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As postage prices rise, people wonder about use of stamps in modern world

The United States Post Office will raise the price of stamps Monday.

On Monday, the cost of mailing a first class envelope will go up to 55 cents.

That's a ten percent increase. Right now, they cost 50 cents.

Some folks say there is still a need for the stamp in the modern world.

The Taco Shed restaurant sits less than a half a mile away from Robins Air Force Base.

They do a brisk lunch business, and folks have mixed opinions about using stamps.

Bryan Santana is in the military.

"I gotta say the last time I remember using stamps I was in Afghanistan 2011 and it was to send letters back home," he said. "When I first came in 2006, we used stamps a whole lot more," said Santana.

Jordan Kersey says he thinks older folks use them more. 

"More convenient just to print it off my computer or buy it online -- kind of outdated technology," he said.

But somebody's keeping the post office in business -- guys like Sean Johnson.

"I guess the cost of business has gone up for everybody, and the post office isn't exempt from that, but if the stamps go up to 55 cents, I'll continue to use them as I need them," Johnson said.

 Johnson says he needs a book of stamps every few months or so.

"My wife, she pays the bills so she uses them, a few a month for, you know,  our power bills and our phone bills, that sort of thing, but outside of that, we really don't use stamps," he explained.

But there are some situations where a computer and a printer just won't do.

Diane Goodman is the human resources officer for the Taco Shed.

"As a local business we partner with a lot of other local businesses," she said.  "There's a man who comes in and sharpens knives for the restaurant and we appreciate him and want to pay him on time.  However, because some of those businesses are so small, they may not have an automated system set up for us to pay them."

But make no bones about it, we don't use stamps as much as before, and that even comes down to mailing those military letters back home.

"Family, it's all digital -- we've all gone digital, whether it's FaceTime or Skype of something like that, I think Facebook Messenger is how I communicate with family friends and everyone back home," Santana said.

The cost of flat rate boxes are also going to go up, but postcards will stay the same rate at 35 cents.

The postal service says they receive no tax dollars for operating expenses.

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