COBRA costs more than my rent, what did you do?, store manager here

I was offered COBRA and the monthly cost is more than I expected as a store manager. I would rather hear the honest version than the polite one. My old employer will not help with the premium. Did anyone switch mid-year?

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It saved me later.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.