* The easiest and least expensive way to start is by taking stamps from envelopes, packages, and postcards that come to your house. Be sure to ask permission before you cut stamps off of envelopes. (Remove the stamps from packages and envelopes by cutting a portion of the area around the stamp. Don't try to peel them off, they may tear.

* Ask your friends and relatives to save the stamps from their mail for you. Ask places that receive a lot of mail -- neighborhood businesses or where your parents work -- to save their envelopes for you. If your interest is foreign stamps, you might try airlines, travel agencies, and foreign government offices in your area.

* Find a pen pal (perhaps friends or relatives) so that you can send each other letters with cool stamps.

* Don't be too concerned that you are getting too many copies of the same stamps. You can trade duplicate stamps with other collectors.

* You can purchase new stamps at your local post office.

* Stamp Dealers are a great source for older stamps and often offer inexpensive packages containing many different stamps from all over the world.

* Stamp clubs are another place to get stamps. A club may offer stamps as prizes, or have inexpensive stamps you can afford to buy, or there may be someone at the club who might offer you some good advice. Some stamp clubs sponsor junior clubs that meet at schools or the local YMCA or community center. If you are fortunate enough to have one of these in your area, it can be a great source of both stamps and advice.

* Another resource is stamp shows. Here you will not only find stamps but also get to meet other collectors. Stamp shows may be small one- or two-day events in your local area, or very large events in big-city convention halls lasting several days and featuring hundreds of dealers and thousands of pages of stamp exhibits to see. You can find out about stamp shows in your area by contacting your local postmaster.

Mrs. Nagalakshmi Tadakaluri, Philatelist.

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