Beating Broke

How to Use Retroactive COBRA Insurance

June 21, 2021 By MelissaB 2 Comments

When my husband quit his job in Illinois to pursue a new job in Arizona, we were shocked that our coverage in Arizona wouldn’t start until a month after his official start date. Since we moved to Arizona a month before his job started, we were without employer-sponsored health insurance for two months. What I wish I would have known then is that you can apply for COBRA insurance retroactively.

What is COBRA Insurance

When you leave a job or lose a job or lose insurance because of a reduction in hours, you can apply for COBRA insurance. If you were enrolled in employer-sponsored insurance and your employer has 20 or more employees, you’re eligible for COBRA insurance. COBRA will give you the exact same insurance coverage you had with your employer. The difference is that you must pay the entire premium yourself.

When you get employer-sponsored insurance, you typically pay only 20 to 30 percent of the total cost of the premium. Your employer pays the rest. With COBRA, you assume the entire amount, which isn’t cheap. We did opt for COBRA insurance when my husband left his job, so we paid $1,200 a month for coverage for our family of five. What I didn’t know then is that I could have utilized retroactive COBRA insurance.

What Is Retroactive COBRA Insurance?

You can choose not to buy COBRA insurance. In our case, we had COBRA insurance for the two months we were between employer-sponsored insurance, but we never used it. We paid $2,400 total over the two months for insurance we didn’t even need.

Another option is to forego COBRA and go without insurance during this time. If you end up having a medical need, you can still sign up for COBRA because COBRA is retroactive from the time you left your job or lost your insurance. For instance, one woman and her husband opted not to get COBRA when they lost insurance benefits. Within a month, her husband had to have an emergency appendectomy. They were facing tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. The couple completed the forms for COBRA, and the insurance paid the bills for the appendectomy. They ended up paying just $42 out of pocket for the surgery (plus the cost of COBRA).

An Important Caveat

You only have 60 days to decide whether to enroll in COBRA or not. If you opt out of COBRA coverage and need surgery on day 65, you won’t be covered if you try to retroactively apply.

Also, when you retroactively apply, the insurance benefits begin the day after you lose your benefits with your employer, but you also have to pay from that time, too. So, if you sign up for COBRA on day 58, you also have to retroactively pay for days one through 58 of coverage.

Final Thoughts

COBRA coverage can be an important insurance bridge when you’re between jobs. If you want to initially forego COBRA insurance, you can. If a medical need comes up, you can always apply retroactively. But remember, this only applies for the first 60 days you’re without insurance.

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Reasons Why You Need a Will Even When You’re Broke

June 7, 2021 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

You may think that only senior citizens need wills, but that’s not true. People need wills as soon as they have assets they’ll leave behind or when they have a spouse or children. Even the broke need a will if they are leaving dependents behind.

When You Don’t Need a Will

There’s one time in life when you don’t need a will—when you’re single, without children, and in debt without assets. Because there are no assets to divide, you don’t need a will. This would be likely if you’re in college or just out of college, living in an apartment, and have student loan or credit card debt.

Why You Need a Will Even When You’re Broke

There are several reasons why the broke need a will.

Designate Who Will Raise Your Children

If you have children, you can dictate through a will who you want to raise your children in the event that you and your spouse die at the same time (or if your spouse is deceased). If you don’t have a will in place, the state will decide who will become your children’s legal guardian. I’m sure you would rather choose than have the state decide.

Why the Broke Need a Will — Photo by Peter Idowu on Unsplash

You May Not Be as Broke as You Think

Another reason why you need a will is that you may think you’re broke, but you’re not. Take the time to consider all of the assets that you do have.

Potential Assets

For instance, do you have a life insurance policy? Even if you haven’t bought one yourself, often your employer supplies you with some life insurance.

Do you own a home? If so, how much equity do you have in the home?

What about your belongings? Do you own anything of value?

Do you have a retirement account? Again, even if you haven’t set one up independently, do you have one through your employer? If so, how much is the balance?

Most people, when they consider all of these sources, realize that they do indeed have assets. A will helps you designate who will get those assets when you die.

If you have children, you’ll likely want the assets to go to those individuals you’ve asked to raise your children in the event of your death.

How to Create a Will

Now that you’ve decided you likely need a will, you probably think you don’t have enough money to pay for the creation of a will. While hiring a lawyer can be expensive, you can create a will fairly cheaply by using a website service.

My husband and I created our will seven years ago using LegalZoom.com. We answered questions, filled out the form, and then paid $250. When we were done, lawyers looked over the document, and within a week we had our will.

Once you create a will, remember to update it as you have more children or accumulate more debts.

Final Thoughts

If you’re anything but single with no kids, then you need to create a will. No one likes to think about dying, but we’re all going to do so one day. It’s better to take the time now to designate who gets your assets and who will raise your children should you have an untimely death.

Remember, creating a will doesn’t have to be expensive, and your family will be glad you took the time to create one.

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Good Alternative Markets to Buy Specialty Foods

May 24, 2021 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

In our family, we’re gluten free and dairy free due to food intolerances. Although we’ve been this way for about 10 years now, when we first eliminated gluten and dairy from our diets, I was shocked by how much gluten and dairy alternatives cost. Thankfully, in the years since, we’ve found good alternative markets to buy our specialty foods.

Save Before You Shop

Of course, if your grocery budget is tight and you’re on a special diet, the first way to save is to make meals that naturally don’t require substitutions. For instance, stir fries are meals that don’t require any gluten or dairy substitutes (except the soy sauce). An All-American meal of meat, potatoes, and a veggie is another one. Try to make the bulk of your meals the kind that don’t require any substitutions.

Having said that, sometimes you just want meals as close to what you used to have as possible.

Good Alternative Markets to Buy Specialty Foods

Azure Standard

Good Alternative Markets for Buying Specialty Foods — Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash

Azure Standard is a family run health food store that delivers food throughout the United States. You can buy food in bulk at significantly discounted prices. (For instance, we buy gluten free oatmeal in 50 pound bags for $62, which is a price I can never match per pound in the grocery store.) In addition, each month, Azure has different items on sale.

Their trucks deliver once a month at places called drops where several people help unload the truck and then pick up their individual orders.

Vitacost

Vitacost is an online retailer that sells both vitamins and supplements as well as food. They have a large specialty food section, whether you’re looking for dairy free, gluten free, vegan, soy free, Keto, Paleo, or many others.

If you place a $50 order or larger, shipping is free. In addition, if you sign up for their mailing list, they will frequently send discount codes, often for 15 to 20 percent off.

Again, when I use their discount codes, I find the prices lower than I can get at local grocery stores. Plus, you can’t beat the convenience of having food delivered right to your door.

Thrive Market

Thrive Market does have a fee of $5 per month, but the people who use the service say the fee is worthwhile, especially since shipping is free if you buy $49 or more in an order.

This online retailer has more choices than VitaCost, and your order is delivered right to your door. However, like Vitacost, there is no fresh produce available. (You can get fresh and frozen produce from Azure. Azure’s organic frozen berries are much cheaper than you can find in stores!)

If you’re not sure about paying the monthly fee, you can try Thrive Market for free for 30 days and cancel if you find it isn’t what you’re looking for.

Final Thoughts

If you have dietary restrictions, you may be frustrated because you can’t find the foods you need at a traditional grocery store. However, these three alternative markets for buying specialty foods will likely have what you need. I use a combination of all three throughout the year.

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