It’s the collision of two unlikely impulses: the cheapskate meets the big spender in an unlikely alliance as the dollars left in our Flex Spending Account must be drained before the year is out! No more generics for us.
Oh crap. Let’s get shopping. It’s use it or lose it time.
You see, we planned to have a baby this year so we set aside a little extra. And if #2 had cost what #1 cost us, we wouldn’t have any left in the pot at all. But we were lucky and managed to switch to a better insurance plan, so now we have two weeks to spend about $300+.
There’s a whole lotta baby-having, fertility, infertility stuff that’s covered but we’re all set in that area. There’s not enough time to start and then earnestly stop smoking.
First on our shopping spree was Target. I went with both boys (now 31 months and 9 months old) and wheeled through only two aisles loading up on pain relief, eye lubrication, and cough suppressants for young and old. I bought a handy dandy fancy ear thermometer and got out of there for almost $150. We had to make an extra stop at the returns counter (with the toddler screaming because he couldn’t use the credit card machine) because it turns out that Airborne is not a health expense.
It’s such a funny feeling to leave Target and feel like “I didn’t spend enough today — we need to buy more!”
I called my dentist and got in for a Wednesday cleaning. But with no co-pay, I have clean teeth and less than two weeks to buy something health-related.
Alec also had a dental exam and he has one cavity. Yay!?
Now I better go order just the right amount of contact lenses and hope I don’t go over.
—-UPDATE—-
drugstore.com has a special FSA section of the store where it is possible and easy to spend the exact amount you want. Yeehaw! Butt paste for everyone!
