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The Cost of Stamps in The United States
 Christi Nassivera
The cost of U.S. postal stamps puts some individuals into a rage. As of May 2009 a single first class postage stamp cost 0.44 cents. This means that one book of postage stamps cost $8.80 on average. As of January 22, 2012 the cost of stamps went up one cent, meaning it now costs 0.45 cents to send one first class letter. Postcards had an increase of 0.03 cents from 0.28 to the new price of 0.32 cents per postcard. Letters to be sent outside of the United States to either Canada or Mexico were increased 0.05 cents to 0.85 cents. Letters destined for other international countries have increased to $1.05, which is a 0.07 cent increase.
Some people believe that this increase in stamp prices is simply the U.S. postal service being stingy and purposely changing the faces on their stamps for the purpose of being stingy; this however is not the case. The Postal service in the United States is struggling, which impacts the cost of stamps. It is struggling for many reasons, one being economic factors such as the increase in gas prices and other expenses. Another factor, one which may be having the largest impact on the price of stamps, is that more and more people are choosing to go paperless and pay their bills online. Before online bill paying became popular, individuals were sending their bills to companies every month, which consisted of using stamps and therefore supporting the postal service. With fewer people using "snail mail" to mail their bills, there are fewer people to contribute to the income that the post office receives.
Although the cost of stamps will continue to spike throughout the years as expenses rise and even more people decide to go paperless, customers can purchase a stamp called the forever stamp. The forever stamp never expires and only one of them needs to be used to mail a letter. These stamps are purchased at whatever the current price of stamps is, however, when the price of regular first class stamps increases the forever stamp can still be used. Bought in bulk, forever stamps can save individuals money.
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