Did the cost of a 'forever' stamp just go up with the start of the new year?
The U.S. Postal Service has announced some increases in shipping rates for 2022, but one key postage cost will stay the same.
How much is a forever stamp?
The price of a "forever" stamp, used on the standard first-class letter, is holding at 58 cents.
The forever stamp rate was last changed on Aug. 29, 2021, when it rose from 55 cents to 58 cents. The cost is holding steady in 2022, but Priority Mail postage rates are going up by more than 3%.
Officials say in a news release that the mail rates remain competitive: "The Postal Service has some of the lowest letter-mail postage rates in the industrialized world and continues to offer a great value in shipping."
Forever stamps were introduced by the Postal Service in 2007 and are intended for use on regular, or first-class, letters. The very first forever stamp featured the image of the Liberty Bell.
Since 2011, all 1-ounce first-class stamps have been forevers.
Regardless of how much you pay for a forever stamp, you can use one to send a regular letter (no heavier than an ounce) forever. So if a stamp was worth 49 cents when you bought it and the price of mailing a letter has since gone up to 58 cents, you can still use that old stamp.
Forever stamps are sold in sheets, rolls and booklets of 20. You can buy them in person at your local post office or from the USPS over the phone or online. Some grocery stores and chain drugstores also sell forever stamps.
You can pick some up when you do your food shopping. If you use an app that gives you cash back simply for snapping a photo of your grocery receipt, you might earn enough to buy stamps for a year, depending on the amount of snail-mailing you do.
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