1.

Get a personalized web domain address (if you don't have one yet)

First, register a domain if you don't have one yet. I recommend Namecheap.com (8.88 USD) for affordable domain registration. It comes with Free Email Forwarding so you don't need to apply for any hosting.

This is the only expense that you have to make, but most of us should already have a domain.

Unless you are using NameCheap as recommended above, you need a hosting plan that comes with unlimited mail aliases or use Zoneedit's MailForward at no cost with the domain.

For the rest of this article, the domain I am going to use as an example is www.example.com.

2.

Get a new unused hard-to-remember e-mail address

Preferably from your ISP as it is the fastest connection you can use to send and receive mails. Do not give this address to anyone else except your hosting provider. NO ONE ELSE. This is where you will receive all forwarded mails.

If you ever need to move to another ISP, you will simply have to update your e-mail at your hosting provider.

Why hard to remember? Some spammers generate e-mail names from a domain so if you use something like john@example.com, you don't even need to post it online to get spammed as 'john' is a very common name.

3.

Register a GMail account

This will be the free spam filter for legitimate mails directed to your domain. Again, create an account with a name that is not common. You will easily get spammed with an id like tom@gmail.com. Get something like john3942@gmail.com. Remember, this is only for spam filtering use.

GMail's spam filters filter out much of the spam I receive, with a few odd mistakes once in a while.

4.

Create a mail alias for every person

This is the challenging part when you are starting off. For example, if you have 3 friends named Tom, Dick and Harry, create tom@example.com, dick@example.com and harry@bootstrike.com. You will have to let them know your new e-mail address.

Again, try to avoid words like Tom, Dick and Harry in the e-mail alias. Put the first name and second name together for a more unique word.

Make a bookmark to the Add New Alias page of your hosting company's Control Panel so that you don't always have to enter it manually.

5.

Create a mail alias every time you need to submit your e-mail address to a website

Every time you need to submit your e-mail address, create an alias for the site. For example, if you sign up for a passport account, create an alias msnpassport@example.com and use it to setup your account.

This makes it easy to catch companies selling your e-mail address as well as to allow you to close the e-mail once you discover that it has been compromised.

6.

Set the catch-all e-mail to your GMail account

This is for cases when you need to give an e-mail to someone outside and you are away from the computer.

Once you see the mail in the GMail mailbox, create an alias for him.

7.

Give each person a personalized e-mail address

If you meet Tom, Dick and Harry outside and they request your e-mail address, simply give them tom@example.com, dick@example.com and harry@example.com.

When you get home, you may forget to create an alias for them. No worries - if the person e-mails you, his e-mail will be promptly sent to the GMail account at which point you will remember to create the alias for them.

8.

Set your reply-to email address in your mail client to something like xxx_1@example.com

When you discover spam coming through the reply-to address, change it to xxx_2@example.com and remove the alias for xxx_1 to redirect it to GMail.

Also, set your outgoing SMTP server to use your hosting server's SMTP, as receipient's spam filters may discard your e-mail if they find that the domain you are sending from does not match the SMTP server you are using.

Pros

• Switch off e-mail addresses that have been added to spam mailing lists easily
• Personalized e-mail address for your senders
• Change your ISP easily with no worries on updating your e-mail address. The only place where you will need to update is the hosting company.
• Frankly, the only big Pro here is 99% LESS SPAM

Cons

• Users will find it hard to add you to Skype / ICQ / MSN as you do not have a unique e-mail address
• Require more time to maintain e-mail address
• A slightly steep learning curve as you become accustomed to terms like DNS, Mail Alias and Catch-All.