Baby Shopping with Bridget’s New Found Money

Have I told you the good news yet? My daughter Bridget is expecting her first child in November, and we know it’s a boy! I remember when I found out the first time I was pregnant. Although I was happy, I was scared to death that I wouldn’t be able to afford a baby. I think back to that time now and laugh, but back then the responsibility of raising a child was very real to me. I know Bridget has a little of that financial concern herself, so imagine her happiness when she found out she had an un-cashed check waiting for her!

I recently found out the Illinois Treasurer is currently safeguarding more than 2 billion dollars in cash and 20 million shares of stock and mutual funds which need to be returned to Illinois residents. On a whim, I visited IllinoisTreasurer.gov, clicked on the I-Cash link, and entered Bridget’s name into the form. And wow! I immediately found out she had an un-cashed paycheck from a former employer that she never received. I seriously was not expecting that!

I called Bridget right away and told her to go to the Illinois I-Cash website and claim her paycheck. Then I promptly asked her if she wanted to go baby shopping and celebrate with a lunch outing. We met in nearby Wheaton to shop at Baby Naturally, and also visited a second-hand store that had lots of baby clothes in excellent condition.

It’s a good thing baby shopping is so much fun, because babies need lots of stuff. It was such a relief to Bridget to find out there were funds waiting for her from a few years ago!

If you live in Illinois, be sure to search the I-Cash website since there are more than 13 million names in the Illinois Treasurer’s I-Cash database! Some common examples of recovered property include: tax refunds, inactive bank accounts, unclaimed insurance benefits, uncashed paychecks and reimbursement checks, utility refunds, stocks, and retirement accounts.

In our baby shopping adventure, we found a few sleepers, a hand-knit sweater, cloth diapers like you see hanging on the wall behind Bridget, and more. She’s decided to do the baby’s nursery in a woodland theme and I’ll be making a few decorations for my new grandson’s room, which I’m sure I’ll share here on my blog.

Of course, I had to donate a few purchases to the baby’s wardrobe and room.

To see if you have recovered cash or property, visit IllinoisTreasurer.gov and click on the I-Cash link. Then, enter your name in the search fields to find out if you have property to claim. If your name is in the database, fill out and submit the form along with proof of ownership to claim your assets. Check back to the site since new claims are added every 6 months. You might end up lucky like Bridget!

This post is sponsored by the Illinois Treasurer’s I-Cash program, but all opinions are my own.

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