Finances
Current Funding Process For My Health Savings Account
I have a High Deductible Health Plan which offers a Health Savings Account that can be used to pay for doctor’s office charges, tests and medicines. I currently fund the account by putting in a set amount every month and right now that amount stands at $75. I contribute the same amount every month via automatic transfer from my ING account and it is that $75 that is counted in my zero based budget for the month.
I do not spend $75 every month on doctors and hospitals so any unused money gets rolled over in the HSA for the next time that I might need to use it. So in February I used $264 on doctors fees but it did not mess up the budget because the money was taken out of an account that had already been funded $75 for a few months.
I like the idea of building up a savings bank by having a set amount every month in my budget so that I can maintain a fixed set of expenses. This is the same process that I use for other spending accounts like my Splurge Fund. I just keep adding a preset monthly amount and then when I need something it does not matter how much it costs as long as there is enough in the account to cover the cost.
Tagged budget, health savings account, high deductible health plan, hospital, ING, zero based budget
Dave @ Money In The 20sMarch 29, 2011 at 6:07 pm
I too have a high deductible health plan and contribute a set amount to it each month. Right now that amount is $50 for me because I don’t go to the doctor too often.
The thing I like best about the HSA account is that even if I switch health coverage and no longer qualify for the HSA account, I can still use that money for qualified health expenses.
LuLuGalApril 10, 2011 at 5:52 pmAuthor
Great job on using your HSA Dave. I think that might have been the biggest draw to me for having the HSA and I can now see it coming into play as I am about to lose my current job. So if my next job does not have an HSA I can still use the money and not have to stress about losing it like if I still only had the FSA.
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[...] previous budget for ‘Health’ was $185 montly, with $75 going to my Health Savings Account and $110 for out of pocket costs for doctor and dentist visits. I would then reimburse myself for [...]
Robert@Free SEO ToolsMarch 3, 2012 at 1:44 pm
This seems like an interesting plan and $75 a month isn’t really that much for some peace of mind.