COBRA costs more than my rent, what did you do? - 12 months and counting

I just got my COBRA paperwork and the deadline to decide is close. I would rather hear the honest version than the polite one. I saw that marketplace plans might cost less. Is the decision time really that tight?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.