Bargain Central

(From our April 2024 Issue)

Show Me the Money

By Debbie Neal

Like everyone else, I want what is rightfully due to me. It is one thing to list beneficiaries and, when the time comes, the inheritance is properly distributed. Or, say you buy something online, you get an estimated arrival date, and it arrives on or near that date. But you don’t know what you don’t know.

In my lifetime I have lived in 3 different states. I was born and raised in Tennessee. Then, I attended Florida State University as an undergraduate, and have been in Colorado since 1989 where I attended graduate school. In all 3 states I lived on my own at some point, which required me to open bank accounts, pay rent or mortgage, electricity bills, phone bills, insurance bills (car, apartment, or home), etc. To the best of my recollection when leaving those states, I closed out and settled my accounts. Now what I don’t know is whether there were any overages, deposits, or funds due to me in closing those accounts.

I know when leaving my apartment, I cleaned everything to get my deposits back, though, often they would find something to reduce the full return of my deposit. But I am sure I’m good there. Again, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Years back I saw infomercials about lost money, and yes, they were interesting. I even ordered the free booklet to see how to search for lost money, but “lost” interest, (pun intended). Everyone knows infomercials are designed to highlight the product or service being advertised. It is important to remember that the goal of infomercial scripts is to persuade and motivate viewers to react impulsively. So be mindful of that ploy when watching them. Besides, they are broadcast in the wee hours of the night to take advantage of your half-awake state. Lol!

What brought my interest back to lost money was the recent passing of a relative. We had no clue if they had insurance or not. The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator will find a deceased loved ones’ lost life insurance policies and annuity contracts. Simply search on NAIC Life Insurance Policy locator or visit https://eapps.naic.org/life-policy-locator/#/welcome.

From there, I was curious about finding unclaimed property, so I started digging and ran across the National Association for Unclaimed Property’s website at https://unclaimed.org/. It’s a free service to search by state or multiple states.

I also found a website called Missing Money, https://www.missingmoney.com/ and searched by my first and last name and state and found a slew of unclaimed funds. Then I searched for my husband and kids. I was shocked at finding money from one of my mortgage companies and Mary Kay Cosmetics from when I sold products (yes, I did; don’t judge me)! I found unclaimed funds for my kids, too. So, I checked the boxes for all the unclaimed funds and followed through with what was needed to claim what was rightfully mine.

Again, you don’t not know what you don’t know. So, if you want them to “show you the money” too, visit Missing Money today.

If you know of any local or national bargains you’d like to share with the community, email Bargain Central at contactus@coloradospringskids.com.