Health Insurance - Yikes!

I was talking to some friends about health insurance and I decided that I better double-check on my plans for when my contract is up at the end of August. Thank God I did! Originally, I thought it was going to cost us around $270 a month to add me to Seth's insurance. I seriously miscalculated. It will be almost $560 a month! That's a lot of money. I don't think that's the best option for us.

Since I'm quitting, our monthly income will be cut in half. That means Seth will have to cover my part of all our monthly bills. We'll also have to start paying my school loans again since they've been in deferment while I've been in school. That won't be too bad. I've already paid off 50% of my loans and I don't have too much left. That bill should be less than $150 a month. Plus my new health insurance bill.

I'm definitely going to be looking for a job in August. Nothing major since we will hopefully be relocating in December, but I wanted something that would cover my personal bills (health insurance and student loans). It would be great if I could make enough to contribute to our joint expenses. $560 sounds like a huge chunk out of a crappy hourly job. I think there must be a better option, but it's really hard to find insurance with maternity coverage in Florida. The "cheapest" option I have found so far costs at least $350. Which is less expensive, but still not great. Maybe something better will come along with this new Marketplace option, but there's no way I'm going to have a break in my coverage between August and when it starts in October.

We're going to have to make some serious budget cuts. No more traveling to visit my family until Thanksgiving I guess. We'll save money on gas since I probably won't have such a long commute. Maybe I can find a job within walking distance. Groceries will probably be the easiest thing to save money on. We eat pretty well (mostly fresh foods) and I hate to sacrifice our healthy diets just to save a bit of money, but I'm sure we can find a way to make it work. We have just under two months to figure it out!