Introduction

Nowadays, health insurance and the medical care you receive is expensive. There are some products available to help you with those expenses, however.

Enter in the HSA and the FSA. These two products are making it easier for consumers to save for and pay for medical care.

But how does each of them work? Which one is better?

What’s an HSA?

An HSA is a Health Savings Account. These types of accounts are available to people who have High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHP).

An HDHP is defined as a health insurance plan with a deductible of $1,350 for individuals and $2,700 for families, and an out-of-pocket maximum of $6,650 and $13,300, respectively.

An HSA is sometimes offered by the insurance company that provides the health insurance, but can often be applied for at many financial institutions.

An HSA has several key characteristics.

• Contributions are made pre-tax or tax-deductible
• Assets grow tax-free
• Funds used on qualified medical expenses aren’t taxed upon withdrawal/use
• The maximum contribution is $3,450 for individuals and $6,900 for families
  • Contribution max increases by $1,000 at age 55 or older
• Can no longer contribute once 65 and on Medicare
• Can invest contributions in mutual funds, stocks, and other investment products
• Unused funds can be carried over year-after-year

Qualified medical expenses include the following.

• Medical services
• Emergency medical services
• Medical equipment

You can find a complete list of eligible expenses here.

What’s an FSA?

An FSA is a Flexible Spending Account. Only employees of eligible employers qualify for an FSA.

There are several characteristics of an FSA.

• Use it you lose it – Unused funds do not carry over from one year to the next
• Contributions are made pre-tax via payroll deduction
• Contribution maximum is $2,650. Your spouse can contribute an additional $2,650 too
• Can be used on qualified expenses
  • Deductibles
  • Copayments
  • Medical services
  • Medical equipment
  • Prescription medication
  • Can’t be used on premiums
  • See the full list of qualified expenses here.
• You may have two extra options available to you depending on your employer
  • You have an extra 2 ½ months to use up funds from the previous year
  • You can carry over $500 from the previous year

Which is right for you?

It very much depends on what is available to you. If you don’t have a High deductible health plan, then you are ineligible for an HSA. If your employer doesn’t offer an FSA, I’m sorry, that’s not available to you either.

If you have the option to pick between the two, most often I would lean towards the HSA and there are a few reasons why.

• You are able to contribute more, which gives you more money to use on qualified expenses and could effectively lower your tax liability.
• You can carry over unused contributions year-after-year.
• This can be used as a retirement savings vehicle. Decades of contributions and compounding returns could give you a sizeable amount to use on medical expenses in retirement

You should not use an FSA if you are in good health. An FSA is more appropriate for someone with recurring and somewhat predictable medical expenses. If you are healthy, the odds of you contributing to an FSA and not using the funds, are pretty high.

Conclusion

Health insurance and medical care are expensive. Having an FSA or an HSA available to lessen the blow of those expenses is HUGE.

It is very important to know which one you can use, and which one would be the most beneficial to you.

Use this information to carefully select and effectively use what’s available to you.

To learn more about saving for medical expenses and for our disclosures go to www.crgfinancialservices.com.

Getting free play codes and gift cards in exchange for answering a few questions may sound like an easy way to get some free goods, but don’t buy into it. In fact, be very careful. Why? Because not only are code generators a scam, they are trying to infect your system with malicious malware and steal your identity. Google Play redeem codes are no different.

Many sites offer free Google Play codes in exchange for answering a few questions and offering your opinion on their marketing efforts. It only takes a few minutes of your time and, since you’re offering an opinion on whether or not their marketing efforts are hitting their mark, it makes sense that you’d get paid. But instead of getting paid in dollars, these survey sites are offering Google Play codes as payment.

They claim that you can use the free redeem codes for music, games, and videos, but in reality, the codes don’t actually work and you’ve wasted your time with the surveys. In addition, the chances that your computer is now open to an attack or your identity is at risk is very high.

Gift card and code generators are developed by very experienced hackers. They con you into doing some kind of task, like answering surveys, and offer you free Google Play redeem codes in exchange for your time. But guess what . . . they are using these surveys to gather enough personal information to steal your identity. They may also be planting a virus in your computer with each click of the mouse you make. And while these sites look like the real deal, they are really fake sites, used only to gather your information.

Google Play redeem code generating sites, for the most part, are a scam so avoid them. Their only goal is to collect your information. While you’re busy taking a survey, the hackers are stealing your email and any other information you provide. They will give you a free Google Play redeem code in in exchange for your information, but it won’t work. Do not trust any site that offers free Google Play redeem codes.

But there is one option that is safe and offers real redeem codes in exchange for your opinions.

TokenFire is an advertising app that offers rewards for your opinions. You can earn “tokens” for things like watching videos or playing games on their app. Then you can exchange your “tokens” for Google Play redeem codes or other gift cards. There are various ways to earn “tokens” and each task offers a different number of tokens depending on how much of your time it will take and the difficulty of the task. Once earned, your “tokens” are easily redeemable for Google Play codes. You can even exchange them for Amazon gift cards if you’d like.

Free Google Play redeem codes are a scam, as are most other free redeem code offers you may find so stay away from them. Only use legitimate sites to earn rewards, it will help prevent you from being hacked.

Hopefully, you already have a budget and you’re working with it every month. But you may find that you’re coming up a little short. That may be due to that fact that you’re leaving off some important items that you didn’t consider when you created that budget.  And if you have too many unplanned expenses, your budget could be going sideways quickly.

Usually, these items aren’t left off intentional, they just seem so minor that the get overlooked. Here are a few things that you might need to add to your budget to make it work:

Subscriptions

If you love Amazon and shop there frequently, you probably have a Prime membership. And since you only pay your membership fee once a year, you probably didn’t add it into your budget. But you need to include that $99 fee along with any other services and subscriptions you may only pay once a year like magazines, Spotify, or Netflix. And of course, don’t forget your monthly memberships like the gym and monthly subscription boxes. If it’s something you only pay once a year, figure out the monthly cost by dividing the total by 12 then set that amount aside each month starting now to cover next year’s expense.

Special Occasions

Birthdays only come around once a year as well so you may not be including those in your budget. But if you have more than one gift to buy in a month, it can really spread you thin that month.  Go back and take a look at what you spent on gifts last year, who you bought for and an average of what you spent. Then, divide the total by 12 to get an amount to put in your monthly budget. Do this for holiday shopping as well so you don’t end up with a huge credit card bill in January.

Car

Your monthly car payment is most likely in your budget, but did you remember to add in gas and tolls?  How about oil changes, new tires, safety inspections, and any other regular maintenance costs?  These items are easy to forget because they don’t come up that often. But they do add up so add a line for routine car maintenance to your monthly budget.

New Clothes

If you are a parent, you know that your kids grow quickly and always seem to need new clothes so you probably have a budget line for them. But what about you? If you don’t shop for yourself too often and like to shop sales, you’ve probably neglected to add these costs to your budget. In addition to new clothes, you’ll need to buy necessities like undergarments and socks.  And don’t forget new shoes!

Fun

You work hard for your money so you deserve to treat yourself once in a while. Maybe it’s dinner at your favorite restaurant or tools for a new DIY project.  Add “Fun Money” to your budget and treat yourself to something you enjoy.

Pets

Your fur babies have expenses too. They need food, toys, treats, and annual vet visits.  If you go on vacation, you might have to hire a pet sitter or board your pets. Add a “Pet” line to your budget then estimate your yearly costs so you can break them down into a monthly budget line item. And keep track of your actual expenses so you know what to budget for next year.

Tax season is wrapping up, and if you’re expecting a nice refund check to hit your bank account any day, you’ll need a plan for how to use it so you don’t waste it away. If the thought of that extra money coming your way is already burning a hole in your pocket, you may want to think about using it in a way that will be financially beneficial to you instead.

Let your money work for you. What does your current financial situation look like?  Can your refund check offer you a little more security? Here are some basic financial priorities that you may want to consider using your refund for.

Pay Off Those High-Interest Loans and Credit Cards

If you’re trying to work yourself out of debt, your tax refund can help you reduce or eliminate your high-interest debt that’s costing you more. Use your refund to pay off any loans or credit cards with a low balance.  Or, consolidate high-interest accounts and put your refund towards any transfer or early payoff fees to help eliminate paying more in interest.  Take a look at your high-interest student loans, car loans, or credit card debt and determine the best way to pay these down or pay them off completely.

Start An Emergency Fund

If you don’t already have a healthy emergency fund, now is the time to start.  If you do have one, but the balance isn’t as high as you’d like, your refund check can give it a healthy boost.  If you don’t have an emergency fund, you’re just one unexpected expense away from getting in debt. You should have at least six to eight months’ worth of your salary set aside. Saving that much can take months if you’re only able to set aside a little bit each month, but your refund can help you to quickly build that fund and provide some peace of mind.

Refinance or Make Improvements

If a lower interest rate is available it will help lower your monthly mortgage payment, but refinancing has closing costs and other fees associated with it.  Using your refund to refinance your home will save you money each month on your mortgage; money that can be better spent on something else.

If you have a good mortgage rate already, take a look at your house. Does your air conditioning system need to be replaced? Maybe energy-efficient appliances will help you pay less in utility bills. Making improvements around your home can significantly increase its value and make it more comfortable to live in.

Buy Life Insurance

When you’re young, you tend to feel pretty confident that there’s always going to be time to take care of the ones you love.  Life insurance is usually overlooked. But if you’re married and you have a family or you’re planning one, a term life policy will offer them protection should the unthinkable happen to you. For a few hundred dollars, your tax refund can make sure your family is protected.

Spend It On Something You Need

Is your car in need of repair? Have you been putting off a visit to the doctor’s office? Let your refund help you get these essentials taken care of.

Why spend all of your refund on things you don’t really need when you can use it to save you money and give you peace of mind?

There are a plethora of “free money” apps out there that feel like a scam. If you’ve gone looking for a Paribus Review, you know that isn’t the case with them. Paribus differentiates itself from so many of the other apps for one simple reason.

Yes! The differentiator here is that I have actually gotten money back through Paribus. I know, for a fact, that this app works. Now that that’s out of the way, we can dig into the app.

An Honest Paribus Review

You set up Paribus by giving it permission to connect to your email address. This is how it tracks your purchases made around the web! As previously mentioned, they work with select merchants, but those merchants cover a wide variety of products. I do 99% of all my online shopping at Amazon, but if you’re not like me, you’re likely still covered. You can also connect your Paribus account to your credit cards to cover your bases entirely and make sure you are always getting the best price.

How It Works

You sit back and relax. Paribus looks at your purchases and uses bots to check prices on the things you’ve bought to see if the price drops. If it does, they work to get you money back. If not… well, you bought it anyway! If Paribus finds you money back, you will receive a message. Paribus does not collect any commission from your refund. Signing up with this link will get you started.

Here’s an example:

Sally buys shoes from an online retailer for $48. Paribus watches the price and it drops to $24. The difference: $24. Instead of $48 on those shoes, your net expenses are $24. As an added bonus, you get all this money back without have to do any extra work since Paribus does that for you!

More About Paribus

Paribus is not a scam. Like I said, I have made money with them. But, I also did some background research for this Paribus Review. Here is what I found…

The app was initially developed in 2014 as the brainchild of two Harvard guys – Karim Atiyeh and Eric Glyman. The software pretty much only runs on iOS, but there are plans to expand it to other operating systems. It is also owned by Capital One, so Paribus is a legit app run by a major banking corporation.

My Take? – Found Money

One thing that differentiates Paribus from similarly “found money” apps is that it requires no work from you. No tedious surveys that pay 10 cents per word. This is an app that actually works, costs you nothing and can help you bring in extra money at no additional work or cost to you. You have nothing to lose!

This post was sponsored by Paribus. 

A side income refers to work you perform outside of your regular job. So, let’s say you work a 9 to 5 office job but you babysitting on the side, that’s a side income or also known as a side hustle. A Side hustle is a great way to not only add more money to your bank account but that money can be used to pay off debt, start a savings, or use it as your fun spending money!

Instead of focusing on penny pinching every cent you bring in with your regular job the side income will allow you to focus your energy on earning and saving more. Are you looking to pay off student loans, lower your debt or saving for an awesome vacation? A side hustle is for you! The best thing about a side hustle is you are able to try a large variety of things and see what works best for you and your everyday schedule. You don’t need to quit your job or make any crazy long term decisions to start your side hustle since they are generally pretty low-risk. Stick your toes in all your options until you find one that works for you financially.

Here are some tips to help you manage your side income:

1. You will have to pay taxes on any side income money you make over $600. PLAN APPROPRIATELY. You don’t want to get stuck with a tax bill at the end of the year.
2. Remember to spend less than you make. This is a major key if you want to use your side income wisely.
3. Open a new bank account, whether it’s a savings account attached to your everyday account or a completely new one. Pro-tip, when they ask if you would like a bank card for the account say no.
4. For your new income set up direct deposit and link it to the new account. This will help eliminate the spending temptations when pay day rolls around.
5. Depending on how much your side hustle brings in, distribute the money appropriately, if you have a mortgage payment, car payment or credit card payment use that money first to contribute to the monthly payment.
6. Next, tackle that debt. Use as much money as you to pay down your debt.
7. If you haven’t downloaded Digit yet I would get on that. The app is extremely user friendly, making it mindless to use. Not only that is it extremely helpful when trying to start a savings account.
8. Use your side income to help you get ahead on payment, add another payment on your credit card or car payment. Not only will this help your credit, it will give you a little cushion if life decides to throw an unexpected expensive at you.
9. Finally, use some of your side income for you. This money is to help relieve some financial stress. Use that money for something that you’ve really wanted, or treat yourself to dinner and drinks with friends. You’re working hard, you deserve it!

For more ways to make extra money through side hustling check out these great articles.

101 Ways to Make Extra Money In Your Spare Time – A Review
4 Things to Do Right Now to Get More Money Each Month
Here Are 5 Things You Need to Consider Before Becoming a Landlord