Layout:
Home > Death By A Thousand Cuts + Unclaimed Property

Death By A Thousand Cuts + Unclaimed Property

February 22nd, 2013 at 03:13 pm

What is the opposite of "Death by a thousand cuts"? Because that is what we seem to be doing. Big Grin

I think debt and bad financial management can really be like that as everything just kind of compounds. A lot of little stuff can really add up, that is for sure.

Anyway, I personally find it hard to believe that there is *ever,* "no room for improvement." IT seems we are endlessly able to shave $5 here and there.

**We dropped Blockbuster subscription since our local store is going out of business. Frown This is a huge decrease in benefits and services, but oh well, what else can we do?

We did add disks to our netflix service, to compensate. Will save us $5 per month overall. Maybe more, since we used to make a fair amount of trips to Blockbuster (gas savings).

I think we also got a free trial on the disks, so get a month off - will save $15 this month? Dh just happened to get a netflix offer - but maybe strategic marketing with Blockbuster's whoas.

{That said, would not be surprised if dh bought more movies, so will see. Blockbuster really scratched his "new release/impatient" itch}.

**Dh is clearing out space for the music room transformation of his office. Just a reminder that you can drop off e-waste at Best Buy. They are still doing that. Has saved us a lot of time and energy as we just drop off all our crap there. He got rid of some ancient computers and monitors.

We still have one old school computer monitor in the house, but it gets little use. He kind of wanted to hang on to the others, if we ever need another monitor, but decided prices have got so cheap (new monitors) just to let it go.

{& let's face it, I bet his dad has a few laying around - if we ever need computer equipment we always check with him first. He is a bit of a computer parts hoarder - both new and used/old parts}.

**I don't do a lot of the household shopping and don't have much of a coupon strategy. But I do just try to stock up on things on sale. Or not, when I only pick up a couple of female products here and there. (Dh does all the rest. He will buy whatever, but I like to buy my own toothpaste, soap, makeup, etc.).

Yesterday I noticed panty hose and knee his on sale at Walgreens. They only had 3 boxes on sale so I grabbed them all. It was actually unclear (As everything was marked more expensive except the exact style of knee his that I buy - which seemed too good to be true) and so I picked up a couple and was surprised when they actually did ring up like $1.89 (75% off). So I went back after work to grab the rest. I will go back in a week or two and keep an eye out for more stock. I will gladly buy 10 boxes at this price.

So, that's the little stuff this week. Progress by a thousand cost cuts? Big Grin

---------------------------------------------------

Oh, and get this!!

I found unclaimed property in our state. I saw dh's name in the database. (I mostly expect to *never* find unclaimed property - we do not let money slip out of our hands that is due to us. !!!)

So, what the heck was it?

A 15-cent check that Vanguard sent to us when dh converted his IRA into a ROTH. Rolleyes There was like 15 cents left in the account, for whatever reason.

I did not cash it because it wasn't worth the time, energy to do so. I shredded it.

For reference, businesses are only required to report unclaimed property of $50+. I would never advise my small business clients to bother otherwise. I suppose Vanguard is so huge that they just report everything.

Anyway, supposedly they were supposed to contact us before they contacted the state. They never did. So I feel kind of Rolleyes and think I will just let it go. The state can have my 15 cents - lord knows they need it. IF they had contacted me I would have said fine and cashed the checks. I mean, if they insisted. Yeesh. But now there is a whole extra layer of complication between dh and his 15 cents.

This may seem the polar opposite of the rest of my post, but I believe strongly in time/hassle trade-off. If I saw 15 cents on the ground of course I'd pick it up. I have to go cash it at the bank? & NOW I have to call Vanguard and ask for the money back? My time is worth more than 15 cents, so never mind!! Big Grin

But that is my story of unclaimed property.

Actually, the more I think about it the more I annoyed I am. Dh has an account with Vanguard still. Seriously? They couldn't track us down? Or maybe they figured what happened and just sent it to the state to cover their butts. I guess, fair enough.

6 Responses to “Death By A Thousand Cuts + Unclaimed Property”

  1. Petunia 100 Says:
    1361554594

    I had a tiny bit of money left in my Vanguard trad IRA at one point, less than one dollar. I asked them to convert it and throw it in my Roth.

    But, I *would* have cashed that check. Big Grin I would have waited till I was at the bank anyway, but oh yes, I want ALL of my money. Lol.

  2. Swimgirl Says:
    1361589823

    Ha! I just got on the unclaimed property and found $4.XX for The Husband and $29.XX for me. I think it's worth a little investigating. The Husband's was for overpayment on a car loan (his first car) years and years ago, it looks like. Mine was for some local bank stocks that were a Christmas gift when I must have been 12! They were from an aunt and uncle who had some interest in the bank, and I remember thinking at the time that I'd have rather had a pair of earrings from Claire's because honestly, what 12-year-old wants stock?! Smile

  3. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1361590526

    Great savings on the pantyhose!

    I would have done the take a picture of the check and deposit it. Smile (Though maybe the check is from before picture checking came about ...) Smile

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    1361630547

    @FT - Oh absolutely. This check was from many years ago. Phone scan deposit is another story. If I received 15 cents today, I'd just phone deposit it. No biggie.

  5. Jerry Says:
    1361637653

    It always cracks me up when they send checks that are worth less than the postage that it cost to deliver it. Smile It is really strange that they couldn't seem to track down someone with an active account with their company, but I think that they get so big sometimes that it leads to "the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing," and not in a good way. Oh well, at least you have some insurance that they didn't try to abscond with it completely... that would have really ticked me off!
    Jerry

  6. MonkeyMama Says:
    1361649965

    Yeah, I also want to clarify, that as careful we are with our money, the primary reason I expect to never find unclaimed property is that we are *very easy to find.* Like, we don't move very often. Big Grin Which is more to the point. I can see refunds easily slipping through the cracks if you move fairly often. I have certainly never moved since I have had an account with Vanguard - hehe.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]