I'm trebely screwed on credit card applications: I've get them for me personally, my small business, and the .NET group I started. Even with that, though, I wasn't ever getting the awful numbers you are. Bummer.

Not only are these things annoying, but they're a serious risk, too. Some malfeasant doofus gets ahold of one of these, changes the address, resubmits it and Poof! you've got an identity theft issue.

It took me me forever, but I finally got the number I get cut down. Everytime I get an unwanted application I use a big, fat whiteboard marker and scribble "TAKE ME OFF YOUR MAILING LIST" across the sheet you send back -- and send it back to them using their own pre-paid envelope.

After six or eight months of that I'm down to one or two a month. Ugh.

Mailing their offers back is just awesome! It definitely helps getting the junk mail number cut down. I used to get tons of magazines in the mail from clothing to home interior. It used to drive my Dad crazy with adding to the recycling box. I started calling each one, little by little, and asked to be taken off their mailing list. It worked for the most part, but also "return to sender" has more of an impact. Some of the offers, however, are pre-printed checks, that definitely should be shredded.

For credit card applications there's actually a pretty simple way to get off the list. It's like a do-not-call registry for pre-screened offers based on your credit report. It turns out the reason you get the offers in the first place is bcause the card companies are buying screening data from the credit bureaus. That's where they make their money, those darned credit bureaus.

Instead of telling each individual company to stop, you tell the credit bureaus (with a single notification) that you don't want companies to be able to pre-screen you for any sort of credit offer. If the credit card companies can't get the pre-screened data from the bureaus becuase you don't allow it, they can't pre-approve ya.

I may have to try that. I read about that option on every freaking pre-screened offer that comes in the mail. Well, the ones I open, that is. Lots just get shredded without opening them.

I've just been too lazy to opt-out I guess.

Of course, I believe the card companies will do about as effective a job of opting me out as they do keeping our credit reports accurate. How much hope is that? Not much.