The junk I’m referring to in this article is physical junk, as in the stuff that lands in your postal mailbox and the telemarketing calls you receive.

1. Make your phone number unlisted.

Easy solution but certainly not instant gratification. It may take as long as a year before the calls slow down. Telemarketing companies obviously have copies of the phone book, and if your number is public, you will get called. You have to wait until the new books are published where your number will not be listed any longer.

Some people put a little too much faith in the National Do Not Call Registry. This will not stop telemarketing calls 100%. The only way to stop the calls entirely is if the telemarketers don’t know your number, period.

2. Switch your "registered" phone to a throw-away cell phone.

This does not mean to cancel your primary number. Rather it refers to using an additional line for everything you’re enrolled with.

Buy a Tracfone or like pre-paid cell phone for $10, and renew once every 90 days with a $19.99 card. This translates to a little over $7 a month.

Call every single financial institution (banks, credit cards, etc.) you are enrolled with (or login to the respective web site) and switch your registered number to the throw-away phone.

Keep the phone active, but just turn it off and put it in a drawer. Only use it when you need to call to check on balances so the automated system recognizes the number.

"But how will I be notified if they can’t call me?"

The vast majority of financial institutions always use postal mail first. The only time they call is for suspected fraud or to remind you you’re late with a payment.

DiscoverCard, for example, does put a huge effort into fraud prevention and will call customers directly when any suspected fraudulent activity has taken place.

The way around this is to simply call the throw-away phone once daily to check for voice mails and return calls when necessary. Remember that you can call the cell from your primary number to check voice mails so you don’t waste any pre-paid minutes.

Alternative to buying a pre-paid phone: Skype. Their rates are quite good, and a one-year SkypeIn number (which is a real phone number) is $60 yearly, translating to around $5 a month. And the voicemail is accessible directly thru your computer.

Is it worth $5 to $7 a month to stop the phone ringing from telemarketers?

I think you know the answer to that one.

3. Call every single financial institution you’re enrolled with and opt-out of all promotional offers.

Part of the reason you get junk postal mail is because on sign-up to any financial institution, you asked for it. It is literally in the fine print of the agreement.

The process to opt-out is simple. Call up every financial institution you are enrolled with, get a rep on the phone and specifically say the following:

"I would like to opt out of all promotional offers, both for phone and postal mail."

You have to specifically state the "both for phone and postal mail" part, else it won’t happen.

After that the rep will tell you that your account has been changed so that you do not receive any promotional offers.

Secondly, ask this question:

"Is my information shared with any other companies besides yours?"

The answer will usually be something to the effect of, "We do share our customer information with other reputable companies."

If this is the answer you get, reply with:

"I do not wish to have any of my information shared with other companies."

Ordinarily the rep will comply and make the appropriate changes to your account.

Third, request:

"Will I receive confirmation notice in the mail that I have been opted out of all promotional offers?"

You ask this to specifically make sure the rep actually modifies your account appropriately. The rep will of course say yes, your account will be changed as you requested, and you’ll get the confirmation in the mail.

In about two weeks the junk mail will decrease significantly, depending on how many financial institutions you’re enrolled with.

4. Check for other opt-out options online for whom you’re enrolled with.

Strangely, some companies have opt-out options that are only available via phone, and others available solely on the internet.

Some make sense that they would be internet-only, such as email notifications. But you may find others that you otherwise wouldn’t know about unless you look.

5. Grow a backbone and learn to say no.

This is the best piece of advice I could ever give. P.T. Barnum is the one who said that there’s a sucker born every minute.

If you learn to say no, and stick to it, you’ll never have to use the excuse of, "I accepted the offer just to get the @#!&$@# rep off the phone" ever again.

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