Life Tip: OptOutPreScreen.com

If you're like me and despise getting all of those "you're pre-approved" credit card offers in the mail (waste of printing, waste of money, waste of trees, waste of my time!), then this is a website you must check out: OptOutPreScreen.com

What you need to know:

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies 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 ("Firm Offers"). The FCRA also provides you the right to "Opt-Out", which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers.

What this website does for you:
It allows you to opt-out of the selling of your information for this purpose for five years if you fill out the form on the website, which requires your social security number (submitted securely). If you take literally two extra minutes and the cost of a stamp, you can permanently opt-out via postal mail. I did this years ago and it has cut the crap in my mailbox in half.

So worth repeating - go to OptOutPreScreen.com and get off those credit card offer mailing lists once and for all.