@jonsblond I can’t afford Obamacare at this time, so I’m going to have to take the penalty. I’m currently living off of money that I had tapped into from my IRA, and I have money in a 401k from a former employer that I can thankfully tap into. With no persistent income coming in for me outside of the occasional temp job, I need my money just to eat, pay my basic bills, vehicle/home insurance, gas money, food/care for my pets, etc. Even fifty dollars a month is huge for me right now.
I consider myself to be lucky in the sense I own my truck and house, and have no real debt. I consider myself to be lucky enough to land an eight dollar an hour job not too far from me, a seasonal job with no benefits. It is four months of work though. Yeah, I have an Associate’s Degree in electronics, two trade certificates, 17 years of field experience, and a good and productive employment record and I can’t land even a mediocre job, let alone something in my field. I’m glad I have no children to support, but I feel bad for families in worse situations than me.