I just filed my taxes.  Well, actually I filed an extension, but you get the drift.  I ploughed as much as I could into my HSA, to lower my tax liability (I’m self-employed so I get to write down my HSA contributions 100% from my income) but over the past year I’ve “found” nearly $150 that will be deposited into my HSA for 2010.  And the rate I’m going, I’ll probably “find” another $150 before the year is done.

How so you ask?  I’ll get to that in a minute.

You might be thinking, this guy is going to put a whopping $300 into his HSA.  Big whoop if his deductible is $10,000, that’s hardly a dent.   But I look at every dollar I contribute in as important, and I look at it from a relative perspective.  In my world $300 is the cost of a couple of visits to the doctor for my kids when they catch whatever is going around that month.  Or it’s the annual cost of one of my kids acne medicine.  Or it covers the difference between what my insurance policy pays for well care (included in my policy) and what the doctor actually bills me for the visit.  So for me, $300 of “found” money is real.

Last summer a program called My HSA Rewards was quietly launched to help folks like me save for my health care expenses.  I joined the program online and then when I need “stuff,” I try to buy as much of it as I can through the My HSA Rewards website.  Every time I buy “stuff,” a % of my purchase is returned to me, and specifically into my, My HSA Rewards account, where I can keep up with it.  When I have accumulated $50 in “stuff” related $s, I click a button and the money is sent to my HSA  at my bank.  It doesn’t matter what bank I use; so if I ever move my account from one bank to another, I can continue to earn $s in the program and transfer the funds into my HSA.

So what is my personal definition of “stuff”?  In the past year, I have purchased a tea kettle, two de-humidifiers, airline tickets, hotel nights, sheets, skin care products, compact discs, restaurant discount vouchers, electronics including a laptop, text books for my kids, printing services, ink for my printer, and flowers for my Momma (twice).  In all, I made 44 purchases for stuff I was going to buy anyway, from vendors I trust, at competitive pricing.  In fact the program has something like over 400 merchants in the program, so there’s a pretty good chance that if you can think it up, you can buy it through My HSA Rewards.     

Total no freaking brainer.  Especially, since there is not cost to sign up. 

Bottom line, I like the program, it is easy to use, and all the little purchases and big support my desire to find more efficient ways to save, and specifically save for my health care.