Although money is tight this year, I refuse to ignore the need to save for retirement. I am using money refunded to us for healthcare expenses to fund this years IRA contribution. My DH has a flex benefits account that reimburses us for out of pocket health costs. Since we already spent the money, I take the refund checks and earmark them for our retirement savings. It is money we do not miss since is has already been spent. With 4 kids and 4 people in the family, between glasses, contacts, dentist visits, doctors office co-pays etc. we should have no problem meeting our plan max of $2500. That means I will have $2500 to add to the retirement savings without having to further stretch our budget.