My family learned a harsh, cold lesson last Tuesday. After hearing from numerous people that the electric company, by law, cannot shut power down from a home between the months of October-April, regardless if they don't make a payment. Well, being young, naive, and stupid, we didn't make a single payment during those months. We focused on paying other bills, car and insurance payments, cable, gas. The moment came to be when the electric company called to inform me that if we don't have $600 by the 25th of April, that they can come and shut our house down. I was shocked that it had to come down to that. I asked the representative where she expected me to come up with that kind of money so quickly. Obviously, I was not the only person in the boat without a paddle when it came to paying the electric. A fellow co-worker owes at least $2000, and has been w/out electric for about 1 month. Apparently, she lucked out and had one plug that still received power. She grabbed the extension cord for the lamp and the TV to still have some light, but that to me, just sounds so pathetic to me, especially when she would be fully applicable for energy assistance, a program that helps pay low-income families energy bill. They figure the amount by the number of people living in your home, the amount of money that comes in each and every month, and the amount paid towards a mortgage/rent. My family was eligible, but only for $400, and that wasn’t even applied towards the $600 that the phone operator from WE Energies wanted.
So, to my own sad story, we ended up being w/out electric for two days, not wanting to be at home. You realize that everything in your home needs electric. Not just entertainment purposes (TV, internet), but regular plugs that keep your fridge up and running, to the microwave and the stove to heat any kind of food. My family lived off of Taco Bell, which now I am so sick of. I work 8-5, so when I got home, I had about 3 hours of sunlight. I cleaned my living room, and read the newspaper. I was and still am, too proud to ask if I can stay with someone. This was our situation, not anyone to blame but us. One of the nights, we stayed with a friend until we were tired so we could just go to sleep, and wake up to see the sun. I used our cell phone as an alarm to wake me up for work the next day. The hot water still worked, but I had to keep the door open for some light. We did have some flashlights, but the charges only lasted an hour. (Thanks, Farm & Fleet.)
How did I manage to get the money in so short of a time? My husband’s father. We borrowed the money from him, and are going to arrange a payment schedule with him, to prove to him that we are trying to get up to speed with everything. It stinks to be in debt up to your eyeballs. From now on, I will never neglect the electric bill, regardless if they can’t shut you down for a certain amount of months in a fiscal year.
That's something that seems to nail a lot of people -- the "bright" idea of not paying something because for one reason or another, you don't technically have to pay it for a certain length of time. This happens a lot with credit cards and "no interest, no payments until..." offers. Well, that money you owe isn't just going to go away. You still have to owe it at some point, and usually if you wait until that time runs out, it comes back to bite you...
Hard.
Look at it this way, though, at least you learned from the electric bill and not from a credit card, which would be more likely to haunt you for the next 20 years.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Thanks. The whole credit card seems to linger in my mailbox at least once a week, with bold handwriting that says "You are approved!" I haven't become a sucker just yet, I throw those right in the trash.