I imagine it's probably looking at returns over a specific period (probably the past 12mo), not necessarily since you opened the account.

Buffalo is a little bit of a unique situation because it gets "Lake Effect" snow. It's located on the east shore of Lake Erie, which allows arctic wind to blow unobstructed. When you get a bad cold snap like we had last week, and the lake hasn't frozen, you end up with super-chilled air blowing over the surface of the much warmer lake water. The wind picks up moisture from the lake, freezes it, and then dumps it on shore.

The biggest savings for me were travel (mostly commuting) and food.

During the ~15mo I worked fully remote during COVID, I put just a little over 1000mi on my car. The bulk of that came from a single day trip to an IKEA ~150mi away to buy furniture.

I also made a pot of coffee in the morning and ate a sandwich or leftovers on my deck for lunch as opposed to spending ~$20/day on coffee and lunch from restaurants near the office. That's an extra $100/wk in my pocket from food alone.

It's largely a matter of personal risk tolerance.

For someone young and healthy who might go to the doctor once or twice per year, a HSA + high deductible plan isn't a bad proposition and is liable to save you money compared to a normal insurance policy where you're paying hundreds each month for coverage you simply don't use.

If you have regular doctor visits though, or like the cost certainty of knowing how much you're spending on healthcare even if it means spending a little more than may be strictly "necessary", the traditional plan + FSA is probably better.