I had a love/hate relationship with my FSA over this past year.

By a technicality, I'm not eligible for a health savings account as part of a high-deductible health plan. But, being a savvy health shopper, I opted for the next best thing – a flexible spending account that allows me to set aside up to $5,000 tax-free to use for health care expenses.

Here's the problem. The health care expenses I was realistically anticipating in 2011 were not eligible for my FSA distributions – things like contact solution, and the most irritatingly ineligible expense, the over-the-counter drug without a prescription. So of course by the end of the year, having a superfluous amount of FSA money, I splurged more than $500 on contacts and designer glasses before my "use it or lose it" deadline.