Regular visitors to this site know that I’m away from home for a few months. It’s actually slightly more complicated than that, as I’ve been “homeless” for a couple of months after selling our house and preparing to move into a new place in downtown Raleigh when school resumes in August. We’re being temporarily nomadic.

One issue we’ve had to address as a result of our temporary homelessness is the delivery of our mail. We needed an address for our credit card company, banks, insurance company, and all the other companies that insist on sending us snail mail. Many of these vendors are willing to email us statements and invoices, but they insist that we have a physical address.

I set out hunting for a way to have a physical address. Of course, I could get a post office box, but I’d have to go by and check the mail periodically or have it forwarded, and I don’t really have a good place to send the mail. I also thought about having the mail sent to our office, but I wasn’t thrilled with mixing my personal mail with my business life.

I needed something better than a PO box, so I started hunting around.

After a fair amount of time on Google, I found a solution. As I was thinking through the problem, I realized that many of our clients face a similar situation: they’re often changing addresses and doing unusual things like staying with friends.

I eventually stumbled across Mailbox Forwarding.

It’s in the business of dealing with postal mail.

Here’s the deal: Mailbox Forwarding provides me with an address. I’ve distributed that address to all of the people who need our location, and I forwarded our mail from our old address.

When mail arrives at Mailbox Forwarding, it scans the envelopes and sends me the image. I then decide whether to shred the mail, forward it to an address, or have it opened and scanned. I find myself scanning about half the mail I’m receiving.

If I elect scanning, the service scans the mail and sends me an image of the contents. I can save the image or dispose of it. I can choose to have the mail forwarded after opening. I’ve got a range of options.

One of the more interesting things Mailbox Forwarding does is open checks and deposit them to my bank. I’ve done that three or four times so far with health insurance reimbursement checks (for some reason, it doesn’t offer direct deposit).

I’ve been using the service since April, and I’m a big fan. It’s doing exactly what it promised, and I’m spending less than $30 per month.

Mailbox Forwarding isn’t a service needed by many, but I’m guessing it’s something that might be of use to a few of our colleagues and/or clients.

If you think Mailbox Forwarding might be useful for you or for your clients, use promo code 20576, and you’ll get your first month for free.