SOUTH BEND — Movin’ on up.

The popular theme song for the ’70s sitcom, "The Jeffersons," seems to be theme for a number of consumer costs these days — milk, eggs, gasoline, you name it.

Now, postage stamps are being added to the list.

The interesting thing is, many consumers don’t seem all that bothered by it.

"It’s almost a non-event," said South Bend resident Brian Grantz as he dropped off some Mother’s Day cards this week at the post office downtown. "Gas prices, you know, the cost of everything else. Postal rates have to increase. I think it’s still amazingly cheap."

Ditto for South Bend resident Beth Hall, who learned for the first time this week that the cost of sending a first-class letter will rise a penny to 42 cents on Monday.

Postage rates last went up in May 2007, with a first-class stamp jumping 2 cents to the current 41-cent rate.

"It was a surprise," the South Bend resident said on her way out the lobby of the downtown post office. "(But) I can’t say I’m shocked."

Granted, this doesn’t mean Americans still haven’t been taking little steps to alleviate some of the financial burden.

Enter, the Forever stamps.

Currently selling for 41 cents, the popular Forever stamps will remain valid for full postage after the increase and, starting Monday, the cost of the stamps goes up to 42 cents too.

Since the Forever stamps were introduced last year more than six billion have been sold, with interest growing as the rate increase nears.

"There’s been a pretty steady demand" here in the past couple of weeks, said Dean McCool, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service in South Bend.

The Forever stamps, in fact, have gained more interest than even the 1-cent stamps, McCool said.

"That lets us know that customers are aware of it," he said. "They’re planning for it. ... Customers are smart; they’re doing the right thing."

Needless to say, even as the higher rates near, the post office still is seeing higher gasoline prices chip away at its budget. It has been estimated that each penny increase in the price of gas costs the post office $8 million a year.

McCool noted that the postal service still absorbs fuel costs as opposed to passing it along to customers. That’s why it’s good news, he said, that postage rate hikes are now going to be more consistent and predictable from year to year.

"This is actually a response to what customers and businesses have been asking for," he said.

In the past, raising postage rates was a complex process involving hearings before the independent Postal Regulatory Commission, a process that could take nearly a year.

But under the new law regulating the post office that took effect in late 2006, the agency can increase rates with 45-days notice as long as changes are within the rate of inflation for the previous 12 months.

The Postal Regulatory Commission calculated that at 2.9 percent through January — which limited the first-class rate to an increase of just over a penny.

Under the new law, postal prices will be adjusted each May, according to the Postal Service said. Officials said they plan to give 90 days notice of future changes, twice what is required by law.

Of course, with all this talk of stamp price increases, it does raise a vital question in today’s Web-based culture:

Are more people pursuing avenues such as paying bills online and avoiding the traditional mail all together?

"There’s certainly an increase in online banking," McCool said as he stood in the large mailroom of the post office downtown. "But we’re still moving a whole lot of mail."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.