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No, I don’t. My husband and I don’t have health insurance, and haven’t for several years. My children are all covered under CoverKids, which is provided by the state of Tennessee based on our income level, but unless something changes, they will lose coverage when my oldest daughter turns 19 next spring and we become a family of four instead of five in terms of income qualification. That is if she doesn’t move out before then, in which case they would lose it when she moves out.10 years ago we were covered by my employer provided insurance, but I became a stay at home mom in January 2010, and my coverage ended. Insurance through my husband’s employer was crazy expensive for a family plan, so we just carried coverage on him, since he was our only source of income, and we bought private insurance for our two daughters. When I got pregnant with my son in 2011, the kids qualified for CoverKids, so we dropped their private coverage and went with that for them.Then Obamacare passed, and in 2014 we signed up for marketplace coverage for me and my husband and dropped his work coverage. We weren’t a fan of the bill or the way it was enacted, but it was what it was, and we were hopeful that it would maybe turn out to be a good thing after all.The first year, we had maybe 30 options over the three tiers available. The next year our choices were down to about 10 total, and the premiums had gone up on all of them while the benefits had gone down. That year we carried it as long as we could because of the penalty, but by October we could no longer afford the premiums (especially since we couldn’t even afford to use it because of the enormous deductible), so we dropped it. The next year we had TWO plan choices available, both of which were more expensive than the plan we had no longer been able to afford a couple of months prior. The deductibles were also higher.We didn’t even bother to sign up. We are pretty healthy people for the most part, and in the almost two years we spent hundreds a month on Obamacare, we never went to the doctor once, which was fortunate, because if we’d had to, it would have all been out of pocket.A couple of weeks ago, I started having some weird symptoms. I had been having some dental problems, and parts of my face started going numb. I thought maybe I had an abscess that was pressing on a nerve. I had some leftover antibiotics from one of the kids, so I took those for a few days, but the numbness spread. At that point I started to become concerned that there might be an infection that could go to my brain if left untreated, so I made the hard decision to go to the ER.6 hours or so later we left with a diagnosis of….we don’t have a clue what’s wrong with you. There for a bit they were concerned that I could be having a stroke. While I was in the ER I started experiencing numbness in my arm as well, but blood work, an EKG, an X-ray, and two CT scans told them only that I wasn’t having a stroke, and there was no dental abscess or infection at all.The whole time I kept reminding them that I didn’t have insurance, so I wanted to keep the testing to a minimum, but they kept telling me my symptoms were potentially very serious, and because my blood pressure kept reading as high (no wonder!) they felt that they were all necessary. When we checked out, they asked me for $500, which obviously I didn’t have. They said that they would adjust the charges some because I would be self paying, and they would send me the bill.This week the bill came.If you can’t see it, that’s $4,104.20, AFTER a 60% discount. My husband and I don’t have insurance because we can’t afford it. We fall right into that spot where we make too much to qualify for assistance, but not enough to pay for the benefits.We are law abiding citizens. We pay our taxes. We vote. And we’re going to be sure to vote next year, because it is infuriating and unfair for someone who has entered our country illegally to be handed benefits paid for by our taxes when we can’t afford those benefits for ourselves.I want to point out, I don’t have anything at all against legal immigrants. I welcome them. This is a beautiful country, and if you want to come in through the door and join it the right way, you have my very best wishes. By all means, put in the time and the work, become a citizen. And if you genuinely need asylum, we have a process for that. But if you don’t want to abide by the laws of this country (including entering it the right way), then you certainly don’t deserve to enjoy its benefits.I also want to point out, I’m not asking other people to pay my bill. It sucks, but it’s my bill, and it’s not on other people to cover it. Just like it’s not on me to cover the cost of insurance for people who sneak across the border, especially when I can’t even afford to cover my own.*Update* I’m getting a lot of comments, so I wanted to address some points raised here in the answer. First of all, I’m not mad that the system treated me badly and now want everyone else to suffer. I’m sorry if something in my answer gave that impression, but it’s not the case.The ACA is not a free market, and it’s implementation has driven healthcare costs up across the board. Because insurance companies are now required to offer more comprehensive coverage to everyone, premiums and deductibles have shot through the roof, while doctors and hospitals are now required to settle for less reimbursement, driving increased pricing and staff shortages. I don’t, however, think the answer is universal healthcare. Universal healthcare isn’t free healthcare. It’s just healthcare that we have to pay for through our taxes, and we have to cover the costs for the hypochondriac who goes to the doctor every time they get on Web MD as well as the cancer patient. The answer is to make the services more affordable rather than taxing people more to pay for the increased costs. Someone below said that I want the government to make the prices go down. I don’t. I want them to get the heck out of it. Let the free market decide the pricing. If we did, sooner rather than later prices would be driven down by competition.The ACA outlawed catastrophic only policies, but then in effect made ALL policies catastrophic policies by causing deductibles to shoot so high that you have to have a catastrophic illness before your benefits will kick in. But you’re now paying 20x the cost of the old catastrophic policies. Here’s the thing. If I had had the ACA insurance policy when I took my trip to the ER, I would actually be in worse shape financially. I would be on the hook for the whole bill ($10,260.50 since there would be no discount for an uninsured patient). That might have met my deductible, and maybe they would have covered the last $260. But besides paying the first $10,000 myself, I would also have spent $6000 or so on premiums for the year. Before the ACA, we spent about $3000/year on insurance for the whole family (prior to signing up for CoverKids). Well visits were covered entirely, and co-pays for doctors visits were about $15. And my deductible was about $300 for the individual and $1200 for the family. All my ACA policies required you to pay for everything up to the deductible. There were no office co-pays. It was all out of pocket. And the deductibles were crazy.(Someone pointed out below that if I had the insurance, likely my bill would be 80% off rather than 60% since they would be required to charge what the insurance would pay for each item. That would drop my bill to roughly $2,000, but I’d be paying around $8,000 total when you factor in premiums, so I’d still be $4,000 worse off with the insurance)(Okay, after the above paragraph was added, someone informed me in the comments that currently the cheapest available ACA plan available for a family of 4 is currently $15,000/year. $15,000! So with the insurance, I’d actually be out $17,000 rather than $4,000. Possibly more, because we are a family of 5, not 4).I’m also aware that currently illegal immigrants do not get free healthcare, and that if they do, it will be because we all get universal healthcare. I’m absolutely against Universal Healthcare. It sounds awesome on the surface, but when the government is in charge of your insurance, besides the crazy tax hike that it would take to pay for it, you are also at their mercy when it come to deciding what treatments to pass out. The NHS is rife with horror stories of things like knee replacements and tonsillectomies being regularly denied and cancer treatments being fatally delayed because of costs. We’ve seen how the government runs the VA, and no thank you. It’s not so much ER visits I worry about. It’s long term treatment for things like diabetes (my mom) or joint issues (also my mom). And I don’t ever want to see anyone in America face a Charlie Gard situation. I don’t want the government to take my money and give me healthcare for it. I’d like for them to let me keep more of it and buy my own healthcare. And I’d like for the insurance to be a free market, so that there will be some policies I can afford with that money.And even if we end up with Universal Healthcare, I think it’s a horrible idea to offer it to illegal immigrants. I’m not trying to be unkind - if an illegal immigrant ends up with an emergency situation, they can already go to the ER and be treated. But we’re just incentivizing illegal immigration, and if UH does pass, then we would be using some of the resources that should be going to our citizens to treat people who are not supposed to be here. This is going to drive costs up across the board. Again, I want to stress - if you would like to do the work required to become a citizen, then by all means, welcome. Someone said that illegal immigrants should have the right to tax funded benefits because they’re either paying taxes on a stolen SSN or they’re increasing the taxable income for their under the table paying bosses. The fact remains, they are not citizens, and they are not legally entitled to citizen’s benefits. If they want them, become a citizen. A great number of them are sending all of their income back to their home countries anyway, so they’re not feeding into our economy.A large number of you seem to think I hate illegal immigrants. I don’t. I hate illegal immigration, and there IS a difference. I think that we need to work hard to establish more stringent parameters for asylum seekers. And I think that the current illegal population needs to be dealt with. I don’t think that necessarily means mass deportations. I think that we should set a time frame, say 90 days, and in that time, if you’ve been here illegally for 5 years or more and have established a life and have not committed any crimes more serious than a parking ticket, then if you come forward, we put you on a path to citizenship. I don’t think you should get to jump ahead of those doing it the right way (although you’ve already done just that by sneaking in), but I think that we should make it an achievable thing for you. If you’re here illegally and you’ve committed a serious crime, I’m sorry, but you’ve got to go back. And if you’ve been here for 5 or more years, you don’t come forward during that ninety days, and you get caught later, then out you go - you were given a chance. Yes, there is a crisis. And these are real people with real needs we’re dealing with. But we’re not going to be able to help anyone, including our own citizens, if we stretch our resources too thin.

Spend ten or fifteen minutes, each night before bed, to write down the next day's activities. Then the next day, stick to the plan.This is especially true if you are an entrepreneur or in a leadership role, as it's often difficult to prioritize your activity and time because you create your own schedule. The question that you need to ask yourself is: "What activities are crucial to my work, my learning and health and spiritual goals?"I think it's critical to cover all three. Attention to all three, each day, means you grow in each area, and you devote the time to nurturing each.Then, as you complete the tasks, check them off. I use a Moleskine, and write the tasks I need to accomplish on the right. I use a drafting stencil to make perfect circles next to my list items. For some reason that adds enjoyment to checking off the items when accomplished.On the left I take notes regarding the chosen activities. The notes can be whatever you like. Relevant information, admonishments or self motivation, doodles, or whatever.You're giving yourself feedback that you can refer back to later.The notes can also be used to jot down issues to pay attention to on the following day. Usually, my notes fill up on the left, during the previous day, before I make my list on the right, for the next day.It's important to have a place to make a note regarding an issue before it gets stale in your mind. Then, when you make your list, you have the notes to remind you, and you can decide what activity will address the issue best.I like making my list before I go to bed. That way, the day feels complete, and I can rest my mind. When I wake up, I grab a coffee, and head for my journal, sitting on my desk, and start attacking it.Over the course of time, this drastically makes your output more efficient, and over the course of years, I believe it can change your life. It keeps work from interfering with your fitness, for example. And your fitness from interfering with work. And at the end of the day, if you've completed your list, you feel productive. If not, just keep knocking off your items, you'll learn and adjust as you go.It also keeps your day focused on execution. Ideas are great, but activity is the only thing that will make you successful, whatever success means to you. Starting something has tremendous benefits, including curing procrastination:@http://blog.sandglaz.com/zeigarnik-effect-scientific-key-to-better-work/Another benefit is that you start to learn when to put down your pencil and put on your running shoes for example. It forces you to look at your days for what they are: cycles of limited time, and helps you understand better your own limitations, or even extend them.The days I have used this method, I'm almost always happier, more content, focused. I know I've worked the plan. The days I have not, I usually feel discontented, and keep thinking about what I could have done, or the things I forgot to do. That's a huge difference in mood.The difference comes from having a healthy relationship with your work. When the relationship is healthy, work invigorates you instead of exhausting you. You're enabling a positive feedback loop that gives more than it takes, and goals come to you with much less effort.Workaholics have an unhealthy relationship with their work. They are busy, but not productive. They have an obsession with their work, much in the same way an unfortunate person with an eating disorder is obsessed with food. The work itself becomes an addiction, and they lose sight of the other parts of life that are beneficial, healthy, and productive. The purpose of work should be to enable those other things, and to foster a positive self worth that comes from being productive, and living a balanced life.I don't think it's good to do this electronically. It's been proven that writing, with a pencil, helps retain information better than anything.Here's a study to back that up: The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard, and an article: A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a LaptopWe have limited time, unlimited choices, and infinite distractions. One of the few mantras with value that I learned in the corporate world was, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." Takes some discipline, but this old school method is one of the best vaccines against going anywhere instead of directly to the places you want to go.I have a confession to make, on this point. This summer I went on vacation with my family for three weeks. During the trip, I didn't do any work, which is ok, it IS a vacation. But when I got back home, I had a hard time getting back into my work. I felt burned out. I lost my focus. My goals, and my Moleskine, started to gather dust.Getting back to basics saved me. I dusted off my Moleskine and started a new page, and got back on track. It can be a struggle, at times, to stay disciplined with this, but trust me, it's worth it.

I want to clear up a huge misconception about gig workers.WE ARE NOT PAID HOURLY, WE RECEIVE NO HELP FROM INSTACART FOR GAS OR TOLLS OR PARKING. About half our income comes from tips. With that out of the wayI've been a shopper and driver in Florida since summer 2016.Here’s a video explanation, more condensedShort answer: Instacart pay does NOT factor in tips. Instacart delivery drivers do the shopping for most orders, and we are paid like restaurant servers so tips are greatly appreciated. Thank youInstacart customer support routinely lies about what the service charge is. google ‘class action lawsuit Instacart’, and you will see Instacart has got into legal trouble regarding our pay. Now for the long, more complete answer.This is long but you can skim through it and I'm sure it will answer your question! EnjoyContentsTip Amounts2. What Service Amount is3. How to Tip - Before Delivery4. How to Tip - After DeliveryWho gets my tip? (In store shoppers/drivers?)(If desired, skip ahead to section of interest)Suggested Tip AmountsI’ll explain why these amounts for the work being done, below this sectionLarge orders 200$ plus: 7.5-20% based on order experience qualityKeep in mind in terms of tipping, orders with totals above 500$ with groceries or Costco can take upwards of 3–5 hours for drivers to shop and deliver.Heavy item orders/low total (bottled water, liquids/ heavy items from Costco): 15-25$Orders 150–200$ or less: 5–20%/5–25$ based on order experience qualityShoppers are not paid more from instacart for heavy items, (bottled water) especially orders with multiple cases of water/soda which can be a low total but more work. Instacart pays us 40 cents per item. If we are getting 20 cases of water same brand? Guess how much we are paid.. 30-40 cents depending on the region. We are NOT helped by store employees at all. We carry, lift and organize all items ourselves and all drivers are independent contractors, Instacart does not have any sort of insurance for us, or benefits.Why should I Tip?Accurately picking an entire grocery order at 60 seconds per item or less is hard work. Delivering it in a short amount of time is also difficult. We are not compensated for long distances and heavier items, bottled water etc. They are MUCH more work, please consider that when deciding to tip or not. No missing items, item replacements ok, ample order communication and if the driver was nice; REMEMBER most orders, the delivery driver also shopped the order; a gratuity is greatly appreciated. THERE IS NO SEPARATE SHOPPER, I explain that myth farther below. Our pay has dropped significantly in the last year and like restaurant workers, we rely on tips for half of our income.2. What is the Service Amount?NOT A TIPOPTIONAL - NOT REQUIREDInstacart Express Members ALSO PAY ITDrivers receive none of itSeparate from Instacart’s Delivery FeeA Donation to InstacartWaiving the service amount, setting it to 0, does NOT affect your order, except to save you money! Waiving it doesn’t make your order less desirable to shoppers or the company.The Service Amount is where Instacart asks it’s customers to chip into a campaign to help pay for their workers. That’s what it is:To me, by principle alone, worker’s pay should be accounted for from delivery fees, etc and NOT masked as an amount that looks like the worker’s tip. Instacart since November 2016, funneled your tips to the service charge and helped them grow the company. Make no mistake, they did off of money customers thought we’re going to the workers.The service amount goes SOLELY and directly to Instacart like the tip goes solely and directly to the driver for your order.and againThe service amount goes SOLELY and directly to Instacart like the tip goes solely and directly to the driver for your orderBIG CITIES ONLY- (most cities where Instacart exists, one person (the driver) does your entire order, there is NO group or separate person doing the shopping.)Big cities, orders are done in two waysSame person shops AND deliversOROne person shops, and different person deliversTWO PEOPLE MAX per order, no group even if impliedoh you ask: how will I know if the driver shopped my stuff?Good question!Simple: See your name and barcode on bags? Then an hourly paid shopper prepared and shopped the order then a contractor driver picked it up, secured it in their car and delivered. Tip accordingly.Unmarked bags with store logo only? Driver did everything. Tip accordinglyStore logo only? The driver at your door did the entire order. If you see a name/bar code you can tip the driver less than if they shopped it, because they only picked it up and didn’t pick the items from shelves. I highly recommend tipping drivers though considering we pay all of our expenses, instacart doesn’t help us pay for fuel, maintenance, mileage, tickets, tolls, equipment, anything at all related to our work.Also remember: the tip amount in the app always goes to the driver. As of December 2017, Instacart does NOT have a option to tip an in store shopper if your order involved one. Instacart wants customers to pay the service fee which again goes solely and directly to Instacart. That is their goal in hopes you pay them instead of tipping the worker which doesn’t help them at all.For large cities with heavier Instacart presence, Instacart may have hired shoppers who stay in stores and shop. These employees are called in-store shoppers and are paid hourly, amount varies on the region. In Miami it’s 9$ / hour and they get performance bumps if they do the orders correct, fast etc.They are employees of Instacart and have ZERO expenses to pay for while working. They’re part time and can only work a maximum of 29 hours a week. They have to shop orders fast just like drivers do, but have NO expenses and thus they take on significantly less risk than drivers do. When tipping, in app or with cash, the driver is the only person who will get your tip no matter what. Drivers are called full service shoppers and we are independent contractors and NOT reimbursed for ANY expenses whatsoever. We pay for FUEL, TOLLS, REPAIRS, PARKING all out of our own pockets.An analogy would be full service shoppers (drivers) are like servers in a restaurant because we’re the ones who interact face to face with customers and are the majority determination of the tip considering we have to deliver your food to you in a secure, timely and fast manner. In store shoppers (if your area has them) are like busboys/expediters - people who run food, clear plates since they don’t interact with customers face to face or have ANY expenses.REMEMBERService Amount - InstacartTip - DriverEvery order, express member or not3. How to Tip - Instacart App/websiteYou can tip before OR after delivery. Instacart would rather customers pay the service amount than tip so you have to access a 2nd menu at checkout to tip us. Click edit next to service to access the screen and you can change service amount to 0 and modify the tip to your liking.Tip is Adjustable up to one week after deliveryAt checkout screen:SERVICE line tap ‘edit’ /‘change’; (the word edit is a button believe it or not) - new window opensTap service amount 10%; select 0, (this % amount goes to Instacart if you pay it)Tip - Tap ‘none (adjust later)’ - select 10% or other amount. ( this goes to your driver if you pay it.)DO NOT CLICK BACK IN APPClick SAVE in green at bottom to confirm changes. NOTHING changes if SAVE is not clicked. SAVE SAVE SAVE ;)Save yourself money and if you want to tip, ensure it goes to who you want it to go to.kHighly RecommendedOnce service amount is waived, don’t adjust your order, in fact, make waiving the service amount your last step because if you change anything on the order, the service amount magically appears back on the order. Waive the service amount as your last step before placing the order.After Delivery tip (2 Ways)a) Email - Rate & Tipb) Settings of App - Your Orders - Select Ordera) EmailIn Instacart delivery confirmation email, click RATE & TIPRate the order up to 5 STARS. We like 5 STARS ;)Choose % or custom amount for the driver. You will see this sentence - ‘You paid a service amount of ...’ this is placed there to trick customers to think they already tipped. If you paid Instacart the optional service amount, you will see that sentence.b) SettingsTop Left Main Screen of app- Click the Person SilhouetteSelect ‘Your Orders’Select Order to Add/Modify TipClick green button View Rating to view ‘tip’ AmountsSummaryFour ways to Tipa) Checkout screen - service ‘edit’/’change’ (before order placed)b) Email - Rate & Tip (after order delivered)c)Settings - Your Orders - Select orders up to 1 week post delivery (after order delivered)d) Cash - of course accepted as well, but I don't emphasize it because many people don’t like to carry cashBackground Info Service amountTip listed as ‘Tip (optional)’ and service amount is listed as ‘Service’ appears as it is required when it is not. That’s deceptive and misleading unfortunatelyPrior to October 2016, between 80 and 90% of our orders customers left a tip, small or big. To illustrate how dramatic adding the service charge was to tips drivers received, that % dropped to an average of 42% over the last year. Instacart placed the service amount strategically in the app to discourage customers from tipping the specific worker on their order and instead funneling that money to corporate revenues. Me alone I have calculated I lost between 8 and 10,000$ in tips from this confusion and strategically placed new service amount.Many customers still believe the service amount is a tip to drivers of no fault of their own. Instacart has deceived thousands of people to believe the service amount is a tip to the driver. Grocery delivery is a great service, but most customers believe the service amount is a tip, and rightfully so, it’s made to look like one. Instacart has counted on it since October 2016. It's worth repeating, NONE OF the Service amount goes to drivers, ever. Paying the service amount is like tipping the restaurant owners when you go out to eat. It is another fee that goes to the company to be 100% clear. It is optional and easily removed, as shown above. You can absolutely still tip on the app if you would like.Instacart is a great service, it is a shame they decided to confuse customers and misrepresent a charge to look like it was the driver’s tips. They recently settled a lawsuit due to this, but they don’t have to modify the app setup for another 6 months. Until then, remember the steps above and you can show your appreciation to your Instacart shoppers.If this helped or you enjoyed please upvote, Thank you!More backgroundReminder: The in store shopper does not receive any of the tip. It worked like that before October 2016, but the service amount changed all of that.The service amount goes to no one except corporate Instacart as revenue.In store shopper description: In store shoppers are Instacart employees and are only in select cities where Instacart is busier. They can only work up to 29 hours a week thus, not as many of them use it as their primary income.Many drivers, Instacart is our main income, we do it full time, 35–65 hours a week and survive off of it, and we pay all expenses associated with operating our personal vehicles for this job. Instacart does not reimburse for expensesThus like servers, our income is significantly made up of tips, the ‘tip’ section is only for the drivers.Reiterating my purpose here - driver’s tips like mine dropped by 40-50% literally overnight once the service charge was enacted in October last year. It was unbelievable, nearly half of our income went away in a short amount of time because of this deceit and confusion.Drivers have to account for ALL expenses before actually seeing how much income they made as well as doing their own taxes at end of the year. The only obligation instacart has to us is payment. We are NOT reimbursed for anything: fuel, tolls, repairs, mechanical issues, traffic, tickets, drawbridges/trains delaying orders etc.If you pay the service charge you are essentially donating to Instacart to help pay for their workers across the company.Our rates across the country have also dropped in half even though the fine print for service amount said it is used to pay higher commissions to workers and currently says it provides competitive pay to all their workers. In other words waive the fee, save the money, they’re asking for gofundme amounts in the app to pay their workers.Also, on orders with 2 different people, the driver is only paid 3–5$ per order to deliver no matter how far away or how many tolls they have to pay. Thus, the ‘Tip’ section is for the driver.Now with a driver only delivering, the tip would be less or even much less on those orders, I agree with that. If your order shows up with bar code/name tags on your bags, when you choose what to put as a tip for the driver, I would say 3-8$ depending on if he was fast or professional, physical size of the order etc. If you’re wondering if 8$ is a lot, if you waive the service fee you’ll have that amount to tip with if you so choose.Assuming you didn't waive the service amount, forgot to waive it or just found out it’s optional and you never had to pay it this whole time, you can simply email [email protected] or call instacart support at 1–800-INSTACART to waive the service fee, or ask for prior service amounts to be waived, being confident that NONE of it goes to any worker.If you have other question(s), please ask! I like clearing this up for people because Instacart was wrong not to educate any customers on this.At the end of the day, it is where you want your money going.I hope you enjoyed, please upvote or downvote and we instacart workers greatly appreciate our customers and most of us really like our work. We hope this tip/service amount shenanigans stop early next year.This answer is not for reproductionThanks for reading!