Lost your job? COBRA subsidies may help you keep your medical benefits

In case you are unfamiliar with the term, COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) is a program with which people can continue their health insurance coverage after leaving a job by paying the premiums. Often this is of great benefit because the cost of the premium through the former employer is less than that of buying new coverage as an individual.

Due to the state of the economy and rise of unemployment, the Feds enacted ARRA¹ which provides for premium reductions and other options for people who were involuntarily terminated "during the period beginning September 1, 2008 and ending December 31, 2009".²

In a nutshell, if eligible, an individual would be responsible to pay 35% of the COBRA (health insurance) premium; the former employer pays the remaining 65% and is reimbursed through a tax credit.²

Normally small companies (those with 20 employees or less) are exempt from having to provide COBRA to former employees. However, some states have enacted what is being called "Mini COBRA", which means that small companies have to offer ARRA. In some states, employees who were laid off from companies that have since closed may be eligible for benefits as well. Rhode Island recently enacted both the "Mini COBRA" and allows benefits for former employees of now closed businesses. ³

Two particularly helpful items about this new legislation is that (as far as I can tell) your (former) employer is REQUIRED to tell you about it.⁴ And, even if you were terminated before the laws were enacted and declined COBRA, you may still be able to continue your benefits under these acts. ARRA was first initiated February 17, 2009, but coverage is retroactive to September 1, 2008. ²

Of course, not everyone will be eligible, so it depends on your specific situation and possibly your state laws. The basic guideline for getting the subsidy is that you must have been involuntarily terminated within the specified dates but it cannot have been for gross misconduct.

I wrote this piece is an effort to spread this information, but I am in no way an expert on COBRA, employment law, or ARRA. If you need further assistance, you can contact me and I can try to do a web search to point you in the right direction, but I cannot offer any advise.

¹ The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
² Source: US Dept of Labor COBRA page
³ Source: Small Business COBRA & Closed Business COBRA
⁴ Source: State of RI Lt Gov website
"Information for Employers
Are you an employer that laid-off or released any employees after September 1, 2008? If so, then you may have requirement to follow based on this new law. The federal department of labor has detailed information on its website. All employers will need to change they way they inform any workers who are involuntarily terminated about their COBRA benefits."


Other Sources
Nolo.com: New COBRA rules

Earn - Survey Savvy

Join Survey Savvy - take surveys - get paid.

Survey Savvy is a legitimate survey site. Its not an offer site or a trial site. Saturday I took a screener survey and was chosen to participate in a survey that pays $60.00. For five days, I have to fill out a "Breakfast Diary" and at the end, the sponsor of the survey is supposed to pay me $60. Not bad. There are some other survey invites in my inbox that I am going to check out right now.

Obviously, you are not going to qualify for every survey, but the screener surveys are brief - you don't have to spend 25 minutes filling it out only to be told you didn't qualify as on some sites (I'm talking to you OTX).

Click here to sign up and get Survey Savvy invites delivered to your inbox.

Green - $5 off Brita system

Click here* for a $5 off printable coupon for a Brita system.

Brita pitchers and filters are on sale at Rite Aid this week (6/14/09 to 6/20/09) for $14.99. So, if you have been thinking about trying to break that disposable water bottle habit but still have nice fresh cold water in your fridge, this might be a good way to get started.

A water filter can provide savings in both time and money. You will save the time and expense of purchasing bottled water, whether buying in bulk, on sale in the gocery store or on the run at a huge markup. And, of course, there is the added bonus for our environment. Do I even need to mention the benefits to all of us in having less plastic bottles floating around?


*If that link doesn't for any reason, you can go to the website directly and register to get the coupon for the system. If you register, you can also print out a $1.00 off filters coupon. Don't forget to use your browser's back button to print each coupon twice.

Save - $1 for Hammermill paper at Staples 6/7 to 6/13

Staples June 7 to June 13 flyer has a great rebate deal for Hammermill paper.

When you buy one ream of Hammermill paper for $4.99, there is a $3.99 rebate, so a ream of papr costs $1.00!
Available in store only and limited to two rebates per customer.

If you conserve your paper, print on both sides and only print when you need to, two reams of paper can last a VERY long time!

Staples Weekly Ad (Details are in the Sneak Peek Ad)

Green Tip - Vinegar Fabric Softener

You may have heard that white vinegar can be used as fabric softener in the washing machine. I thought I would check it out and report on the results.

It works!

Vinegar is cheaper than commercial fabric softener; the clothes do not take on the smell of the vinegar; and vinegar can put less chemicals into the ecosystem.

As an added bonus, I left one load of clothes in the washer for two days and even though it was warm out, the clothes did not get the musty smell they get with commercial fabric softener.

Unfortunately, the clothes were staticky when they came out of the dryer, so I still have to use my one quarter dryer sheet for drying. There are green alternatives to those, which I will try the next time I find one that is reasonably efficient and cost effective.

Save - Cutting your own hair

I cut my own hair this weekend. You can probably guess how it went just by reading my new do's and don'ts listed below.

1. Don't cut your own hair on a whim.
2. Do have at least one mirror on hand.
3. Don't cut your hair while it's in a ponytail.
   
4. Do cut your hair outside. (This is the only tip I actually followed.)
5. Do have a backup friend who can even it out for you.

Long story short, the shape of my hair from the back looks like an upside down horseshoe, which we all know lets the luck out! It happened because my hair was in a ponytail.

Anyway, my hair is short and I didn't pay to get it cut! Yay me!

Save - A tale about cat litter

Once upon a time, our fair maiden was almost out of cat litter and fretting about how to acquire more in a frugal way. Along comes our hero, FrugalRIMama, with a link to an internet printable coupon for $1/1 Arm & Hammer clumping cat litter.

The maiden was able to take advantage of Stop & Shop's sale price of $6.99 for 20 lbs. and combine four printable coupons (from two computers) with four dollar double coupons from the S&S flyer to get...

80 POUNDS OF CAT LITTER FOR $21.38!!

And the kingdom rejoiced!
The end.

I just went back to the Arm & Hammer site to print more cat litter coupons and they appear to be gone from the site. The kingdom is awash in sorrow for those who didn't ge to print them.

Give Back - Stonington Food Pantry

The nice folks at the Stop & Shop in Stonington had a donation box set up next to the exit for the Stonington Food Pantry. I love it when stores do this - I am sure that people are more likely to donate if all they have to do is put the food in a box for someone else to handle.

I donated the BBQ sauce, some salad dressing, and some crystal light. It would be nice if more store did this and let the customers know about it. If I had known the box was there, I would have gotten more stuff and donated it. Oh well, one thing at a time!

I love being able to donate more now that I've gotten into the coupon thing. It's definitely a win-win.

Save - Stop & Shop 5/26

Once again, many thanks to FrugalRIMama for showing me "the way of the coupon". Could not do this without her!

I went to the Stop & Shop in Stonington, CT last night for the first time. It's a new store, so it's nice and clean. I got there around 8:45 and it was practically deserted which was great! But enough chitchat! What did I save, you ask? Well, let me tell you! I saved:
$52.03 with 36 manufacturer's coupons - Thanks Karen!
1.05 with MC that S&S doubled
62.07 on sale items
$115.15 Total savings!!!!

I spent $75.27. Not as good as the haul from Shaw's but S&S didn't have as much that I wanted on sale.

What I got: (see FrugalRIMama's blog for links to the printable coupon sites)
(3) Kraft 8 oz dressing @ 3/5.00 - used 3 MC $1.50/1 (even though the coupon says 16 oz or larger, it worked on the 8 oz)
(4) Kraft shredded cheese @ 2/5.00 - Used 2 internet printable coupons $1/2
(3) S&S butter @ 1.49 each
(2) Friendly's ice cream @ 1.99 each
(4) Marie Callendar Steam entree things @ 4/10.00 - used 2 - $1/1 & 2 - .75/1 MC from inserts
(14) canisters Crystal Light @ 2/4.00 - used IP coupons $1/1 & $2/2 to make them all cost $1 each
(2) Crystal Light Skin Essentials 0.00- Used 2 IP coupons - Buy Crystal Light - Get Skin Essentials Free
Got a coupon at the register to get $2.00 off a shopping order WYB 4 Crystal Light. Yea, cuz I NEED more Crystal Light? Sheesh.
(6) Glade sprays @ 10/10.00 - Used 3 BOGO MC from inserts
(4) Kraft BBQ sauce @1.00 - Used 4 IP $1/1 (S&S has this price locked in until 8/06/09, so print the coupons and use them up to get FREE BBQ sauce!)
(4) Renuzit Crystal Deoderizers @4.99 each - Used 2 BOGO MC from inserts
(3) Yakisoba ramen dishes @ 1.00 each- Used 3 - .35 MC from inserts. S&S doubled them so these cost .30 each. These will make a quick lunch for me with a salad. Even if they don't taste that great, I'm trying to eat lunch for as little as possible, so this fits right in. Price is set until 8/6/09.
(2) BallPark Franks @ 3.99 each - On sale BOGO and used $1/2 MC from insert. These are $1 cheaper than at Shaw's, so make sure you get them at S&S.
(2) Hillshire Farms ropes @ 4.39 each - On sale BOGO and used $1/2 from insert.

The cashier must have been new because for the Crystal Light and Renuzit free coupons, she was just entering in amounts willy nilly. At least she was nice and didn't make a big fuss about all the coupons. She didn't get flustered as the line started to form behind me either. I am definitely going to have to get one of those "Pick another check out lane" shirts from Krazy Coupon Lady. Or maybe I'll just make up a warning sign to stick at the end of my items on the belt!

Save - Sale & Coupons at Shaw's 5/25/09

First off, many thanks to Karen from FrugalRIMama.com. Learning from her & her site is what made it possible for me to save so much this week. My grocery cart was overflowing with items this week and the grand total for all of it was $97.41.

Here are the numbers:


Here are the highlights:
8 boxes Kellogg's cereal for .88/box-Used Shaw's coupon $5/8 boxes; (8)manufact coupons $1/1
2 Marzetti's dressing for 2.49 each-(2)manufact coupons $1/1;plus 1.50 Upromise savings wyb 2
2 Deli Selects for 0.00-Shaw's coupon 2 FREE deli selects wyb 5 Coke 12 packs
4 bottles Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce for 0.25 each - (4) manufact coupons $1/1
2 bottles Ken's Marinade for 0.25 each - (2) manufact coupons $1/1
4 boxes Hefty One Zip Qt bags for 0.50 each - (4) manufact coupons $1/1
5 envelopes McCormack's GrillMate for 0.00 - (5) manufact coupons .50/1; Shaw's doubled coupon
2 boxes Ritz Crackers for 2.00 each - (2) manufact coupons $1/1
2 boxes Wheat Thins Artisan Crackers for 0.00 - (2) manufact coupons Buy 1 Ritz, Get 1 Free Wheat Thins Artisan
18 Kraft Easy Mac Cups for 0.56 each - (8) manufact coupons $1/2
12 boxes Wheat Thins/Triscuits for 1.00 each - (12) manufact coupons $1/1
10 cups Yoplait Yogurt for 0.44 each - Shaw's coupon $1/10; (1) manufact coupons buy 6 get 1 free
2 Off Clip On units for 6.99 each (sale price)
2 Off Clip On Refills for 0.00 - (2) manufact coupons Free refill WYB Off Clip On unit

To get some perspective, here is a cost comparison for just the items above:
Non-sale cost: 197.68
Sale cost: 134.04
My Cost: 59.86

Again, thank you FrugalRIMama!!

As always, I made some rookie mistakes. I'm adding them to help others and as a reminder to myself not to do it again!
1. The cashier didn't scan the 2 manufact coupons I had for free KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce WYB Kingsford charcoal, so I paid for them. Cost $5.58 for MORE BBQ sauce when I was already getting some for 0.25 each. So aggravating.
2. The cashier didn't scan the BOGO Ruby Sierra Mist coupon. Cost 2.67 because I wouldn't have gotten one if I didn't have the coupon to get one free.
3. The cashier didn't scan the BOGO Easy Mac coupon and said I had too many $1/2 coupons, so I guess she thought they were all the same coupon. Cost 2.00

There were a couple of cashier errors, though, so it ended up being $1.34 in my favor. It would have been even more in my favor if I had caught the coupon errors.
1. When I got to my car, I noticed that I had been charged $7.59 for something called KEDEM CNCRD GRP. I didn't buy grapes, anything grape flavored or anything for 7.59, so I hauled everything back into the store. Because I had so much stuff the CSA just gave me the money back instead of taking everything out to find out what it was.
2. I bought 5 Grillmates envelopes. The cashier only scanned in one, but she scanned in five 0.50/1 coupons, which Shaw's doubled. So, that was $4.00 off my bill PLUS 4 free GrillMates, which were free anyway due to the double coupons.

If any other coupon people read this, would you let me know how you make sure all your coupons get scanned properly? I find it very hard to unload the cart, watch the prices as they are scanned, bag the goceries, and keep track of whether or not the coupons are going in right. There's no one for me to buddy up with, so I guess I will just have to practice. Still, if you have any tips, I'd appreciate the help!

Earn - Tiny Tip #6 - Be Efficient

Be efficient

Use your time efficiently. Focus your efforts on one or two proven sites. Look at other people's blogs and check to see which sites have actually paid the person money. Then spend your time trying to earn on the site(s) you chose. Participating on multiple sites will dilute your time and make it take longer to get to your minimum payout amount. Even if you have unlimited time to do this, work one or two sites. Once you start to get the hang of the process, THEN branch out to other sites that you learn about.

In tip #5, I listed the sites from which I had received actual cash payments. Below is info on a couple of sites, with referral links, where I have earned credits, but have not yet been paid.

CashCrate I have $4.30 worth of credit with them. They have some free offers, some trial offers, and daily surveys. I've heard good things about this site and will make it one of my go-to sites once I have time to work on offers/surveys again. $20.00 minimum payout.

Opinion Outpost I have $7.50 worth of credit with them which is enough to get paid, but I want it to get higher before I request payment. This is a survey site - they'll send you an email notification to take a survey or you can visit the site to see if you are eligible to take any. If you get an invitation to take a survey, take it fast. Most of the surveys close in a day or less. $5.00 minimum payout.

SquishyCash I have $5.62 & 4 chips of credit with them. Personally, I am not a huge fan of SquishyCash BUT they have a variety of ways to earn: paid to click, daily surveys, free offers, trial offers, and now it looks like they have Squishy Slots, whatever that is. Karen @ frugalrimama.com has made over $400 from this site, so it is probably worth checking out.

Learn from my mistakes!! When I started this adventure in Feb 2009, I signed up for every site I saw. As a result, I have accounts all over the place with various credit and VERY LITTLE ACTUAL EARNINGS IN MY POCKET. Plus, I wan't smart about where I signed up. I did NO research. I signed up for a site that required earnings of $100 before payment would be made. I also signed up for a site that charges a $5 fee to send the payments. (I don't recall which site that was or else I would warn you about it.)

Those are both big no no's. A high minimum payout amount means that site doesn't plan to EVER pay out. And there are plenty of sites out there that don't charge to send the payment, so pick one of those and don't pay them a fee to pay you! I have noticed YouData is charging me a penny or two to transmit their payments, so I am keeping my eye on that to see if itgets out of hnd.

Post #6 in a series of 6 of tips for beginners to earning money online.

Earn - Tiny Tip #5: Research

Research

This tip goes with "Be Efficient" tip #6. Check other people's blogs for sites that have ACTUALLY paid out money to them. Not what they earned and have credit for; find out which sites paid money. Because this is what this is all about. We're not in this to build up never ending credit on some site with no hope of ever getting paid. We want the money!

The only sites that I have received actual cash from are the following: Esearch.com, DollarSurveys.net, and YouData.com. I signed up for tons of sites. As I revisit them, I'll post some details on each.

Esearch - I've earned $4.00 to date on two surveys. I think Esearch sends out a screener survey and if you qualify, they send you the paid survey to take. The invitations come infrequently, but if they invite you to take the survey, you know you have a pretty good shot at qualifying to complete it. (Unlike LOTS of other sites that will tell you 3/4 of the way through that you 'don't meet the criteria'.) I love this site because they pay directly into your Paypal account without having to accumulate a minimum amount.

DollarSurveys.net - I've earned approximately $20.00 from them completing surveys and offers. I love this site because they pay $1 per completed survey right into your Paypal account. Payment is usually about a week after completion. There are some cons with this site as there can be a high failure rate for completing the surveys. You aren't going to meet the criteria and be able to finish every survey and get paid, which ends up being time wasted. But, overall, this is a great site.

YouData.com - This is another site that I love because there is so little work involved and I LOVE the concept. Since Feb 09, I've earned about $10.00 from this site, just from clicking and looking at other websites. For more info, please visit FrugalRIMama's blog. She did a nice write up on YouData.

In tip #6, "Be efficient" I have included a few sites that I would recommend as "starter" sites.

Learn from my mistakes: I CANNOT stress this one enough. Shop around, look for proof of payments, watch out for high payout requirements. Sign up for one or two and then STOP. Concentrate your efforts with those two sites to start. Expand to more later if you want, but start small. Free offers & surveys can take 15-20 minutes each to complete. You won't always get credit for completed free offers. So don't spread yourself thin. Spend your time on one (or two) site(s) to maximize your earnings potential. Visit FrugalRIMama's blog to start your research. She writes up sites, shows the credits she has earned on her homepage and also posts proof of payments received.

Post #5 in a series of 6 of tips for beginners to earning money online.

Earn - Tiny Tip #4: Paypal

Paypal
Sign up. Period. The End.

Each site will have a different options for receiving payments, but many pay via Paypal. Be sure to read & make a note of the fine print when you are signing up at each site. Make a note of the payout method and if there are any fees taken for sending the payment to you.

Learn from my mistakes: When I started this adventure, I signed up for a site that charges a $5 fee to send the payments. (I don't recall which site that was or else I would warn you about it.) This error is included twice to make sure it really sinks in!

Post #4 in a series of 6 of tips for beginners to earning money online.

Earn - Tiny Tip #3: RoboForm

Consider downloading RoboForm

RoboForm is a program you can download to use to fill in forms. You can get a free unlimited trial and after the trial is over, you can have limited usage for free - 2 identities and 10 logins.

If you're planning on doing free offers, this is a MUST have. Just set up one identity with the email, login & password that you want to use to sign up for offers. When you want to fill in a form, you just click a button on your toolbar and Hey Presto! all or most of the form will be filled in for you.

Learn from my mistakes: Some sites, like DealBarbiePays, consider RoboForm to be a "bot" and will not give you credit for offers filled out using RoboForm.


Post #3 in a series of 6 of tips for beginners to earning money online.

Earn - Tiny Tip #2: Be Organized

Be organized

Use index cards, paper, a spreadsheet or any method you choose, but be sure use some kind of system to keep track of what you have done.

For instance:
Email accounts & passwords
Sites you signed up for along with login ID, email you used to sign up, & password
Payout amount (minimum you need to earn before you can request payment)
Fine print - note any *fine print* such as fees for receiving payments, etc.
Earnings (it's interesting to compare time spent vs. $ earned)
Completed offers - don't waste time completing offers at multiple sites. Keep track!

Learn from my mistakes: When I started, I was signing up all over the place. I was trying to use the same login/password combo at all of them, but sometimes I didn't. What a disaster! I finally started keeping track in a spreadsheet and then my computer died. I had no backup, so it's back to square one for me!


Post #2 in a series of 6 of tips for beginners to earning money online.

Earn - Tiny Tip #1: Start a new email account

Start a new email account.

Your initial entry fee into the world on earning money online is ALWAYS going to be an email address.

You are going to get a TON of spam when you start signing up for sites and offers, so get a free email account from Hotmail, Yahoo, Google, etc.

Post #1 in a series of 6 of tips for beginners to earning money online.

Earn - Earning $ online: Tiny tips for beginners

The Tiny Edition

This is the tiny version of the tips. For more detail on any of the tips, click the link to go to the full post.

So you decided you want to make some money by doing surveys, completing offers, getting paid to click, etc? Well, if you follow my tips for beginners, you can avoid making some of the mistakes that I made and probably be a lot more successful!

1. Start a new email account


2. Be organized


3. RoboForm


4. Paypal


5. Research


6. Be efficient

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I'll help, if I can!

Give back - Kiva.org

Kiva.org is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that facilitates loans from individuals to entrepreneurs or a group of entrepreneurs in developing countries. If you are interested, check out the website or email me with questions, I'm not going to list all the details here.

I joined Kiva in February 2009 and made a loan to a group in Uganda. This past weekend, I got an email notification and saw that the original loan was almost repaid. I could have withdrawn the money but I reloaned it to a group in Bolivia.

The amazing thing about this program is that you can loan as little as $25 to help someone start or expand a business. And its a great feeling to know that you are helping someone. Of course it is a loan, so there is the risk that your money will not be paid back, but I'm willing to assume the risk.
You can check out the site by clickin any of the enbedded links and you can see my lender page by clicking here: http://www.kiva.org/lender/carrie5095.

Save - Cheerios Coupon Sign Up

Cheerios is running a promotion for June. Click below to enter your email address and they will send you $4 in coupons ($1 coupon a week). Cheerios $4 in June

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