A lot of Americans have already been feeling the effects of the US economic slump for quite some time now, tightening our belts and bracing for worse financial weather. Well, just this week a few economists have confirmed it- recession time is here again! According to a report done by Chris Isidore of CNN, an increasing number of experts on the US economy believe that the United States has already fallen into recession. "My forecast had been that the recession would begin this quarter, but the hard data wasn’t there yet" said chief economist of First American Funds, Keith Hembre. "But now we’re seeing that. The service sector is a much larger component of the economy and this is very much a recession reading."

For most of us, this is technical gibberish and are less concerned with figures and statistics than we are with how to get through the month without mortgaging the house. While we wait out the "R", we can cut back on unnecessary expenses like buying that plasma TV for the bedroom wall, avoid using credit cards when possible, and a suggestion you probably haven’t heard before- try to get extra cash in our pockets by doing an unclaimed money search. Right now, there is an excess of $35 billion worth of unclaimed funds sitting in the different State Treasury Departments and with millions of people on the national unclaimed property list there’s a good chance some of it is in your name. (Especially if you’ve moved around a lot or have relatives scattered in different states).

Unclaimed funds come from lost or abandoned financial assets that have been forgotten about by their owners. Savings accounts, old stock and bonds, uncollected salary checks, insurance and pension benefits, and even unclaimed tax refunds are just a few examples of lost assets that, under the nationwide ’Escheat Law’, are deemed ’unclaimed property’ when their owners don’t come around after 3-5 years (depending on the state). The banks and other financial establishments holding these assets are required to hand them over to their respective State Treasuries where they stay until the rightful owners are located.

The government unclaimed funds are piling-up because most people aren’t even aware they have unclaimed property checks in their name. Get some relief from the "R" and find your unclaimed money now!