The last thing you probably want to be thinking about in this super-busy time of the year is putting more appointments on your calendar.
But if you have health-care insurance and you've met your medical deductible, you have about three weeks to see your health care
professionals before a new annual deductible kicks in. Whether this is your doctor, your therapist, a dentist, an eye doctor or a specialist, squeezing an appointment in before the end of the year will save you money. If you wait until the new year, a whole new deductible will kick in.
And if you have money in your flexible spending accounts, it's even more crucial that you figure out how to spend it before Dec. 31 rolls around, if those are the guidelines from your employer. Money in those accounts that hasn't been spent by the deadline disappears, according to IRS rules. (I've never been able to understand that; it seems like it should just be returned to the taxpayer, with taxes at the applicable rate removed. But maybe that just would make too much sense.)
Here's an article from CNN Health with five things you want to do before the end of the year if you have a health care plan or a flexible spending account:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/11/ep.flex.spending.account/index.html