Money Miner: That Money’s Mine

log 4.0: unclaimed funds money miner

+problem:

Did you know 86% of people have no idea they have unclaimed funds? We're talking billions in state coffers just sitting there; old bank accounts, forgotten paychecks, that life insurance policy Aunt Janet swore she set up.  Arizona alone has an unclaimed funds balance of $2.8 billion as of January 1, 2026.

So why isn't everyone racing to claim their cash?

Most people simply don't know it exists. Others lose track of money from years ago and assume it's gone forever. Some think it's a scam (fair, given the internet). And even when people do find out, the process can be a nightmare—multiple databases, endless forms, proof of residency from 2003.  All that for $12? Really?!  Some folks think it’s just not worth their time.  But here's the thing: your $12 might not be worth the hassle, but multiply that by millions of people, and you can see how a state comptroller ends up holding billions of dollars in unclaimed money.

Anyone who knows us knows we don't like leaving money on the table. Literally. If you see someone bending down for a penny on the pavement, there's a decent chance it's us. A German friend told us they have a saying for this back home: "Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert" - He who does not respect the penny is not worthy of the dollar.

Which is why we check missingmoney.com every year. It's like a treasure hunt, except the treasure is real and belongs to you. We get so into it, we've started looking up unclaimed funds for friends and family. As yo can imagine, that often goes over terribly. Turns out not everyone likes it when YOU tell them they have mystery money sitting around.

+design solution:

We tried to fix the problem by building Money Miner: a one-stop shop that would search databases and auto-fill claim forms for you. Easy, right? 

(photo: draft website)

Wrong.  Government systems don't play nice with AI automation tools. Even with Claude.ai by our side, we ran into one technical roadblock after another.  At some point, we realized that ameliorating the UX experience wasn’t going to be the answer to getting people to claim their money.  +pivot: 31 Day December Challenge

We decided instead (as hard as it might be for our introverted selves) to inform at least one person or organization each day in December 2025 about missingmoney.com Folks from Morning Brew, Mozilla, simple.ai, AARP, non-profits that requested donations, and random people at coffee shops all got the message.

As of today, our little awareness crusade reached at least 45 people with, at minimum, $30,000 waiting to be claimed.

We will try to keep the momentum into 2026. So to you, the good folks reading this, go to missingmoney.com. Check if you've got money waiting to be claimed. If you're not getting a year-end bonus, claiming your unclaimed funds might be the next best thing.

As always, we welcome constructive and helpful suggestions to address the challenges with our everyday life tools.  And please do send us your stories of reclaiming your funds! At hi@everydaylifelabs.com (they can be anonymous).

Until then,

Happy Mining!  And Happy New Year!!!!