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COBRA is essentially a total failure as a means of providing continuity of health insurance. Let's just acknowledge that and then work to fix it. Its participation is low because it dramatically raises the amount people pay out of their own money for insurance right at the time where people can least afford to have their insurance premium payments jump (when they are unemployed). Maybe it would have worked okay when insurance was reasonably affordable, and people could afford to pay it from savings, but now it's a joke. Yet another reason we need some government insurance option.
CNN Money's 3 ways to save big is fine, I guess, but their list is as follows:
1. Furniture (no mention of Craig's List? Only mom and pop places? They have markups too, you know...)
2. Stuff (they suggest going to the survivors, not the liquidators, for the best prices - Internet is generally better, price wise, than even B&M stores anyway)
3. Travel (they say hotels are offering the best deals...but you still have to pay all the crappy fees to get on the plane, and rental car agencies aren't feeling too much pain yet, I guess)