Latest crisis

Today we received a phone message while I was taking a nap with the kids from our electric provider. It said that we needed to contact them immediately. When I listened, a shot of anxiety rushed through my body. I was fearing the worst, that our service would be terminated. We haven't received a disconnection notice to my knowledge, but as I mentioned before, we are so disorganized that it's possible it came in the mail and I haven't seen it yet.

I was able to locate one of the most recent bills (from January still not paid) and called ComEd. The office was closed and there were no customer service reps available. Also, I couldn't find a prompt on the automated service where it would allow you to arrange payments or extend a pay-by-date. So I went online, checked my bank account balances, transferred some from savings into checking and made a payment online. Not the full amount, mind you, but at least half of what is due and the total amount past due. I plan to call them tomorrow morning to beg for mercy and hope that this will buy us some time to figure it all out. It looks like I have enough to pay the whole darn thing right now, but I have some automatic debits coming out of my checking account soon and I don't want to be hit with overdraft fees or the stress that involves. So I am hoping that this will give us another two weeks or so, because my hubby will be getting another check in the meantime, and then we'll be able to fork over more money. Whew!

At least the scariness of no electricity has helped me to "prioritize" my bills. While it is a reactive move, at least it is a step in the right direction. Keep your fingers crossed for me that we'll be able to keep the lights on for a few weeks.