Posted on

EPISODE 36 ~ FIND YOURS: Unclaimed Funds: Why You Must Search All 50 States To Be Sure You’ve Found Your Missing Money

Find unclaimed money with The Easy Money Show

Let’s talk about our find yours topic for today: namely the importance of searching ALL 50 states if you want to be sure to find all unclaimed money owed to you. 

Yes, the states where you have lived are the top priority for a search, because unclaimed money is most often held in the state where the citizen lives or lived.  BUT that is not always the case!  The second most common location for unclaimed money is the state where the company that owes it to you is based. 

That’s because, by law, unclaimed property is supposed to go to the state where you live, but if the company doesn’t know your address, then that unclaimed property is required to be held in the state where the company is based. 

This can be confusing, because it doesn’t necessarily mean the state where you did business or where the corporate headquarters is.  For example, think of all the companies that do business in one state but are incorporated in the state of Delaware, because of it’s favorable incorporation laws.

This is why I say that a truly thorough search for your and your loved ones means checking unclaimed property records in all 50 states.  Having said that, it is NOT really that hard to do.  When you use the website MissingMoney.com, that automatically checks 40 states for you.  Then, you just head over to unclaimed.org —as always that’s .org— to check the other 10 states individually.

As a reminder, the 10 states you must check with unclaimed.org, because they don’t participate with MissingMoney.com— are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, South Carolina and Wyoming.

I would LOVE to profile somebody who found their unclaimed money in the state where the company was based instead of their own home state.  So PLEASE, let me know if this happened to you.  You can get in touch with me at EasyMoneyShow.com/contact.

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

EPISODE 36 ~ GUEST POST: Mattresses: Don’t Fall For Expensive Mattress Gimmicks!

This week I talked about how to save money on a mattress. However, there are even easier ways to save, and that’s to not get tricked! My guest Omar Alachaboun started a mattress topper company called Kloudes, and he knows all of the ins-and-outs on not spending extra on a mattress while still having your dream bed.

Read more on saving on a mattress by Omar Alchaboun. 

Guest Name: Omar Alachboun

Kloudes Website: kloudes.com/

Omar’s LinkedIn

 

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

CBS News Radio Listeners: Welcome! Here Are the Details and Links To Help You Save, Find and Make Money This Valentine’s Day

Every week on the Easy Money Podcast, I dig up clever, creative ways to
make more money, save big money and find your unclaimed money. My
CBS Valentine’s Special tips and tricks were just a sampling. I invite you to check out the podcast for so many more. Meanwhile, as promised, here are more details about how to save money on greeting cards, candy, flowers, restaurants and diamonds. Plus I share how to search for unclaimed money for your sweetheart and interesting ways of making more money.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON VALENTINE’S GREETING CARDS:
CBS Advice:
•Look down low. Low on the rack of greeting cards, that is —think
toddler level!— because that’s typically where the cheaper cards are.
•Buy blanks. Better yet, look low on the rack ANY time of year for
beautiful, but blank cards. When you find deals, stock up, because you
can use blank cards all year round. Just write your own heartfelt
message inside.
•Pass the same card back and forth with your significant other every
year. How romantic to re-read what you wrote to each other in past
years!
More Advice:
•Dollar Stores can be a great source of inexpensive greeting cards.
•You can create your own photo cards online and use them for multiple
occasions. Look for coupon codes and this can be very affordable.
•Trader Joe’s supermarkets sell high quality cards at a low price.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON VALENTINE’S CANDY:
CBS Advice:
Stack your way to savings. For example, find candy on sale and then
STACK coupons on top of that sale to deepen your discount. YES,
retailers allow you to benefit from a store sale plus a manufacturer’s
coupon! Many thanks to the “Krazy Coupon Lady” for these links.
More advice:
Links to stores with great sales on Valentine’s Day:

Valentine’s candy on sale at Walmart.
Valentine’s candy on sale at Target.

Valentine’s candy on sale at Walgreen’s.
Valentine’s candy on sale at CVS.
Valentine’s candy on sale at Rite Aid.
Links to manufacturers with coupons for Valentine’s candy:
Mars
Werther’s
Ghirardelli
Godiva
Snickers
Hershey’s
M&M’s
Brach’s
Trolli

HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON VALENTINE’S FLOWERS:
CBS Advice:
•Avoid roses. Roses —especially red roses— are marked up to two or
three times their regular cost around Valentine’s Day, so skip them!
•Buy favorites. Instead, buy your sweetie’s favorite flowers instead and
they will be so much less expensive that you can even afford a bigger
bouquet! Pssst! My favorite flowers are tulips, honey!
More Advice:
•Go grocery shopping. Grocery store flowers come from the same
suppliers as florist’s flowers and some have special wrapping stations
set up on Valentine’s Day. Bring your own vase to save even more and
personalize the bouquet.
•Shop locally. Instead of ordering from big, international companies
online, call or visit the website of a less expensive local florist located
near your loved one.
•Snag coupon codes. If you must use a big online florist, search for
coupon codes online before you place your order. They are often
available for 15 to 20 percent off.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON VALENTINE’S DATES:
CBS Advice:

•Local restaurants: If you prefer dining at local restaurants, check out
Restaurant.com gift certificates. Go to the specials page, where I
recently spotted $75 gift certificates being offered for $15.
•Chain restaurants: If you like chain restaurants, then head to
Raise.com, a site where people buy and sell gift cards they don’t need
or want. When I checked, gift cards to popular chain restaurants were
discounted by as much as 24%.
More Advice:
Alternative dates: Be creative! Instead of a dinner date, take your
sweetie on a more adventuresome outing. Groupon is a great source
for discounts on stained glass classes, bird watching, movies and more.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON A DIAMOND THIS VALENTINE’S DAY
CBS Advice:
•Understand fractions. Instead of buying, say, a 1.5 karat diamond,
consider one that is 1.47 karats. That tiny difference is not discernible to
the naked eye, but IS to your wallet. It could save you as much as 15%!
•Halo effect. You can also save money by buying a smaller center
diamond surrounded by a halo of even smaller diamonds. Together they
look big and blingy, but the combo costs far less than a single large
diamond.
More Advice:
•Save on the band. Alternatively, spend your money on the diamond,
but save on the band, by selecting gold or white gold instead of platinum or titanium.
HOW TO SEARCH FOR UNCLAIMED MONEY FOR YOUR SWEETIE:
CBS Advice:
•Just do it. Every week on the Easy Money podcast, I encourage
people to search for unclaimed money and give advanced strategies for
finding it. So far, I’ve helped people reclaim nearly $2 million dollars!
The 50 states are holding billions of dollars for their citizens and one in
every ten of us has money waiting, so taking 5 minutes to check is the
real hurtle. Here’s how you do it:
More Advice:

•Step 1: First search at the free website MissingMoney.com, which
automatically checks its 40 member states at once for you.
•Step 2: Then, if you want to be really thorough, go to unclaimed.org
(note, that’s .org) to search the other 10 states individually, especially if
your loved one has lived or worked in: Arkansas, California, Connecticut,
Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, South Carolina or
Wyoming, which don’t participate with the first site.

HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY FOR FUTURE VALENTINE’S DAYS:
Every week on the Easy Money podcast, I talk about clever, creative ways to make more money. Join me to find YOUR way! Here are some
examples:
•Charmaine Pocek, a former recruiter from Houston, has made more
than $1.2 million dollars editing resumes for online clients.
•Ryan Heenan of Orange County, California used to make $30,000 a
year as a preschool music teacher. Now he makes $30,000 a month
producing jingles for businesses.
•Military mom Candace Hatch didn’t even know how to sew when she
started making her Lili Lane children’s clothing and selling it on
Instagram.
•27-year- old Alicia Chew started a fashion blog in her dorm room and
built up such an impressive following that brands from Banana Republic
to Pepsi pay her to talk up their products.
•Jake Bartlett, quit his day job when he realized it was taking away from
his freelance career teaching courses on Skillshare.
•When Jessica Craddock’s fiancee became disabled, she started selling
clothing on Poshmark, and has done so well, she may not bother to use
her law degree
•Kyle Clark has traveled around the world thanks to the extra money he
makes renting out cars on Turo, “the AirBnB of cars.”

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

EPISODE 35 ~ TOP TIP: Avoiding Financial Failure By Being the “Hunter” Not The “Hunted”

Here is a Top Tip that I love. It’s my motto as a consumer, actually.  Ready?  “Be the hunter, not the hunted.”  Sounds kind of weird, but let me explain.  All sorts of bad things happen to us financially when we respond to those who come after us with their products and services.  Instead, do your research and do business with companies and charities that YOU seek out and you’re likely to get a much better deal and avoid scams and rip-offs.  Once more time, all together now: “Be the hunter, not the hunted.”   

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

EPISODE 35 ~ MAKE MORE: Unboxing Videos: Earn Extra Cash By Opening Boxes On YouTube

Now it’s time for our “Make more” segment, and who would have thought that people can add thousands more to their income simply by opening boxes?

The global Unboxing trend is sweeping the web. With viewership growing by 57% over the past year, these short and simple videos are exactly what you might think: someone opening a box to reveal what’s inside. Unboxing categories are endless.  From style and shoes to new tech equipment and quirky knick knacks, anything and everything can be found …now with a suspenseful reveal on the internet.

Becoming an unboxing character has massive perks. E-commerce merchandisers hire and sponsor individuals to film themselves revealing their products for marketing and exposure. Not only are they getting paid to simply open a box, but you get to keep all that’s inside! Some unboxers are becoming YouTube sensations adding tens of thousands to their annual income.

Take Toy Box Collectibles, two individual YouTubers who teamed up to make videos featuring toys being taken out of their boxes. What started as a family-fun channel turned into over 600,000 subscribers and 100,000,000 video views!   How’s that for exposure!

I ran the Toy Box collectibles numbers through a YouTube earnings calculator and it showed that with stats like that they can easily make a quarter of a million dollars a year!  JUST from advertising.  Not counting being paid by product manufacturers!  Um, Opening boxes who knew! 

And, of course, It’s easy to start out in the unboxing industry, simply find a camera, open a box and show some personality! 

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

EPISODE 35 ~ SAVE MORE: Car Insurance: Shopping Around for It And Save $1000+

Save more money with The Easy Money Show

I like to save money on the boring things, so I have more for the fun things. And perhaps the most boring thing of all that we spend money on is insurance. Fortunately, with car insurance it’s possible to save BIG bucks just by shopping around. Consumer’s Checkbook magazine did the hard work of shopping around for dozens of policies and Executive Editor Kevin Brasler is here to reveal what kind of savings they found.

How much can people realistically save by shopping around for car insurance?

Our comparisons of prices charged by the Washington area’s largest auto insurers found that most area drivers will save $500 or more a year by making a better auto insurance choice. Many will save $1,500 or more.

Our illustrative couple with two cars living in the District with clean driving records would pay $568 with GEICO, compared to $1,955 with State Farm, $2,033 with Farmers, $2,577 with Allstate, and $3,219 with Nationwide.

Although it’s a bit of a pain to shop for auto insurance, most consumers would agree that spending a few hours to save $500, $1,000, or more every year is worth the effort.

Do you need to wait until your policy is about to renew?

No, when you switch to a lower-priced company, your old insurance company will refund the unused share of your premium.

I think people worry that switching to a cheaper insurance company means they won’t get good service or get their claims paid if they get in an accident.

You also don’t have to forsake service for a better rate: We found that some highly rated companies offer low rates.

Which companies had the best rates?

we found dramatic company-to-company rate differences for all of the profiles and locations we looked at—several hundred dollars a year in every case, and several thousand dollars in several cases. For almost all our profiles and locations, GEICO charged very low premiums. Other companies that charged low rates for many, but not all our profiles and locations were Erie, Esurance, Progressive, and USAA, but other companies charged low rates for specific policyholder profiles and locations.

Which companies had the best customer service?

Our ratings reveal big differences in how customers rated companies. For “speed of claim payment,” for example, scores range from 54 percent to more than 90 percent for Amica and USAA.

Should consumers buy their car insurance directly?  Or through agents or online or what?

•For auto insurance, we find that most agents can quote accurate rates, but problems still exist.  Some agents quote wildly inaccurate rates, while others persistently push more coverage than requested. 

•Online comparison sites only quote rates from the companies that pay them commissions and some of the most affordable insurance companies may not participate with the site.

How do insurance companies decide what to charge each of us for car insurance?  is it all about accidents and tickets?

Insurers increasingly are offering their best rates only to customers who meet criteria that have nothing to do with their driving histories. For example, most companies offer their lowest rates only to customers with excellent credit scores and who are college graduates and homeowners.

For example, we found that if you have:

•Fair credit you’ll pay $903 more than somebody with excellent credit.

•If you’re 20 years old you’ll pay $890 more than somebody who is 38

•If you’re 80 years old you’ll pay $431 ore than somebody who’s 38.

•And If you drive a BMW 5 series instead of a Honda Accord, you’ll pay $500 more

You can save even more money by dropping coverage you don’t need.  What kinds of coverage should people drop?

When you buy more insurance than you need, or insure against small risks, you are wasting money.

•Decline rental car coverage:

Although most insurers push this add-on, the problem is that even a modest level of coverage—typically $30 per day with a limit of $600 per claim—usually costs $20 to $60 per year for each car on your policy. Since the additional premium over time is likely to greatly exceed any benefits you can collect, our advice is to decline it.

•Decline roadside assistance:

Under many policies, this optional coverage will reimburse you only for $25 per claim, but for $3 or $4 more per year you can get coverage for up to $75 per claim. Though towing and road service coverage is inexpensive, joining AAA will be a better deal if you use other club benefits.

•Skip Accident Forgiveness:

With this option, if you have an accident your premiums won’t change.But most companies charge an additional premium for accident forgiveness (and most other advertised add-ons), and with some companies you pay $100 or more per year to buy it.

You heard it here. Shopping around for a new car insurance policy is the easiest way to save a thousand bucks or more. Kevin Brasler of Consumers Checkbook, thanks for being here and providing it to us.

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

EPISODE 35 ~ FIND YOURS: 401K: How To Find Your Missing 401K From An Old Job

Find unclaimed money with The Easy Money Show

And now let’s talk about our find yours topic for today: how to find your lost 401k plan from a former job.

If your old employer is still in business, chances are you can find your plan by contacting the company.  But if the firm is no longer around, the Employee Benefits Security Administration —part of the Department of Labor— can help you with this.  EBSA calls them “abandoned plans” and says there are several reasons why an employer might abandon its pension or 401k plan. In some cases, the employer goes bankrupt.  In others, the plan sponsor has been jailed, fled the country, or died.  Bad for them and for you!

EBSA has developed an Abandoned Plan searchable database to help participants and beneficiaries find out if a particular plan is in the process, or has been, terminated. The site is searchable by plan name or employer name.  If you find something, then EBSA will direct you to the Qualified Termination Administrator or QTA administering the plan.  Gotta love the government and it’s acronyms.  A QTA is usually a bank, insurance company or investment firm that has agreed to get the 401k money to the account holders.

The QTA will provide you with something called a “notice of plan termination.”  This document will tell you the different ways you can receive your money.  If you don’t choose a preferred method within a month, the QTA may well roll your 401k money into an IRA for you.  That’s common.

When you search EBSA’s database of abandoned plans, you may find that your former employer is in there but that the process for getting you your money back has already passed.  In that case, you should call the QTA —again that’s the Termination Administrator— for help.

If you go to EBSA’s searchable database and don’t find your old 401k, then you can actually call EBSA and speak to a real live human to get further help.  The phone number is 1-866-444-EBSA, but I will post it at EasyMoneySHow.com/35 so you don’t have to memorize that.

It’s important to get on this before fees eat up your 401k money.  So if you’ve ever contributed to a 401k at an old job and can’t recall if you took it with you by rolling it over, just do a quick search.  I tried it and it takes about 2 minutes.  Literally!

Please follow and like us:
Posted on

EPISODE 35 ~ GUEST BLOG: Car Insurance: Save More Than A Thousand Dollars By Spending A Few Extra Minutes Shopping For Auto Insurance

By checkbook.org

Although it’s a bit of a pain to shop for auto insurance, most consumers would agree that spending a few hours to save $500, $1,000, or more every year is worth the effort. Note that you don’t have to wait until your current policy term expires to take advantage of the savings you’d get from a switcheroo—when you switch to a lower-priced company, your old insurance company will refund the unused share of your premium. You also don’t have to forsake service for a better rate: We found that some highly rated companies offer low rates.

Read more on how to save money by shopping around for auto insurance.

Please follow and like us: