The perfect mail service for nomads

[Vandango]

I found the perfect and cheap mail service Name: Mylocalmailbox $9.95 a month up to 30 pieces they will scan the front of the envelopes and you will see this in your email notification. You can choose what you want done shred no limit and no charge , scan $1.25 per item and of course packages and overnight mail just like the mail forwarders. you can check them out on line I sent a letter to my self to try it out before i became dependent on them and it is all it says it is on line ad

 

[MrNoodly]

It doesn't say whether Texas will let you use the address for residency purposes. Otherwise, it sounds good.

 

[John61CT]

No matter what works just fine today, long term a real residential address - not associated with any letterbox service - is IMO the only way to go for legal domicile.

That one issue will get tighter and tighter, not just gov but brolers, banks, credit agencies, insurance etc etc.

Not saying uproot everything now, but if you need to make a change might as well do it right while you're at it, or when it's convenient in the next year or two, rather tgan getting a surprise down the road, get flagged in some database.

Worse case a campground or friendly social worker outfit helping the homeless.

Completely separate from your mailing address, known letterbox address fine for that.

 

[frater secessus]

My Local Mailbox appears to be a fairly recent (2017) online service [by] the established (1980) Bexar Mailboxes and Shipping in San Antonio, TX. Looks legit to me, though they haven't actually set up the online terms and conditions page yet.  It's still the "greeked" placeholder text:

...in addition; MYSAMAILBOX has shed tears enough give everywhere intemperance the course and superintendence of the straight, its fray to mailboxes, or the reading for haughtiness of the drayman. YOU confess and brookturn this similarly in further down-class altercation wherein conduct is distant be suited to uninteresting, scanned or in coarse subsidiary altercation prepared, MYSAMAILBOX isn't validated by undistinguished instrumentality to YOU, the sender or almsman of such straightforward or low-born 0.33 naturally affiliate. involving the shelved of gadgetry the genealogy...

Based on the biz name injected into that text It appears the original name of the online service was going to be "My SA Mailbox", I assume a reference to San Antonio.

I didn't get far enough to see what setup fees are (if any), but overall pricing seems good.  The value proposition here IMO is the default ability to a scan of each envelope and decide to trash/forward/scan the contents.*  $120/yr vs $235+/yr at Escapees, and the latter also also requires annual club dues.  

I am starting to get serious about picking a mail forwarder, and have winnowed my paper mail down to about 10 pieces a month by using paperless billing, etc.  I used the "Contact Us" page to ask them about the Terms and Conditions page -- we'll see what they say, or if that page really does anything at all.  


* actual content for any given piece of mail is an added costs with all providers I know of

 

[John61CT]

AKA lorem ipsum, not greek but latin, jumbled Cicero passage

 

[frater secessus]

The site owner responded within 7 minutes (!) and said a recent update had dorked up some stuff.  S/he CC'ed the webmaster on the response to me.  Since I am starting to shop for a Texan mail forwarder I will put a star next to their name on my list.  

Correct about lorem ipsum.  From wikipedia:

In publishing and graphic design, lorem ipsum is a placeholder text commonly used to demonstrate the visual form of a document without relying on meaningful content (also called greeking).

[edited to add:  the footnote up there should read "* actual scanning of content for any given piece of mail is an added costs with all providers I know of"]

 

[John61CT]

Aha on the "greeking"

As opposed to the geeking we do

 

[RVingFT]

The Escapees RV Club legal counsel/financial planner has a very good explanation of "domicile" vs. residence. You can receive mail from many locations but your vehicles, insurance, etc. need to all be in 1 state. As John 61CT above states "That one issue will get tighter and tighter" because our guvmnt expects to keep track of us. If you have a CDL driver license, you must have proof of your domicile, no matter where you receive mail and or packages. Here is a link to their site for reference.
https://www.escapees.com/education/domicile/

 

[RVingFT]

Both Technomadia and RV-Dreams wrote up blog posts about the various options in mail forwarding/domicile services available now to nomads>> http://www.technomadia.com/2013/02/setting-up-domicile-in-florida-as-a-full-time-rver/
http://rv-dreams.typepad.com/rvdreams_journal/2018/06/setting-up-our-florida-domicile.html

I have used my local UPS store many times while I was nomadic, but to get a voters' registration card (to prove your intent to return to a certain location for domicile) you can not use a mail service ... (because you aren't living there they say), but you CAN use a PO Box .. makes sense, right? with a CDL it was a BIG process to get my DL changed from 1 state to another, and I will be doing it again in October - to Florida.

 

[John61CT]

Your DL is supposed to only be where you are legally domiciled. Also voting, jury duty, state taxes, draft registration etc.

However, people are allowed to own cars that are each registered and garaged / used in various multiple states around the country. There will likely be property and/or use tax issues if you do this.

And of course if you are trying to "escape from" a high tax jurisdiction, you should cut all ties, including moving your vehicle out of that location legally.

 

[GreyWulf]

Hey fellow nomads I can't decide where I want my domicile to be I'm currently living in Kentucky but I'm ready to go now I have to decide where I want my next domicile to be and I was thinking of following Bob's example of Nevada I know there's plenty of homeless shelters I can use as an address but I need to decide soon because my new RV the tags expire in October and my driver's license expired next month on the 24th.

 

[Bobflhtc]

I've been using BCM Mail and ship in Quartzsite AZ as my domicile for 4 years and I'm happy with their service.

$60 a year, email notification with a online mailbox, $1 to scan multiple pages and inexpensive shipping and handling. I just received a large Priority Mail envelope (11x14) containing several months mail and the cost was $6.85. They also credit you with $20 for a referral. I did it once and gave the guy who signed up a $20 bill.

My voter registration, vehicle and medical insurance and banking etc are all keyed to this address. No emissions test but AZ does have a state income tax.

 

[frater secessus]

Grey,  I've collected some info on common domicile options on this wiki page.  I wouldn't trust it as gospel but it might jumpstart your research.

 

[GreyWulf]

Thank you, it looks like it's a choice between Nevada and South Dakota South Dakota is closer to me at the moment I'm living in Kentucky but I think I'm probably going to be spending most of my time in Arizona and Nevada is closer so if I ever have to renew my tags I won't have as far to drive and also my family lives in California again Nevada would be closer then South Dakota even though South Dakota would probably be the cheapest. I guess Nevada it is 2000 Mile Drive guess I better start saving my ? money ?.

 

[John61CT]

May be cheaper to fly to set up domicile, DL etc, hold off on transfering rego until you happen to be driving through.

Wear and tear cost per mile is lots more than just the fuel cost.

 

[rm.w/aview]

Thank you, it looks like it's a choice between Nevada and South Dakota... I'm probably going to be spending most of my time in Arizona and Nevada is closer so if I ever have to renew my tags I won't have as far to drive and also my family lives in California again Nevada would be closer then South Dakota even though South Dakota would probably be the cheapest.

Make the drive, you're going that way anyway, unless you're going to winter in Kentucky. Take care of business then do what you like. On South Dakota being the cheapest, do the research... get insurance quotes & go to the DMV websites for the cost to register your vehicle every year, currently twice as expensive in South Dakota than Texas. When I was looking I found this to be true and periodically check to see if things have changed, they haven't. So check registration costs in Nevada vs SD & get those insurance quotes to be sure of your choice. 
A while back I went to insure.com while researching for the average cost of car insurance among the states and found South Dakota ranked 7th, (Maine was the least expensive & ranked 1st, Michigan most expensive & ranked 50th), so I was surprised when I received quotes with Texas, ranked at 41st, to be less expensive than SD in an apples to apples comparison. Advice is all well and good at times, but seek the proof as well to be confident of your choice.

 

[frater secessus]

If you do south dakota and stay at the America's Mailbox place overnight for residency, you can also sign power of attorney so they can register your vehicle in SD no matter where you are. And you could set up mail forwarding while you're there.

http://www.americas-mailbox.com/

Other services can likely do this but this is the only one I read up on.

 

[azmike9]

This looks like a good place to do business.