Would you forget you had money in a bank account? : The Saturday Weekend Review #79

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR MONEY IS?

It’s hard to imagine someone loosing track of their money and assets especially when that asset is cash sitting in a bank account.

I don’t know about you but I know where all of our money is and if I happened to forget a bank account loaded with money I’d be shocked.

While I was reading an article on Yahoo I was not shocked to find out that Canadians have billions of dollars in unclaimed money. I know, hard to believe but it’s true.

One guy had two accounts totalling $677,000 that he forgot sitting in a Royal Bank. Ya, like that’s going to happen to me. Not likely, but it sure would be an oh nice I forgot I had that money moment in my life, lol.

The Bank of Canada is holding one billion dollars with no one stepping up to claim it. I’m here, over here….. ya right. It’s not me, that’s for sure.

Track your bank account

Since we budget and do a net worth update every month we know exactly where our money is but not everyone does. We do have different bank accounts at certain banks however we aren’t using the accounts for savings. One bank account is merely a line of credit and another an RRSP catch up account my wife opened years ago.

If you don’t track where your cash is you might just lose sight of it. If you have aging parents and you don’t know where their money is you might find it’s easy to overlook bank accounts with cash if they pass away or can’t remember any longer. It’s not uncommon to have people who prefer online bank as well so it’s easy to forget that you have bank accounts if you don’t use them often.

Paperless billing and bank statements make it a struggle as well because out of sight, out of mind. Emails can get lost or sent to junk mail or email accounts abandoned that are attached to a bank account. These are just some ways you might forget you have cash in a bank account.

The post came at the right time because just last week I was laughing at a friend of mine who just moved to the same city as us earlier this year. He told us that he opened a new bank account and started a new job and life got a bit hectic for him.

Just last week he remembered that he had an old bank account that he forgot he opened with just over $1000 sitting in it. The only reason he remembered was he was unpacking some bits and bobs around the house and in a box was a bank statement or passbook (I forget) which triggered the memory.

It’s people like him who forget that they have money sitting around and why there is billions in unclaimed money.

Checking for unclaimed money

You can go straight to the Bank of Canada website to check if you have any unclaimed money. I bet you’d be thrilled to find out you did or maybe saddened that you don’t. To be honest I’d be happy if I didn’t because that means I’m managing my money properly. If you find that you have money sitting around you may want to find ways to know where your money is, how much you have and manage it so it doesn’t happen again.

At the end of December 2013, approximately 1.4 million unclaimed balances, worth some $532 million, were on the Bank’s books.

So, if you have a bank balance the Bank of Canada after ten years of inactivity and the ten years is up they will hold unclaimed balances for a further 40 years until they prescribe it. They will only prescribe balances under $1000.

So if you plan on moving makes sure you forward your address with Canada Post. If you are someone who doesn’t like to talk about their finances at least create a will or have something documented so those taking care of you will know where to look for cash that you have stashed at bank or important life insurance policies.

 Have you ever found out that you have cash in a bank account that you forgot about or just didn’t know you had?

CBB at home and the blog

Well I must say that I had a lovely vacation with the wife spending time in neighbouring towns enjoying what they had to offer in terms of tourist attractions and food. We love to check out food and drink while we are exploring Ontario although we don’t always order something. What we love is going for walks looking at houses and properties to see what the homeowner has done to them.

I particularly enjoy looking at older homes which differ from those back in the UK. I will admit I’m a bit particular about our property and make sure that I keep it in tip-top shape.

When back at home we’ve worked hard to keep the grass green and the garden flowing with herbs, flowers and shrubs. It’s amazing what a bit of effort will do when you put time into your landscaping and gardening. As I look around our neighbourhood there are many properties that could use a facelift which would certainly make the home stand out.

Cleaning up a front garden doesn’t have to cost lots of money either. One guy around the corner has had bags of mulch laying all over his property for nearly three weeks now. I sure hope he realizes he needs to take the mulch out of the bags for it to be effective, lol.

Let’s give the guy a break though it took him 2 weeks to get new sod off of his driveway. Who buys sod and leaves it to die? I’m afraid to see what his back garden looks like. I’m not laughing I’m scratching my head because money can be wasted when people buy things they are not prepared to use right away that need to be used.

Now it makes me wonder why his neighbour is selling their house. They keep their property pristine and I can understand not wanting to live next to someone who keeps their house looking like a dump when you put lots of effort into your own.

Big news is on the way for CBB!! I’m not letting the news slip just yet but it does mean there will be some changes around here. One change may be the PF Grab a brew post and the Saturday weekend review post will be joined. For those of you who have emailed me about Katrina, yes she is still with CBB. She is currently working out of town for the summer but will be back with us sharing her adventures very soon!!

Other than that…. I’m keeping busy around the house. Now that I have the full vanity sets for both bathrooms I must proceed with the renos.

We recently had a tour through a friend’s house and boy did she shock us with the renovations they did. My wife was telling me to make note, lol. I knew she was falling in love with it so now I’m pretty sure I can turn this house into our dream home.

I hope you all enjoy your week.

Mr.CBB

Guest posts wanted

If you are a Personal Finance Blogger I’m looking to book High Quality Guest Posts for the months of September and October to help me get through a very busy period. It’s a great way to share your thoughts and the way you write with my fans.

If you are interested please contact me today as spots are filling up. ~MR.CBB

Weekly CBB posts

If you missed any CBB posts from the week here is the list of posts you can catch up on reading!

• How spending money requires time: Our June Budget Update
• Should grocery stores bother having a garden centre? – The Grocery Game Challenge July
• Does buying second-hand leave you out of touch with real prices?
• Cheddar chive biscuits (you have to try this simple recipe)
• Celebrate Canada Day enjoying our beautiful country!
• Is there such a thing as healthy debt?

Fan deals and inspirations

Submit your Brag or Inspiration If you have a brag that you want me to share email me at canadianbudgetbinder (@) [yahoo] [.ca] or fill out my contact form by Friday each week to have your brag considered for the Saturday post.

This week Jen shares what she has found for a birthday party. Although the party has just past this was the final garage sale shop of a few over the past few weeks.

• Flexible aluminum tubing (for my basement) and grey adaptor for a radio we already own: $1
• Mittens: $.25
• Pizza cutter: $.50
• Two Aeropostal t-shirts, Aero sweater, flowered skirt and khaki toddler hat (not in picture): $5 (they were asking $7)
• Dumb Diary books (bought for my friends daughters birthday gift): $1 (they were asking $1.50)
• Playtex bottle liners: $.50 (they were asking $1)
• Child’s watering can, hose spray nozzle, toy truck with mini cars: $1 (they were asking $1.10)
• Guitar and remote control car: Free

Making a difference

If you know a personal finance blogger that is making a difference and want to nominate them please send me an email canadianbudgetbinder (@) yahoo.ca so I can reach out to them for a feature story.

Note: If you are a blogger who gives back and would like to be featured by all means get in touch with me as I am filling spots up for the rest of 2014 and they are going quickly.

Today my mate Mr. SFZ (Starting From Zero) is here to tell you all about his blog!!

Hello Mr. CBB and Canadian Budget Binder readers!

I’m Mr. SFZ, a 21-year-old investor blogging about my journey to financial independence at Starting from Zero. I started investing in individual stocks in last year and started SFZ in February 2014 after being inspired by some of the many great personal finance bloggers out there that chronicled their individual journey’s to financial independence and retirement.

So, a little about myself; I grew up on the east coast, one of two kids to middle class parents in a small town. My parents instilled financial discipline in me at a young age, always encouraging me and my brother to save birthday/gift money and eventually earnings from summer jobs. After graduating high school I joined the Air Force where I currently work today. When not writing here, I enjoy hanging out with friends, working out, playing guitar, and biking.

As I set about learning to invest, I really had no clue what I was doing or what my goals really were. I knew I needed to save for retirement and the basics of what an IRA was but as far as what type of mutual funds or stocks, I didn’t really know.

After experimenting with some individual stocks, I eventually happened onto the Dividend Growth Investing community at SeekingAlpha.com. I immediately knew that this was the right investing strategy for me and began researching stocks in my spare time and have focused on building up a portfolio of quality dividend growth stocks ever since so that I can someday live off the dividends it produces.

My goals for blogging about my journey to financial independence are two-fold. First I want to use it as a way to track my progress and keep me motivated on this journey by interacting with others pursuing similar goals of retiring early. Second, I hope to be able to possibly inspire others to learn more about investing and take control of their financial future.

As my readers can see, I’m doing this all with a relatively low-income, proving that anyone can choose to pursue an early retirement or simply a more secure retirement if they are willing to put in the work to focus on saving a large percentage of your income and then focus on buying quality assets that provide you with a stable cash flow.

What is a blog carnival?

Some fans have asked me “what is a blog carnival?” so a little explanation is due here for anyone reading for the first time or for my long-time fans.

A blog carnival is where a blog or website hosts what we call a carnival of blog posts from around the web. Most blog carnivals have a theme and certain rules for submitting which must be followed.

If you are a blogger and would like to learn what blog carnival directories I submit to each week you can find the information in a previous Saturday Weekend Review post that I wrote.

Carnival glory

If you don’t see your blog it’s likely because I don’t know that you shared my post so send me an email to let me know.

Thanks to those bloggers who take the time to share my posts with their fans.

Your kindness is always remembered. ~Mr.CBB

Carnivals

• Carnival of Money Pros- On Better Terms
• Financial Carnival for Young Adults– Financial Nerd
• Yakeezie Carnival– Save and Conquer

Google search terms

Every week I get thousands of people visit Canadian Budget Binder because they did a search online and found my blog. Keep in mind any spelling errors below are because I share with you the exact way they typed their search engine query to land on my blog.

• Can I eat the food from Dollarama?– I’m still alive… try it you might like it 🙂 I’m sure it will be fine. Like anything else check expiry dates.
• Is it bad to travel when you have OSAP loans?– Yes, the travel police might come after you. It’s your choice really. If you want to pay off your student loan debt fast then do what you need to do. If you budget your money you should be fine.
• How to keep pests of the lawn– Charge them rent… lol. It’s not easy trust me.
• How to ask a man to grill something for me: Can you grill something for me please? Not that difficult!
• Rob Ford personal finance– Ya, like you’re going to find that here. This has to be the best search ever!!

Thanks for joining me for this edition of The Saturday Weekend Review #79. Join me here again for more crazy stories from around the web and at home!

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• The Saturday Weekend Review #79: Celebrate Canada Day and enjoy our beautiful country