The insurance companies have found a way to string us along.

When I get an advertisement for Medicare it sometimes has a phone number. I call the number expecting to ask to be take off their mailing list.

What I get is a pre-recorded voice telling me to "leave a message and a sales associate will return my call within 24 hours."

ARRRRGH!

ain't it wunnerful... we continue to get all sorts of stuff in the mail .... it's easy to throw away .... but the incessant phone calls continue to be the most aggravating

The evening and Saturday phone calls! Yes! Arrrrgh!

When I come home in the afternoon there is almost always at least one hang-up call on the voice mail. (Voice mail kicks in, but there is no message.) At least I didn't have to listen to THAT one.

I don't ever call their number.
I tear and sort it into the paper recycle boxes - the piece with address that needs to be shredded, and the rest to curbside recycle.

With any kind of junk mail I tear off any personal information and toss that in the trash. The rest goes to the recycle bin. We have a shredder, but I only shred things if most of the page is personal info.

I should have said address part or any place name appears - and the sneaky little thing that can be scanned - to the shred box.
Our old shredder was a good one, but it finally gave it up.
So now we take them to a commercial shredder place after we accumulate quite a bunch - they dump it in and shred it right in front of us.
I think it was about $5 last time.

And we also take our outdated tax returns, credit card statements, bank statements, etc ...

You can write "Return to Sender" on the envelope and take it to the post office and they will send it back at no cost to you. The sender has to pay the return postage. They will take you off their mailing list right away.

I might do that. The post office is right on my way home from work.

I used to use the "Return to Sender" ploy.

There is the old tale of someone doing so ... and attaching the return mail to a brick. Postage should have been costly.

I usually open all junk mail. Some contains some high quality coated stock inserts that I can cut up for book marks. I'm always losing book marks.

I answer no phone call, on the iPhone ( I hate my iPhone), if my phone doesn't recognize the incoming call and identify it. I wait for voice mail, and check the number on reverse lookup. Otherwise I ignore it.

I have one old land line, which I use for a couple of selected purposes, but the ringer is muted, and I never answer incoming calls. I long ago, before the deluge of spamming phone calls, decided that both my phone ringer and my doorbell were there for my convenience, if I wanted to use them. Or not.

I shred a lot of stuff, but am not obsessive about it.

Just look in the books.

Oh.

iPhone - like it a lot - wish they would quit messing with it.

Haven't given up the landline yet - it came in handy last year when our cell phone tower went out.

Agree on not answering phone/doorbell until identity is established.

You can also add material to the envelope to increase the cost of return postage...I cut pieces of metal from large tomato juice cans...it takes time, but revenge is sweet...if they want to bother me, I'll 'return' the favor.

OK, now THIS is creative!