And Then There Were Four: FSA/HSA Amazon Shopping For Baby & I

 

Y’all know that high key, shopping is my jam, and there’s seldom a shopping challenge that I’m not up for meeting head on. I’ve said this before, however, where most people tap out in the online shopping process — the searching & researching & comparing — is typically where I thrive! I get excited at discovering new finds or learning about products & brands that were previously new to me. Just the whole process is a thrill for me, even if I’m just window shopping. That in mind, shopping for this pregnancy has been a salve during a very long & stressful pregnancy. Even after being laid off in my third trimester — fun! *she said sarcastically* — I still turned to online window shopping as a distraction, throwing myself into discovering new brands, products, must haves, and most importantly, ways to save/spend wisely. So, imagine my delight when I came into shopping with our FSA/HSA benefits! 

Before I get into the shopping, I have to preface this by saying that I am no expert. FSA & HSA benefits have always been pretty foreign to me — i.e. I only recently even learned there are some major differences between the two — because I seldom had a benefit package that included either option; and when I did, I seldom remembered to use said benefits. It wasn’t really until this pregnancy & needing to purchase so many different items related to my physically health that I really decided to tap into the account. And once I did… holy smokes Batman! 

P.S. if you’re curious about some of the differences between an FSA (flexible spending account) and HSA (health savings account) Amazon has this handy little chart —

FSA & HSA on Amazon 

Amazon isn’t the first or only e-tailer (or retailer) that accepts FSA & HSA cards as a form of payment, and I’d noticed quite a while ago that some items would have a note in the product listing indicating that it’s “FSA or HSA Eligible” + showing the option at checkout; however, like I said, I didn’t really invest much time thinking about this until this pregnancy. 

I began to notice that quite a few items in my registry had the “FSA or HSA Eligible” tag and that’s what sparked by curiosity, leading me to Amazon’s FSA | HSA Store. There’s a gaggle of categories to shop — including Eye Care, Family Planning, Acne & Skin Care, and OTC Medication. I beelined straight for “Baby & New Parents” section & immediately came across products I hadn’t even previously considered, in addition to the ones that were also on my registry. 

“Tip: when searching items, you can also filter by “FSA or HSA Eligible” to save some time when browsing. ”
— Albie Knows

Shopping the “store” is no different than shopping the entire site so I went to town, discovering alternatives for some previous selections + some new considerations for the miniest & I. 

What’s in my FSA/HSA Cart for Baby & I? 

Even though [some] of these items were on my registry, it’s not surprising to me that most people purchased from other, more popular categories — i.e. clothes, feeding essentials, books & toys, and baby gear — versus browsing the postpartum & health sections of my registry. If you read my post on my registry here, then you know the registry also serves as a shopping list for us just as much as it’s for family & friends. Because I also wanted to ensure that we stretch every dollar, I made sure to add these items to our Amazon registry — some private, some public — to see which items would also be eligible for my registry completion discount. Major key because that means I can use our benefits AFTER the 15% registry discount is applied. Yatzhee!

In addition to a cane that I ended up needing in my 2nd trimester, I quickly took advantage of our benefits to purchase the Momcozy Hospital Grade Breast Pump V1 as my second breast pump. Our insurance provided the Medela Breast Pump, Pump in Style with MaxFlow at no cost, however, I wanted to have a second “hands free” pump for convenience now that we lived in a larger home. Context — with the mini, I had one pump (also from insurance) that basically stayed in one spot in our studio apt because that’s the only place I pumped when home. This is the same pump I would also take to work to pump. Thinking about those days, I knew I didn’t want to the carry my primary pump up & down the stairs every time I needed a release… hence purchasing the 2nd pump with our FSA/HSA card on Amazon. 

For everything else, I decided that I wouldn’t be getting all of them. I wanted to wait to see how delivery went + what the hospital would provide; however knowing that these could potentially be items that would come directly out of our pockets… it was definitely a weight off our minds. 

While they’re a myriad of reasons to use and not use your FSA/HSA benefits, for us in this season of life, it’s exactly what we needed to alleviate some of our expenses; and with Amazon being a place where we’d been doing much of our shopping anyway, it was helpful to know we could still take advantage... like with my fave Frida Mom items.

Tips for FSA/HSA Amazon Shopping

Whether you're shopping for a baby, for yourself, or for some completely non-pregnancy related reason, when it comes to shopping with FSA/HSA benefits —

  1. add your FSA/HSA card to your Amazon wallet so it's available at checkout + you'll be able to see exactly how much you can apply to the card from your total

  2. if you're mostly shopping health items, save yourself some time and start at Amazon’s FSA | HSA Store or filter your search by "FSA or HSA Eligible”

  3. Resist the urge to buy all your FSA/HSA items with all your FSA/HSA benefits. Depending on which of the two you have or what other medical expenses may arise — co-pay, medications, etc. — during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond.

“Tip: Not shopping Amazon? On the Target site/app, for example, you can also see if items are FSA/HSA Eligible while shopping. ”
— Albie Knows

Considering how much our lives have changed going into this pregnancy, I'm thankful that we had these benefits to use for baby & I, and I'm especially thankful that I could take advantage of these benefits while also doing my usual Amazon shopping.

 
 
LifestyleAlbie Knowsmotherhood, pregnancy