Share
Explore
5 quick ways to spend your extra FSA money before it's too late
It's a use it-or-lose-it benefit, so spend your money now
If you’ve set aside money at the start of the year and put it into a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for medical expenses, in most cases all the money will need to be spent by the end of the calendar year, by December 31, 11:59pm before it’s forfeited, unless your FSA provider offers a which ends on March 15, 2022. If so, the ideas on this page are for you!
Because every program is slightly different, it’s important you check your FSA administrator for more details.
People typically use FSA money for co-pays and deductibles for medical services, like doctor and dentist appointments. But if time is running out and you want to quickly spend the rest of your money, the easiest way to use your FSA dollars to shop for some health- and wellness-related products. In my experience, trying to spend $400-500 can be quite challenging. Stockpiling boxes of bandaids or antacids just doesn’t seem sensible. So, in recent years, I’ve gone for the purchase of fewer, more pricey items that are more valuable.
5 last-minute FSA purchase ideas
☝️ The key is to find consumables you use often or higher-priced items you’d usually be more hesitant to buy. Remember to sort search results so the highest-priced items appear at the top so you can use up all your extra money more quickly—with as few purchases as possible.
Here are my top picks:
1. Contactless digital thermometer
2. Health and wellness devices
3. Personal humidifier
4. Contact lenses, prescription glasses, or contact solutions
5. Baby, mom, and family planning expenses
More FSA shopping options:
If you want to track your purchases so you don’t exceed the amount you have left in your account, make a copy of this doc to use the FSA Shopping List & Purchase Tracker
Copy doc now
Copy doc now
My FSA Shopping List
Start by entering the amount you have left to spend in US dollars:
$500.00
There are no rows in this table
Estimate balance remaining: $401.01
$401.01
Add new item
Description
Item price
Quantity
Total
Sejoy Infrared Forehead Thermometer,
$98.99
1
There are no rows in this table
$98.99
Sum
My FSA Purchase Tracker
Actual FSA balance remaining: $$354.86
$354.86
Add new item
Description
Total purchase price
Purchase Date
Sejoy Infrared Forehead Thermometer & Humidifier
$145.14
12/31/2020
There are no rows in this table
$145.14
Sum
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.