A $189 Unclaimed Property Win! And Be Wary Of Online Reviews

Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!

Two weeks ago, I wrote an ode to unclaimed property. That same day, we found a unclaimed check from a prior employer sent to an old address of ours and requested it. About a week later, a check for $189 arrived! If you haven’t already, I encourage you to find your state and search for yourself. Let me know if you have any successes!

Also, this week I read a great piece about how a small handful of websites have taken over most of the search results for product recommendations, and how many of these recommendations are extremely questionable.

Personally, I trust only two websites for product reviews:

• The Wirecutter (owned by the NYT) - although The Wirecutter supports itself largely through referral fees, their reviews are extremely thorough and have never led me astray.

• Rtings - for consumer electronics, I’ve found Rtings to be very thorough and trustworthy.

All other sites (and Amazon product reviews) I take with a heavy grain of salt. Are there any other sources you trust?

And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:

John Arnold on Why It's So Hard To Build Things in America

Broken Toilet? There’s a Plumber on FaceTime for That.

‘I’m good, I promise’: the loneliness of the low-ranking tennis player (via The Browser)

I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.