While we still get spam in our mailbox, spam in our inbox isn’t that annoying. Although it does not generate waste in landfills and does not consume the earth’s resources, it takes something very precious and that is time.

Have you been looking for the best way to decrease spam or stop it altogether? Well, my friend, the best anti-spam product is YOU!

Yes, if you are proactive you can avoid most spam. With a little thought and planning, you can avoid spam. However, keep in mind that it is impossible to completely get rid of spam.

However, these tips below should and will help:

1.) Never click on an unsubscribe link unless you have subscribed to the message yourself. This just tells the sender that this address is a “real live address” and someone read the message.

2.) Never post your address on newsgroups or web pages. If you must, try some way to mask your address so a bot can’t crawl the page and harvest your address.

Example: [email protected] is a bad idea to post but user[at]no one[dot]com is a safer way. If someone really wants to write to you, they can figure out your address themselves. Also email harvesters should have a harder time getting your address.

3.) If you must use an address to sign up for a service you’re not sure about or want a free download, etc., have a secondary address for those times. Be sure to sign in and verify this account for bulk de-spamming so your account doesn’t get deleted if it’s inactive for a long time. Also, never give this address to friends or else you may not receive the message because you inadvertently deleted it with spam.

4.) If you have a website and want the email to go to your address, use a web-based submission form.

5.) Run your own email.

I personally have my own domain and run multiple email addresses and forwarders so I can delete and create them at will. This can also be done cheaply.

All you need is a domain name which you can get from Namecheap.com or Godaddy.com for less than $10. They provide email hosting, but I prefer to do it myself using a web host. Some web hosting services that I have used in the past are hostdime.com, hostony.com, and abovehosting.com.

Most hosting providers also have their own spam blocking software installed.

As a last line of defense, you can install software on your machine to classify or filter spam.

Now that you know you can be the best anti-spam blocker yourself, take the last step and end the spam nightmare by giving yourself that last line of protection.