Sadiemae

I think it sometimes depend on where you live. I live in a very small town and I have never heard of anyone getting their mail stolen. There are enough neighbors who would call the police if someone were in my mailbox that I don't really worry about it. USPS will honk if there is something that won't fit in the mailbox, UPS irritates me that they won't even ring the doorbell--they just leave packages outside.

ShowMama

I live out in the country and the mailman drives right past our house, but our mail is delivered to a POBox in town. My husband is a teacher and his knucklehead students used to amuse themselves by painting, bashing, shooting, and running over our mailbox down by the road. I was always replacing the blasted things. The final straw came when the whole shebang disappeared....mailbox, post, and 200+ pound concrete block it was embedded in. (We heard later it got dropped in the river.) I refused to provide the entertainment any longer, so we got a POBox. Yes, we have to pay for it and, yes, we have to provide a physical address for someone now and then, but it's really not a problem. We both pass the Post Office going to work, and if we don't feel like stopping, the mail will still be in there the next time we do.

FroggyinTexas

Anybody with a computer can find you and a map to your house within two or three minutes. I was surprised to find an aerial picture of my house--and I was impressed by how impressive it looks from the air! Pictures do lie!

Going to the post office isn't perfectly safe. People in the parking lot may be lurking there to hijack your car or steal your mail as you come out the door.

Most people are honest. You can take reasonable precautions against the others, but the truth is, that if a bad guy wants to get in, s/he can get in.

Relax and quit worrying about the unlikely. Peace and grace,
froggyintexas

Janet Espeleta

My DIL sent her sister a birthday card with a Wal-Mart gift card it in from a secure locked mailbox in their neighborhood. When her sister received the card, the envelope had been slit on the side & the gift card removed. She was able to track down where it had been cashed in & it was in the same town where they live & her sister lives in another state. She knew it had to be a postal employee because no one else would have had access to the locked area of the box.

Willa

A PO box is a wonderful idea. I don't understand why some think we're almost crazy for trying to be on the safe side. Yes, information is out there on anyone BUT why make it easier for them? Most all the people on this site are probably very good people BUT I'm sure there were parents who thought their priests were VERY good and trustworthy (I do believe most all are) only to find out they should have kept their boys home or stayed with them while they were there! I don't live in fear but I also try not to make it easy for the bad. That's why I lock my house and car doors and try to give out as little information as possible.

newquilter10

Ater years of a PO box we now get the mail deliverd at home when we are there and not wintering. I do not fear leaving mail in it when home as we spent the money and got a Mail Boss mailbox, it locks with a key and will hold over a months worth of mail if need be.

I did not want to leave mine out along the street either. This box is made very well and is great. If we are not going to be home I will take the mail up to Post Office to mail.

chartwig

I have a PO Box and Hate it!!! First of all, we have to pay a yearly fee. The worst part is our small town does not have free mail delivery, so we don't have an option. I get upset every June when our renewal for our PO Box comes. Oh and if we don't list our PO Box on our address, they don't like to deliver the mail. They are so picky. I feel if you don't have an option of having a PO Box, you shouldn't have to pay for it. For instance, when we lived in the country we had a mailbox and had access to it 24/7. Now we have to abide by their hours plus the window is only open at certain times. When you work out of town it is like almost impossible to even get there if you have a package that won't fit in the little box. Grrr......

newquilter10

Do you know that if you live near a Rural delivery you can get home delivery? That is why after 34 years of paying for a PO box we found out we could have it deliverd to our home. Worth checking into. Our home town is 350 people.

ontheriver

how does this rural delivery work. when I built my house last year the post office told me they would not deliver to my house because it is over a mile from the closest route. It is more like 3 miles actually. So I have to have a po box.

newquilter10

It so happened that we were close enough to a route and they added us. We now have three of us on the street and another was planning on doing it also.

Get oline with the US Post Office and do some reading and maybe you can do this. We had to talk to the PO of town near us as they were the ones that delivered to our area and a friend on further in town was delivered by yet another town. All our mail goes to the town we live in and then the Rural carriers pick it up.