It worked! (For now)

Today after I got home from the Y and doing some grocery shopping with the kids, I called ComEd, and they told me that at this time I am not in jeopardy of being shut off. That's a relief! I still need to pay them $200+ for current charges and some past due, ASAP. Once my husband gets back from his trip and we deposit his check I will send them some more.

I still owe the gas company a lot, so I will be pushing them up on the priorities list as well.

I am thinking to make this work, I am going to have to try and generate some extra income. I've considered part time work, but right now I'd have to get a babysitter to cover some of the hours between when my husband comes home and in the end I don't know if it would be worth the aggravation.

As far as that goes, I've signed up for some mystery shopping assignments. The money isn't anything great right now, but they do reimburse you for things, so that has been nice. I am hoping to get some restaurant type shops so we can have a meal out for free.

Also, I am going to see if my father will pay me to help him with his office. His health is failing and he has a one-man brokerage office, but will need some help getting the books together and getting the place cleaned up. I was working for him a few weeks ago, but he took a turn for the worse health wise, and it didn't seem right to push the issue right now. My parents have also offered to pay my husband to do some handyman type work for them either on the weekends or when he is in between projects at work. This has worked out in the past for both my parents and me. I know most people don't have this option, but I guess when you are in a tight spot, it is good time to be creative and look at all of your options.

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.