No Saturday Mail And Your Budget

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe opened a press conference today with the news that Saturday mail delivery will halt beginning in August of 2013.

”The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits.”

This is an intelligent financial move for an agency that loses an average of $25 million a day for a grand total loss of $15.9 billion during the last fiscal year. Other than the minor inconvenience of not having to check your mailbox on the weekends, this move could have an impact on your ability to pay bills on time and alter your budget to a small degree. Here are a few ways that you can prevent this from happening.

Budget Impact

The impact on your budget should be positive overall. The monthly bills that you have may arrive a little later without the extra day of delivery. The same can be said about the payments that you send by mail…you may have to mail them sooner to account for the missing day of service. That may require you preparing for your monthly payments a week earlier in your budget; thus, prompting you to shift what you pay from week to week. If your budget is structured right, this will only cause a minor bit of irritation. Even if your budget is a little out of kilter right now, this change will help you improve it.

Solution

Online bill pay has arguable contributed to the lower mail volume that has led to the need to cut Saturday delivery. Ironically, without Saturday delivery, online bill pay may be your best bet for insuring that all of your bills are paid on time. Many companies have an additional tool available with their online bill pay system:  payment reminders sent directly to your smartphone.

Online bill pay is also a great tool to use if you want to pay down your credit card debt. After paying your monthly payment, you can use online bill pay to pay any other amount that you deem affordable each month. If you have read my personal story,  you can see how getting out of debt is a winnable struggle and online bill pay is an important tool in that struggle.

This move to end Saturday mail will save the USPS about $2 billion a year. Another $14 billion a year and it will be to break even. Yes, it will be inconvenient at first, but you will adjust soon enough. I offered a few ideas to help you avoid late payments after the change in service. If you have any others, we would love to hear them in the comment section.