Round up all those paper catalogs you got over the holiday buying season and opt-out of each title you don’t want at CatalogChoice.org. I grabbed a stack and in less than 45 minutes, created a free account and opted-out of 24 catalogs, plus two phone books.

When I find myself in urgent need a new sweater or a coffee maker, I will have no trouble finding it. And if you’ve got a tablet, you can still relax on the sofa and flip, er, swipe through the digital catalog whenever you want (try the free Catalog Spree app for iPad).

Catalog Choice makes it super easy and provides a good summary of all your choices showing the current status.

The site reminds you that it can take up to 90 days to remove your name and address from most lists. If a company continues to send you mailings, you can make a new request.

If it has been 90 days since your request was submitted, and you continue to receive mailings, you can file a complaint.

Good To Know

Use Catalog Choice to opt-out of catalogs you actually receive, but avoid creating an opt-out request for any titles you don’t currently get.

This might have the opposite effect and increase the chance of your name being rented, sold, or exchanged by a catalog company.

More Ways To Slim Down the Mailbox

It’s easy, free, and has the added benefit of helping out the environment. Here are more free resources that I promise won’t take a lot of time and are worth the trouble.

Stay tuned for more in the Data Diet series.