Silence the Sales Pitches

Americans get more than 4 million tons of junk mail a year (not surprisingly, storage is a $2 billion-a-year business). Give your shredder, your mail carrier's back, and your phone battery a break with this opt-out contact list.

General Soliciting

• National Do Not Call Registry: 888-382-1222 (call from the phone -- cell and/or home -- you wish to register) or www.donotcall.gov
• Direct Marketing Association: Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512 (free) or www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist ($5 charge)
• Pre-approved credit cards: 888-567-8688 or www.optoutprescreen.com

Real Estate-Related Pitches

• Acxiom (provides tax assessor public records for marketing use): Opt-Outs/Consumer Advocacy, P.O. Box 2000, Conway, AR 72033-2000; 877-774-2094; or email optoutUS@acxiom.com
• Innovis: 888-567-8688

List Vendors
According to Junkbusters.com, the largest marketing list-sellers house data on more than 90 million households. Contacting the following big guns will significantly cut the clutter:

• Abacus: P.O. Box 1478, Broomfield, CO 80038 or email optout@abacus-us.com
• InfoUSA: Product Quality, P.O. Box 27347, Omaha, NE 68127 or 888-633-4402
• The Polk Company: Opt-Out Coordinator, 26955 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, MI 48034-8455 or 800-873-7655
• LexisNexis: Download the form at www.lexisnexis.com and mail to P.O. Box 933, Dayton, OH 45401. (Opt-out provisions are limited to ID theft victims or those whose safety would be at risk if their information were exposed.)
• Metromail: Consumer Services, 901 West Bond, Lincoln, NE 68521 or 800-228-4571, ext. 4633

As for opting out of phone calls from your mother-in-law or pesky neighbor, sorry, you're on your own.

Caller ID has changed Dayana Yochim's life almost as much as the advent of the DVR. When she's not erasing solicitous phone messages or pausing Nip/Tuck to dish about Christian Troy with her pals, she uses a scalpel to cut to the chase on all things money over at www.GreenLight.Fool.com.