Last minute ideas to use (not lose) 2014 Flexible Spending $$

Sunday March 15 is the last day to use up any remaining dollars left in a 2014 flexible spending account, assuming that your employer is allowing the extension. Employers were not required to allow employees to submit expenses incurred from January 1 to March 15 and apply it to unused money in a 2014 FSA account, so check with your HR department before going on a spending spree.

The extension is not the same as the run out period. A run-out period is the window during which employees may submit claims for reimbursement for eligible expenses. For example, if an FSA has a Dec. 31 deadline and no grace period, but has a 90-day run-out period, you'd have until April 1 to submit receipts for expenses you had during the previous year.

The FSAstore offers the following as suggestions for using up the remaining dollars. Remember that most over-the-counter medications such as allergy drugs and headache remedies are ineligible for reimbursement unless you have already obtained a prescription or a letter of medical necessity for them from your doctor.