I am begging for help!

:cry Me and Amanda really need some help. I have not told anyone this but Our lights are gonna be turned off tomorrow unless i somehow dig $200+ our of my arse. I am on SSI income Amanda is on the last stages of getting hers because of her health problems and y'all know my mother moved to FL leaving me and Amanda with a $400 light bill and $200 phone bill well the phone is taken care of and the lights well we manged to get half paid.. We have low income housing being set up in Savannah where her family is so we can get back on our feet. But as of right now we are way over our heads and sinking fast and it feels like theres noway out. Amanda has been having more Seizures over this and i feel like i am gonna have a heart attack. We don't know what to do we need our lights because we use the internet to sell off what we have to get the cash we need but we have run out of time. I got to run now i will be back in a few but right now i need to rest and get my head right because i can't even think right now. :cry

 

My family is poor but they tried few things but never got it to work all the time. But theres a way to call something and they will pay for your bills one month worth. Or theres the calling the power company like he said.. you can say (well since I am a loyal customer ) and its not like I running from you.. that we can make a deal and you get this amount.. and I pay on the rest later on down the road. The biggest thing is to call the power company and make a deal with them. My family did it and so did many others. Power company would rather have you pay something then nothing..they rather have your 200 bucks then 0 and you lose your business with them... So gl and give them a call. It works with any bills.. you say you have to make a deal and they usually do.. others are just arse holes if not.

 

Thats the thing the lights are in my landlords name and they said they will only deal with him and he said he can't do nothing and he will let them turn it off because it will affect his credit and he can't do nothing to help. The power companies name is Middle Georgia Electric Membership Corporation
http://www.mgemc.com/

 

I feel for your situation it's not easy.

I would do what people said here call your power company and ask for payment arrangement. Hope they can help you.

Wish the best of luck to you and hope you get though it.

 

See thats the thing i called them before and theres nothing they can do they said.. Is sad.

 

Bit hard to help from thousands of miles away, but can you borrow a generator for a while?

 

This is worth a shot. Why don't you ask to speak to a supervisor and explain the situation them.

 

I was going to say people(that just work there for the job) don't always give you what you want. Ask for supervisor.. Keep calling till you get different people.. just keep trying.

 

See if either of these help:

http://www.utilitybillassistance.com/html/utility_bill_assistance_in_geo.html

http://www.psc.state.ga.us/consumer_corner/cc_advisory/payassist.asp

I thought you were in Lakeland?

If you landlord lets them turn it off, he's correct that it will spike his credit. In a negative manner.

 

I use to live down there when i was a kid and was thinking about moving back down there but that has come and gone and Me and Amanda plan on living in Savannah and say good bye to this small town and i will really miss the people.:cry

 

Savannah's a beautiful city; there are far worse places to live. The people there are fine, I've been up that way many times. Your best bet for a good job in that area is either at the Port of Savannah or International Paper. I believe they are the two largest employers in the area. You manage to get in with either of those or something similar, your stress level will go down.

It will all work itself out, no matter how bad things might seem right now it could always be worse.

 

Yea it could always be worst Chris. Amanda's Uncle runs the boiler there at Inter paper. Amanda can't work the Doc's has her SSN red flagged and i heard the same about mine

 

NJ, I am already confused... Just exactly, what do you mean, by

?????


In Post#1, you said this:

OK, I am wondering, what you are trying to say here? It might be a good idea, to explain, or clairify.

 

Star17 I think NJ said the Landlord refused to help him(NJ) to keep the power on by not talking to the power co. Therefore he Will be hurting his credit by letting it get shut off. Now he could call them and ask for an extention if he was any kind of landlord or give NJ authorized permission to deal with the bill seeing how it is his(NJ) responsibility to pay.

You are so right Star. I have been there soooo many times when my children were little. Just my income at minimum and no husband/father to help we had to do with out a lot on several occasions. lanterns,work wonders for light when you can't afford to keep them on. I've done a lot of the agencies that they speak of here and I'm not a shame to say it. If it wasn't for them and others my children and I would be in the dark even longer and sometimes they kept us off the street

@ NJ Do ask for the supervisor of the power company as was mentioned in this post and if they still say no then call your landlord and ask to be put on the account so you can make payment arrangements should this happen again,and I hope it doesn't.

For the future. Some electric co. Have a program where you pay a flat rate each month no matter what your bill is so that if you go over it's covered . You could ask them if they have and if so ask your landlord if he could apply for it. Just a suggestion for the future. I like you am on a fixed income and just pays my bills provided the van doesn't act up or the county doesn't raise the taxes again and would help financially if I could. Good luck and I'll pray for you guys tonight.
BT

Edit: correct me if I'm wrong but you posted in another thread about a $600.+- game .Did you buy it or thought about it cause if you did buy it you could do the same thing my son has had to do to survive and pawn it until your check comes in then get it back when you have the money. Just a suggestion.

 

Yeah budget billing is what its called to make steady payment each month. And like they said we had Cable and phone taken off for some time till we got back on our feet at home..

 

NJ, it seems to me that if you owe $400 and you pay $200 I can't see any company shutting anything off. They have no less chance of getting what's owed them.
You said the power is in your landlord's name. Did you pay the $200 to him or the power co? If you payed it to him, did he pay it to the power co?

 

I was also just thinking.. about the power bills.. thought maybe there was a certain period of time maybe that they have to turn it off. Like say you pay 200 and you got left over balance.. if they do or don't send you a letter the next month.. saying you forgot the extra.. then you either pay full or payment again.. And I thought they had like few months before (totally turning it off) like 3 months notice each month... and if you make payments I d dont see what could be problem. Also another thing is. I thought I remember this but with economy went to poop and etc.. I thought there was like a law of some sort where power company cant turn off power/heat in a house during the cold months.? Because I remember many people suffer during winter at those times and I remember they made some sort of something for that.. Maybe little early and little less cold.. but hey look up whatcha can..

 

Okay i will try and answer all y'all. lol

SSN means social security number and SSI means Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes)

No i did not buying that i said its a game i am playing thanks to a friend "Loaning" me it because of how much it costs lol


And i can't think right now. I am gonna be off line for afew days or alittle longer when i can i will update y'all. Bye and take care for now and if you wanna send me a note or something my e-mail is kristopher.brock at gmail.com or text 4788673903 just to give a hint we are pulling steak and heading out.

 

I just wanted to update i thought it would be longer before i would beable to do this but we made it to where we was heading. And as it turns out our landlord had a fit but he messed up this morning while me and Amanda was going to pick up the U-haul our Landlord entered our home with out asking or giving notice. He broke the contract before we had a chance to because he basically did a B&E... but i will post more later. I am tried and hurt.

 

I'm not sure how much help I can be from here, NJ, but I'm sending all positive thoughts and vibes I can find your way. Some prayers too, though I don't normally pray.

One reminder, if I may? Having been in close to similar situations, I know it's excruciatingly stressful and painful. It eats at every single part of you, it infects every part of your life, and it makes you angry, bitter, and it makes you lash out as a form of self-defense. Don't lash out at each other. No matter how stressful it gets, no matter how hard and no matter how painful, you and Amanda are on the same side, and you need to help each other and be even more patient with each other than you normally are right now, because you both need it more than usual.

No matter how tired and hurt you are, remember that you at least have each other, and as long as you do, the worst hasn't happened yet.

 

Thanks Mimms

 

Every cloud has a silver lining. Nothing stays terrible forever.

 

I am so sorry you are going through this. I am on disability too and understand. I will hold you both in my prayers.
1. I do not understand why the landlord will not help, if they turn off the electric and it is in his name then that is going to be reflected on his credit. So, it seems it would be in his best interest to allow you to make an arrangement with them. ( maybe I am not understanding what the situation is) Please talk to a supervisor and if they cannot help you call back and try to get another one until you find one who can. I have done that in the past with some success.
2. The electric company has a program for low income people- ( same as the phone company, it is a 10-15% discount, please ask about this when you get your new utilities. And , as someone else mentioned there is a program where the utility company determines a flat amount for you to pay each month based on previous years usage. They re-adjust once a year based on usage.

3.Most states did have a program where they paid for one month of utilities, however, many states have cut that due to budget deficits, I know my state has, however , please check , yours may still have that program.

4Call your local United Way and see if they can assist you with this bill.

5. Do you have anything you can sell on ebay or Craigs list that is not "vital"- I know when my daughter and son in law had a challenging period due to medical bills that were not covered for their son who was a preemie - they sold their P2 and all their games.

Sometimes, Catholic Charities or if you are Jewish your local agency will assist. Catholic Charities is not just for Catholics.

Sorry I cannot come up with more options for you, the economy has taken a big hit and services are limited.
One last thing- in many states it is illegal to shut off utilities during the winter. They must make sure you have heat. However, I am not sure exactly when that rule goes into effect in the different states and if GA has that rule, however, I would check into that.

 

A doctor should be able to give you something to fax saying it isn't safe with the two of your situations to turn off the power. I'd start there. Call churches for help too.

 

Pray.
that is one of your best options atm.
"Life is a forum and God is the administrator; he can do anything"
-zDawg32

 

I don't know if this will help but you can probably use the internet for free at your local library.

 

I wish I could help you but your situation is one out of millions of people that are going through hardships.

But I am going to play the mean ogre at this point and say get rid of the internet for starters. You will free up monies that can be used for your family.

You need the internet?

Library has free internet.

You have to do things for yourself regardless of you being on disability or not being able to work.

I can go on and on but I won't lecture.

If I posted the horrible situation I am going through right now, I'd be asking 50,000 cash only. I know that no one would budge and I wouldn't expect anyone to give me a crying dime. It's my problem and I have to suck it up and deal with it.

By posting that your doctor has red flagged something, that doesn't sound too good for your sake.

And in our state, utilities aren't just shut off when bills are late. Utilities cannot shut off if there is a medical condition that relies on the utility. I'd say get your social service worker to move on this right now.

 

Thanks for the Advise everyone but can i have this thread locked?

 

Report this thread, this way someone for sure will see your request and lock it.

 

Augiedog,
Take a deep breath and for a few minutes remember what you have, not to be pollyanna about it. You are such a smart guy, I know this from your posts. You two have each other. Now, there should be a place to go for fuel assistance in your area. If there is an information and referral hotline, they should be able to tell you who can help with that. Usually, Salvation Army, St.Vincent DePaul's help with that, and often other things. Troll the local churches, such as the Lutherns, and Mormons. Make sure the power companies know of the medical problems, and that you are trying. Also call the "public utilities commission", and the attorney general's consumer hotline. If you can't get a letter from your usual physcian, try a low cost clinic, often they are more understanding. I hope all goes well. People are going thru this all over, so don't be afraid to get the help you need. Sheena