for the world and environment. Social causes fall under here.
Spirituality — Your connection with the universe and your higher self. Contrary to common belief, this has nothing to do with having a religion. How connected are you with the spiritual aspect of life?
Self-image — Your self-image. This includes your body image and self-confidence.
No matter who you are, these 10 areas are essential to live your best life. It is through these 10 areas that we develop our Mind, Body, Heart and Soul.
Some people may feel that only certain areas of the life wheel apply to them. For example, they may think that spirituality is unimportant to them as they’re free thinkers. This is a misconception as spirituality refers to your connection with the universe — it has nothing to do with having a religion. So they ignore the spiritual aspect of their lives and build on tangible areas like career and health.
However, spirituality relates to our soul and it’s an essential part of living a full life. For those who neglect their spirituality, there comes a point when they feel empty about life. What’s the meaning of life? Why am I here? This is when they start to look for a deeper meaning behind their existence.
Some people disregard money, saying that money is not important. That’s a misconception though. Money is merely a symbol for value in today’s world. While not a perfect measure of the value one gives, money is the currency that people use today in the exchange of goods and services. When you reject money, you’re rejecting the act of receiving value for your work. In the long run, rejecting money makes it difficult for you to achieve your long-term goals because you lack the monetary resources to do so.
With self-image, I realized that it is something that many people neglect today. Do you respect yourself? Do you love yourself? Do you believe in your capabilities? Do you value what you do? You are the one person who will be with you in your entire life. If you don’t have a healthy self-image, then who’s going to respect or appreciate you? If you have a poor self-image, everything else will suffer. On the other hand, when you have a strong, healthy self-image, it provides you with the foundation to excel in life.
A few days ago. I posted an article about the deadliest dog breed to own. This is the dog breed that’s attacked the most people – TUTORING YOU
Based on the number of deaths attributed to this breed (421), the Pit Bull is by far the deadliest dog to own. I don’t have the number of other dog breeds that have been killed or injured by this breed, however it happens more frequently than attacks on humans. Here is a report on the latest attack from ABC 7 news:
“Cynthia Bailey said when she let her toy poodle Caeser out around 6 a.m. Tuesday, a neighbor’s dog was in her yard.
She said that dog attacked Caesar once, then came back after him again.
Baily said she tried to fight off the dog, but Caesar died from his injuries.
“I’m screaming and yelling for help, but he’s just constantly attacking, you know, my dog,” Baily said. “Nothing I did touched him. He didn’t flicker at all.”
The owner of the pitbull, cane corso mix told officers the dog had gotten out of the house.
Every Sunday in communities across the country, you’ll find real estate agents hosting open houses for homes they’re listing. While some people attend these 2-hour events to get decorating ideas, and agents use them to network and make contact with potential buyers, open houses are also an excellent way for house hunters to get a low-pressure look at a property, ask questions, and suss out its suitability.
Sellers typically go to great lengths to spruce up the place before an open house and, in some cases, they’ll endeavor to hide issues a home—particularly an older home—may have that can prevent its sale. The next time you’re at an open house, keep your eyes open for these seemingly minor house characteristics that might indicate the sellers are hiding something, or there’s trouble down the road for the new owner.
If the yard meets (or is near) the siding, the house is at risk for termites.
When first approaching a home, take a look at the distance between the bottom lap of a house’s wood siding and the soil. Anything less than 6 inches puts the home at risk of a termite infestation. These subterranean wood-munchers look for the shortest routes to enter the house and start dining on its structural members. In all cases, the soil should never be piled up against the siding.
If there’s no railing on the steps, the house may not qualify for a mortgage.
Some non-conventional mortgages, including FHA, VA, and RD, require a home to meet specific conditions and safety requirements before a mortgage can be approved. This doesn’t mean you can’t purchase the house, but if there’s no railing on the steps, one will likely have to be installed before the sale closes.
Other mortgage requirements may include no peeling paint and a roof that’s in good condition. If you will be applying for one of the above mortgages, it’s a good idea to get a list of property requirements from your lender before you attend an open house.
Trees growing near the house increase the risk of sewer problems.
Trees are an essential part of the landscaping, and if you’re looking at homes in older neighborhoods, odds are you’ll encounter tall, towering trees. Unfortunately, several popular tree species, including oak, maple, birch, and sycamore, all send out invasive roots that can work their way into sewer and drain lines, resulting in blocked drainage and expensive sewer line clearing repairs.
To get an idea where a sewer line runs, look for a cleanout pipe near the foundation. Typically, the line will run directly from there to the municipality’s sewer main. If the home made your short list and you’d like to pursue it, it may be worth checking with the local Zoning Office to see if there are utility maps that indicate the location of sewer lines. Without that knowledge, it’s usually a safe bet for trees to be a minimum of 10 feet away from any buried drain line. Twenty feet away is even better, because many tree roots don’t extend that far.
If the yard slopes downward to the foundation, it creates a risk of leaks.
Water and foundations don’t mix. Building codes often require a 2 percent minimum yard slope away from the foundation to keep rain or sprinkler water from draining downward along the foundation walls. An inverted yard slope can usually be remedied by hauling soil and raising the grade next to the foundation. However, water may have already leaked through the foundation and caused water damage, resulting in leaks in the basement and the presence of mold or mildew.
Copy and paste the source link below for more “buyer beware” situations.
You don’t get to be one of the richest people in the world without knowing something the rest of us don’t. Often referred to as the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett has a net worth of $102.2 billion, according to Forbes.
1. Decide That You’re Going To Be Rich
In order to be rich, you have to believe that one day you will be. According to the Huffington Post, Buffett once reportedly said, “I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”
For best results, set high expectations for yourself and work toward your goals and aspirations.
“Then, make it clear to yourself, your family and friends that you have a commitment to become financially independent,” said Randall “Dolph” Janis, an insurance agent at Clear Income Strategies Group. “Create your future with a plan, knowing when to get aggressive against knowing when to be conservative.”
2. Start Saving at a Young Age
By age 15, Warren Buffett had earned $2,000 delivering papers and selling magazine subscriptions, according to CNBC. He used $1,200 of his earnings to invest in a farm, forming a profit-sharing agreement with the farmer.
The lesson? “Start saving money as early as possible, so that you get into the habit,” said Brittney Castro, founder and CEO of Financially Wise Women.
This is important whether you’re saving to invest in a business or buy your first house.
3. Reinvest Your Profits
When Buffett was in high school, he and a friend bought a pinball machine. According to Biography, the pair put it in a barbershop and quickly earned enough to buy more machines and install them in other shops. The friends eventually sold all the machines for a profit of $1,200.
If you want your fortune to grow, the best thing you can do is keep reinvesting it in your business. Of course, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, but don’t spend it all in one place.
4. Graduate College Early
Because of Buffett’s sharp mind for business, it’s no surprise that he managed to finish college in three years — two at the Wharton School of Business and one at the University of Nebraska, according to the book “Icons of Business.” Although college costs weren’t nearly as high in Buffett’s day as they are today, it’s likely that he saved money by completing his education in three years instead of four.
Today’s college students can save by following his lead.
For the 2016-2017 school year, the College Board estimated that the average cost of tuition at a private college was $33,480. If you attended a state school as a resident, you spent $9,650 per year. However, graduating early could save you even more when you factor in the cost of student loan interest paid out over the next 25 years.
5. Bounce Back From Rejection
Ironically, Harvard Business School rejected Buffett after his interview. But instead of sulking, he headed to Columbia and met Benjamin Graham. Graham is a legend in the investment industry, and he became Buffett’s mentor. Much of Buffett’s incredible investing success could arguably be credited to Graham and the lessons he taught him.
“Turned down? Who cares, keep going, it happens all the time,” said Tom Scuccimarra, national sales manager at M&O Marketing. “You can’t take it personally, and you can’t let it push you off course of your dreams.”
Even if you get rejected from a school or job opportunity, it’s important to keep moving forward. If Buffett had quit after Harvard dismissed him, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
[This are just the tip of the tips. Click on the link for 16 more tips]
Even in the age of email and using the internet for practically everything, there’s a good chance you still rely on traditional mail to get a few things done. But whether it’s your annual holiday cards going out on time or a care package you’re hoping makes it to your loved one swiftly, it can still be a helpless feeling whenever you drop something off in a mailbox or at the post office. Now, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced it’s making a major permanent change that’s going into effect in a matter of days. Read on to see how your daily deliveries are about to get different.
The USPS will permanently change the delivery time for some mail, slowing it down by 30 percent.
It sounds like the term “snail mail” is about to take on a whole new meaning. Beginning Oct. 1, the Postal Service will “implement new service standards for First Class Mail and Periodicals” announced in March that will increase the amount of time it takes for them to be delivered, USPS spokeswoman Kim Frum told USA Today in an email.
The changes will primarily affect any mail that’s traveling a long distance, such as one coast to the other, adding that “most first class mail (61 percent) and periodicals (93 percent) will be unaffected” by the changes, Frum wrote. Single-piece first-class mail, which typically includes smaller and lightweight envelopes and parcels, can still expect to be delivered within two days if it’s being sent within the same region.
USPS is also temporarily increasing the price of sending packages for the holidays.
But it’s not just the delivery time of your letters and packages that will be affected by the changes from the USPS. The price of sending a domestic commercial or retail package will also temporarily be going up from Oct. 3 through Dec. 26, covering the peaking shipping times seen over the holiday season.
According to the Postal Service, the temporary changes are similar to the ones put in place over the 2020 holiday season, with price increases ranging from 75 cents for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Boxes and Envelopes all the way up to $5 for larger packages shipping to certain zones. However, the price increases will not affect international shipping rates,
Longer delivery times could greatly affect important mail such as paychecks, tax notices, and more.
The difference of a few days for delivery might not feel like much at a time when it already feels like mail moves at a glacial pace. But according to CNET, the slowdown will affect everything from birthday cards and wedding invitations to paychecks and tax credits or notices. By the Postal Service’s estimates, mail that used to take two to three days to get delivered may take as many as five, which can create a crunch when receiving or sending time-sensitive items or documents.
The changes could also create massive headaches for businesses that rely on USPS to ship products, especially when e-commerce is replacing traditional brick-and-mortar shopping. In addition, residents in the Western states and parts of Texas and Florida will also be disproportionately affected, according to a report from The Washington Post. And for those who live in rural areas, states such as Alaska and Hawaii, or territories such as Puerto Rico, service will also become dramatically slower.
USPS says the changes will help to increase “consistency, reliability, and efficiency.”
According to the USPS, the forthcoming changes are part of the Postal Service’s 10-year “Delivering for America” plan to help the agency tackle its financial woes and iron out its operations. They explain that part of the reason for the planned delivery delays is a shift from using costly airplanes to more budget-friendly trucks—which the agency also argues makes items less prone to weather-related delays.
“The Postal Service can entrust its ground network to deliver more First-Class Mail, which will lead to great consistency, reliability, and efficiency that benefits its customers … Whether it’s 300 miles or 3,000 miles, the current standard for [first-class packages] requires 3-day service for any destination within the contiguous U.S. with a drive time greater than six hours,” Frum said to USA Today. “This is unattainable and forces us to rely on air transportation, yielding unreliable service. With this change, we will improve service reliability and predictability for customers while also driving efficiencies across the Postal Service network.”
