USPS Postage Stamp Prices Increase This Weekend

Today is your last chance to stock up on stamps before their price increases. Starting Sunday January 22nd they will cost more. But just how much more you ask?

One penny.

Prices for one stamp will rise from 44 cents to 45 cents and this will be the first price increase since May of 2009.

“Forever stamps” will always be valid postage for an envelope, but will cost more starting Sunday. (For example: forever stamps you paid 41 cents for years ago are (and still will be) valid, the price change only affects newly purchased forever stamps).

Some other first-class mail prices are also getting bumped up.

• Postcards will increase  to 32 cents
• Letters to Canada or Mexico will go up to 85 cents
• Letters to other international destinations will increase to $1.05

Prices also will change for other mailing services including standard mail, periodicals, package services, and extra services. For more about all that, click here.

I still love getting a good old-fashioned, hand-written letter from someone, but that seems to happen less and less frequently as postage prices continue to rise. It makes me sad, but the Post Office is trying to figure out a way to survive a huge budget crisis, in which it racked up over five billion dollars in debt last year alone and is struggling to stay profitable now that email is most people's preferred form of communication.

[USPS]

Photo by Thunderchild7, Flickr.