Unclaimed Funds: Part 3

Earlier this week a letter arrived from the Pennsylvania Department of Treasury. Of course, as a Pennsylvania resident, whenever I get any mail from the state, I'm worried that I'm being audited. But this envelope from Harrisburg contained good news—and a check.

Remember my articles from this fall about unclaimed funds and where you could go to file for unclaimed money? Well, our unclaimed money finally showed up, and it wasn't too shabby—$77.37 that we'd "left behind" when refunds sent to our former address couldn't be cashed.

Of course, $77.37 is just a drop in the bucket compared to the unclaimed money stories that have been showing up in the news lately:

• A Missouri woman who got $6.1 million in unclaimed money from the state
• Another Missouri resident received $100,000 in unclaimed money
• A New York school was able to cash in on $6,000 in unclaimed money

In fact, the State of Louisiana estimates that one in six of its residents has about $500 in unclaimed money waiting to be claimed.

Bottom line? Check out the links in my "Unclaimed Funds: Part 2" story, and click over to the treasury department website of any state where you've lived—or someone in your family has lived. You may be surprised to discover that you or one of your relatives has some unclaimed money coming his or her way.

Which reminds me: I found missing money for one of my aunts in New York. I think I'll include a printout of that information with her holiday card this year.

In the meantime, I might just spend some of that $77.37 on Free Shipping Day sales today!