Do You Have Forgotten Money Waiting For You In Minnesota?

With the holiday season, well on its way (it is almost mid-October) many people's thoughts start to turn toward gifts and what you can and can't afford to give this year. Let's face it, with the cost of goods going up, up, and up and wages for employees holding steady this year might be a year where you don't see as much under the tree. That is unless you have some 'forgotten' money hanging around.

So how can you find out if you have 'lost' money? It's pretty easy. The state of Minnesota has set up a website that allows you to search your name for unclaimed money that came from a variety of places.

According to the Minnesota Commerce Department website "People lose track of their money or financial property because of a change of address, a death, or because they inherited something they didn't know about. As part of our mission to protect consumers, Commerce is committed to reuniting Minnesotans with money that has gone missing."

So where is this lost money coming from? Good question! The Commerce Department in Minnesota says that the most popular sources of this 'lost' or 'forgotten' money come from:

• Unclaimed wages
• Insurance claim payments or benefits
• Stocks/Bonds
• Safety Deposit Boxes

If you are curious if you might have unclaimed money, just sitting there waiting for you, head to the Commerce Department website, by clicking here, and simply click the link that says "find unclaimed property". Once you do that enter your name or the name of a family member and search.

Maybe you'll find some, maybe you won't but you'll never know unless you look, and hey it might mean a nice new gift for yourself this year...