I have essentially completely solved the spam email problem, at least to my satisfaction. I use Mailwasher to screen the messages while they are still at my ISP. If it looks suspicious, I can delete it at the ISP, without having to download it to my computer. I can even look at the text portions to be sure.
http://www.mailwasher.net/ has a free version that works just fine. I use the paid version as I have two email addresses and only the paid version checks multiple addresses.
I have been using the program and recommend you try it. As far as I know it works with the majority of the email programs out there - check the web site for more details, and as with any program you might want to install on your computer, do some research to see others comments on the program before downloading it.
Good luck,
Jim