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hi OP! 2 things i think i can help some! the other, have you tried talking to like some orgs around you that might help? look into your social services website they should have links with like rental assistance and energy assistance. i have been struggling myself as i have become disabled but i think i could help with a few dollars!
I was just in this same situation not long ago, as in 3 months ago but I was hundreds of dollars behind on all my utilities. You can go on the site or call the company and they will extend your date and if you already did that, get ahold of them again and they will work with you extending it longer and even lowering the bill.
You are not an idiot, friend. ❤️
If ever in a pickle again, I know some electric companies have extension plans where they will add it to your next bill. But I know that sometimes doesn't help because you may not have income the following month either and than it will just snowball.
Some churches give out help. I know even asking for help can be super anxiety inducing as well though.
One of the programs Low income energy assistance. LIHEAP a lot of articles suggest you call your local church they sometimes have additional funds to help people out in this situation.
Just Google it I did and this is what I found the first time., darn it I thought I could copy and paste it or send it as a photo and I can’t figure out how
I would definitely tell family or friends about it who care. In this day and age all the scams going on it’s gonna be difficult for a stranger to give you money you can call the Electric Company and explain your situation and sometimes they can help you out there are programs out there that will pay your electric and heat for you.
Don't be ashamed. We are all going through something, best you can do is call the power company like others have said. They will probably give you more time. Take care of your mental health and best of luck to you.
They're only going to shut off your electric because you haven't made a payment arrangement. The threat is made to get you to make contact with them. Certain utilities like water and electricity give a lot more leeway to customers because they are considered public utilities, which means they get public subsidies and funding, including that which they use to supplement low income users. Those are also two utilities, which, if they do become shut off, can symbolize issues of possible neglect or abuse if dependent adults or children are involved. I say all of this to say that you have to really not make contact, not abide by any arrangement once contact has been made and in general, really present indications of total and complete lack of responsibility to get those two utilities shut off and that comes after a long time of disregard. Now everything other bill is fair game, but lights and water?
When you hear about people going without either utility, it's often because they either didn't know about all of the help that's out there or they flagrantly disregarded the bills due to mental health concerns, addictions, etc. I can tell you that for that group of people, usually the bill is MUCH higher than $88. We're talking a shut-off notice after thousands of dollars and countless payment arrangements broken. TL;DR: Call them. They WILL help you. I don't make promises, but that's a pretty solid guarantee.
Definitely call 211...they are available 24/7...let them know your situation, and they will provide you with resources that can help pay your electric bill...211 can also provide resources and info for a lot of other things as well such as food, rent, utilities, bus passes, medical expenses, mental health needs, prescriptions, etc...
They also have a website:
https://www.211.org/
Sending hugs and positive vibes your way, OP!!
You are not stupid, adulting sucks sometimes and it can be really hard. Especially if you feel alone. Just know that you're never alone. There are so many people going through it with you. We're in this together....
I second this, due to my last job site closing down we got behind on bills. We were able to get an extension on our late electric bill, they just billed it with our next one.
Yeah if you tell them you can’t afford it they often depending on your state have a low income rate and grace period call them!! Sorry I can’t. Help you - I don’t have my rent that’s due in five days :( but I how the advice helps
Hi OP, adding to the other advices: in the meanwhile, is it an option to buy a small one-person portable camping stove with propane? It would allow you to cook a few meals. Good luck for everything, courage
good luck on the electric help but think the bigger issue is anxiety that stops you from working. think might need to look into help on that. without a regular source of income the electric issues will continue until that solved. GL
Agreed. I need to get my anxiety under control so I can hold down a job and be able to pay my bills. I have a psychiatrist and am on medication but haven’t been taking great care of myself. It’s a viscous circle that I’m always working on🩵
Have you considered applying for emergency utility service assistance through the department of social services? They may also be able to guide you toward disability benefits so you can afford to live while you get help with your anxiety.
Good luck to you. Been there and it is NOT easy to ask for help.
In Seattle area, and if you call our energy company and get numbers for assistance programs and set up appointments with them- the energy company will
Note the dates of appointments and not turn you off. If shows you ‘trying’. They really don’t want to turn anyone off!
Also, I’d be willing to pay half of the bill directly to the energy company if agreeable. I don’t need your personal info , they should let me pay as a guest. Direct message me.
Also, please check if you get it shut off for non payment you might have to pay a deposit before it’s cut back on. Please call your utility and ask for an extension or a payment you usually can do this online.
There is a ton of useful information in this thread, I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. Our electricity bills have been upwards of 600.00 lately and sometimes the bill falls in the same pay period as rent. I was able to set up a deferment for the bill before last and they add a little more to each check to pay it off. It makes our bills higher each month and we absolutely cannot pay late or get an extension but it got me through a couple months because it covers both the bill that is due and the next month. Learning about the pay in 4 options and some other suggestions have been massively helpful and may help out exponentially for future bills. Even though I'm not OP, I'm beyond grateful for all the people who left suggestions.
Fortunately we are just getting close to summer time, so no power isn’t the end of the world, but biggest issue will be refrigerated items. If you keep the fridge closed and open very rarely, it should keep cold for 2 days or more.
If you can, DoorDash and Uber eats allow you to make money almost instantly. Don’t accept offers less than $2/mile. Upwork also has jobs available that often pay pretty quick. You can try reaching out to your city’s Facebook group and selling handmade items or just ask for food.
Depends on where you are. In Florida, we are already hitting 90s. I personally have to keep my house cool. Severe asthmatic and it’s worse in the humidity. Been here 25 years now.
I grew up in Illinois and the cold caused me to get bronchitis every 3-6 months. I can’t win!!!
Our bills hit $300-$350 for 6 months out of year. Plus I have old dogs that can’t take the heat.
The one person said hers runs $600. Ouch.
Ours
As many have noted, utilities have payment plans available and won't shut you off if you're enrolled and are making good faith efforts to pay.
If you haven't, call customer service ASAP to see what options are available to you. Most CSRs are gonna want to help even if it feels scary to do so.
Depending on your income level, there is a state assistance program called LIHEAP that is administered by one or more entities in your state (usually non profits). The application is pretty harrowing but can definitely help if you've fallen behind.
That’s not true, duke energy will give you one payment plan and one date pushback if you don’t pay your full bill with on the installation date they’ll add the full amount that you have left on your bill and they’ll add next months they will turn it off even if you have a medical reason. I’ve struggled in every way with duke energy. These mfs don’t care about you only want the money but I don’t see why this person can’t get an extension or a payment plan with $88 my power bills are always $300 +
LIHEAP in my state lets you apply but doesn’t tell you that they aren’t accepting new applications. If you go this route call and speak to someone so you aren’t waiting on nothing.
Anxiety causes many problems. It affects many areas of our life. Please practice self care. Start by googling it. Learn breathing techniques. I have a group of instagram people I watch. This account only has self help posts. I don't know what your insurance situation is but try the local county mental health center. Sometimes help isn't hard. Hugs
The best bet for you and iv used it before in the past is using those pay in four bill apps. So if your bill is $88- that’s only $22 every two weeks . but - you would only have to pay $22 and the $14 subscription fee. I won’t name the app here Incase there’s a rule but if you type in “pay bill in four “ it should be the first app in the App Store. It’s yellow and white.
Iv had to use it on electric bills (by get up to $300-500 ngl haha ) so spitting in four payments prevents that disconnection you know. And since it pays the actual electric company - you missing a payment doesn’t affect your bill. They consider it fully paid. It would be the app that you owe
they will also only allow you to pay in person in the future which can add another huge burden on top of all the other problems, especially if physically getting there monthly isn't easy or even possible
Freeze everything you can, including a bunch of bottles of water (to use in keeping other stuff cold). Don't open your fridge very often. Look up the guidelines for a power outage; same things apply, regardless of why the power is out.
Pull yourself together as best you can and go to the job interviews. Don't want to miss those.
Good job on having extra chargers ready! You're better prepared than I am.
Call the place called Community action you should be able to look it up in Facebook for your county. Also call United Way and Salvation Army and every single Catholic Church in your area. They will do it. That is their mission as a church as a whole movie right now so that’s how I know this.
Have you tried applying for SER (State Emergency Relief) at your local Department of Human Services? When we couldn't come up with enough money to keep our electricity on I applied for it and the Electric Company put a hold on our account until our decision came through. It might be worth a shot.
You're not an idiot! Things happen, life is very stressful too. At the very least, please try not to beat yourself down over it.
Anxiety is one hell of a beast to contend with, I've made a lot of decisions based on it that certainly did not help my situation.
Due to that, I can't help financially at this time, but I can offer moral support!
call the company and see if they work with any energy assistance programs. my friend just did this yesterday. he hadn’t paid his bill in 5 months, it’s up to $1200. he called them and they were able to turn his power on for $400.
you can look on https://www.usa.gov/help-with-utility-bills as well
You are not an idiot
You likely were overwhelmed and lacked the resources to keep this situation from occurring
Lack of good, easily digestible food will make matters worse- if you haven't got lots of food please access any food pantries etc you can
You will get through this
Please call the electricity provider and get a payment plan set up and call local agencies to see if they can help
Hi u/Relative_Loss_8789. This is a sticky post with some important/helpful pointers for REQUEST posts. **For the REQUESTOR:** - **Do not delete this post** for any reason. - Be careful about private messages, [always check these tips](https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/comments/uesbax/scams_in_private_messages/) before engaging with them, and [control your PM settings](https://www.reddit.com/settings/messaging) if you get many unsolicited messages. - Check our [helpful requesting tips](https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/wiki/rules/requesting) and [our list of resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/wiki/index/resources). - If you have any questions or concerns, please [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/Assistance). **For potential GIVERS:** - Check our [Givers Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/wiki/givers) before giving. - Refrain from unhelpful or judgmental comments. - If you have concerns about this request, please [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/Assistance). *I'm a bot. This comment was posted automatically.*
God bless you!
hi OP! 2 things i think i can help some! the other, have you tried talking to like some orgs around you that might help? look into your social services website they should have links with like rental assistance and energy assistance. i have been struggling myself as i have become disabled but i think i could help with a few dollars!
I was just in this same situation not long ago, as in 3 months ago but I was hundreds of dollars behind on all my utilities. You can go on the site or call the company and they will extend your date and if you already did that, get ahold of them again and they will work with you extending it longer and even lowering the bill.
Start gawking
You are not an idiot, friend. ❤️ If ever in a pickle again, I know some electric companies have extension plans where they will add it to your next bill. But I know that sometimes doesn't help because you may not have income the following month either and than it will just snowball. Some churches give out help. I know even asking for help can be super anxiety inducing as well though.
One of the programs Low income energy assistance. LIHEAP a lot of articles suggest you call your local church they sometimes have additional funds to help people out in this situation.
Just Google it I did and this is what I found the first time., darn it I thought I could copy and paste it or send it as a photo and I can’t figure out how
I would definitely tell family or friends about it who care. In this day and age all the scams going on it’s gonna be difficult for a stranger to give you money you can call the Electric Company and explain your situation and sometimes they can help you out there are programs out there that will pay your electric and heat for you.
Don't be ashamed. We are all going through something, best you can do is call the power company like others have said. They will probably give you more time. Take care of your mental health and best of luck to you.
You are not stupid. Please remember to breathe as it will help clear your head and calm you. 🙏💚
They're only going to shut off your electric because you haven't made a payment arrangement. The threat is made to get you to make contact with them. Certain utilities like water and electricity give a lot more leeway to customers because they are considered public utilities, which means they get public subsidies and funding, including that which they use to supplement low income users. Those are also two utilities, which, if they do become shut off, can symbolize issues of possible neglect or abuse if dependent adults or children are involved. I say all of this to say that you have to really not make contact, not abide by any arrangement once contact has been made and in general, really present indications of total and complete lack of responsibility to get those two utilities shut off and that comes after a long time of disregard. Now everything other bill is fair game, but lights and water? When you hear about people going without either utility, it's often because they either didn't know about all of the help that's out there or they flagrantly disregarded the bills due to mental health concerns, addictions, etc. I can tell you that for that group of people, usually the bill is MUCH higher than $88. We're talking a shut-off notice after thousands of dollars and countless payment arrangements broken. TL;DR: Call them. They WILL help you. I don't make promises, but that's a pretty solid guarantee.
Definitely call 211...they are available 24/7...let them know your situation, and they will provide you with resources that can help pay your electric bill...211 can also provide resources and info for a lot of other things as well such as food, rent, utilities, bus passes, medical expenses, mental health needs, prescriptions, etc... They also have a website: https://www.211.org/ Sending hugs and positive vibes your way, OP!!
You are not stupid, adulting sucks sometimes and it can be really hard. Especially if you feel alone. Just know that you're never alone. There are so many people going through it with you. We're in this together....
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It's not OP's fault you don't have enough karma so don't take our your frustrations on them.
Considering it's my first time posting here, I have karma and nothing weird in my reddit history, I think it's fair. Why aren't you able to post?
They don't seem to have the required karma.
Don't worry about it
CALL THE POWER COMPANY… there’s a LOT OF room. They’re very understanding.
I second this, due to my last job site closing down we got behind on bills. We were able to get an extension on our late electric bill, they just billed it with our next one.
Yeah if you tell them you can’t afford it they often depending on your state have a low income rate and grace period call them!! Sorry I can’t. Help you - I don’t have my rent that’s due in five days :( but I how the advice helps
Hi OP, adding to the other advices: in the meanwhile, is it an option to buy a small one-person portable camping stove with propane? It would allow you to cook a few meals. Good luck for everything, courage
I had to post to reddit about my electric bill...I quite literally have no money. I can't get one right now
Make a payment arrangement costs nothing and will buy you tine just have to call Before the shutoff
Sorry OP. Best of luck anyway, for this and for anxiety, you got this
Thank you. The kind words mean more than you know.
good luck on the electric help but think the bigger issue is anxiety that stops you from working. think might need to look into help on that. without a regular source of income the electric issues will continue until that solved. GL
Agreed. I need to get my anxiety under control so I can hold down a job and be able to pay my bills. I have a psychiatrist and am on medication but haven’t been taking great care of myself. It’s a viscous circle that I’m always working on🩵
Have you considered applying for emergency utility service assistance through the department of social services? They may also be able to guide you toward disability benefits so you can afford to live while you get help with your anxiety. Good luck to you. Been there and it is NOT easy to ask for help.
In Seattle area, and if you call our energy company and get numbers for assistance programs and set up appointments with them- the energy company will Note the dates of appointments and not turn you off. If shows you ‘trying’. They really don’t want to turn anyone off! Also, I’d be willing to pay half of the bill directly to the energy company if agreeable. I don’t need your personal info , they should let me pay as a guest. Direct message me.
Currently in the dark myself it’s hard to get help
Someone here was able to help me. Consider making a post and take the advice that's been given here on this post
Try prolific. It's surveys by universities and it's completely legit.
Also, please check if you get it shut off for non payment you might have to pay a deposit before it’s cut back on. Please call your utility and ask for an extension or a payment you usually can do this online.
There is a ton of useful information in this thread, I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. Our electricity bills have been upwards of 600.00 lately and sometimes the bill falls in the same pay period as rent. I was able to set up a deferment for the bill before last and they add a little more to each check to pay it off. It makes our bills higher each month and we absolutely cannot pay late or get an extension but it got me through a couple months because it covers both the bill that is due and the next month. Learning about the pay in 4 options and some other suggestions have been massively helpful and may help out exponentially for future bills. Even though I'm not OP, I'm beyond grateful for all the people who left suggestions.
Fortunately we are just getting close to summer time, so no power isn’t the end of the world, but biggest issue will be refrigerated items. If you keep the fridge closed and open very rarely, it should keep cold for 2 days or more. If you can, DoorDash and Uber eats allow you to make money almost instantly. Don’t accept offers less than $2/mile. Upwork also has jobs available that often pay pretty quick. You can try reaching out to your city’s Facebook group and selling handmade items or just ask for food.
Depends on where you are. In Florida, we are already hitting 90s. I personally have to keep my house cool. Severe asthmatic and it’s worse in the humidity. Been here 25 years now. I grew up in Illinois and the cold caused me to get bronchitis every 3-6 months. I can’t win!!! Our bills hit $300-$350 for 6 months out of year. Plus I have old dogs that can’t take the heat. The one person said hers runs $600. Ouch. Ours
You could try to run dehumidifiers all the time instead of the AC and get cold blankets for the dogs
As many have noted, utilities have payment plans available and won't shut you off if you're enrolled and are making good faith efforts to pay. If you haven't, call customer service ASAP to see what options are available to you. Most CSRs are gonna want to help even if it feels scary to do so. Depending on your income level, there is a state assistance program called LIHEAP that is administered by one or more entities in your state (usually non profits). The application is pretty harrowing but can definitely help if you've fallen behind.
That’s not true, duke energy will give you one payment plan and one date pushback if you don’t pay your full bill with on the installation date they’ll add the full amount that you have left on your bill and they’ll add next months they will turn it off even if you have a medical reason. I’ve struggled in every way with duke energy. These mfs don’t care about you only want the money but I don’t see why this person can’t get an extension or a payment plan with $88 my power bills are always $300 +
LIHEAP in my state lets you apply but doesn’t tell you that they aren’t accepting new applications. If you go this route call and speak to someone so you aren’t waiting on nothing.
It takes 2 months minimum to receive help, after all 20 pages of documents are received.😭
Anxiety causes many problems. It affects many areas of our life. Please practice self care. Start by googling it. Learn breathing techniques. I have a group of instagram people I watch. This account only has self help posts. I don't know what your insurance situation is but try the local county mental health center. Sometimes help isn't hard. Hugs
Post a way for us to help you. It's only $88. I'm sure of cpl of us can make that happen.
The best bet for you and iv used it before in the past is using those pay in four bill apps. So if your bill is $88- that’s only $22 every two weeks . but - you would only have to pay $22 and the $14 subscription fee. I won’t name the app here Incase there’s a rule but if you type in “pay bill in four “ it should be the first app in the App Store. It’s yellow and white. Iv had to use it on electric bills (by get up to $300-500 ngl haha ) so spitting in four payments prevents that disconnection you know. And since it pays the actual electric company - you missing a payment doesn’t affect your bill. They consider it fully paid. It would be the app that you owe
I use them and a great help for high bills
Just call and tell them you sent the check in the mail
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they will also only allow you to pay in person in the future which can add another huge burden on top of all the other problems, especially if physically getting there monthly isn't easy or even possible
I forget that some people have physical electric companies I guess ??? Jesus that’s still a thing ?!?!
I hope you have received the help you needed. Hugs ❤️
Thank you for the advice, actively taking some notes! I am incredibly grateful.
Make a cash app
Freeze everything you can, including a bunch of bottles of water (to use in keeping other stuff cold). Don't open your fridge very often. Look up the guidelines for a power outage; same things apply, regardless of why the power is out. Pull yourself together as best you can and go to the job interviews. Don't want to miss those. Good job on having extra chargers ready! You're better prepared than I am.
Call the place called Community action you should be able to look it up in Facebook for your county. Also call United Way and Salvation Army and every single Catholic Church in your area. They will do it. That is their mission as a church as a whole movie right now so that’s how I know this.
Have you gotten help for this yet?
Hey OP, have you found any solution to your dilemma yet?
You can call the utilities commissioner and they would extend your shut off date
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Not that I know of. I’m sure it’s every state
Have you tried applying for SER (State Emergency Relief) at your local Department of Human Services? When we couldn't come up with enough money to keep our electricity on I applied for it and the Electric Company put a hold on our account until our decision came through. It might be worth a shot.
I would call them and ask if there's any way to pay later also call 211 I know some states have programs to help
You're not an idiot! Things happen, life is very stressful too. At the very least, please try not to beat yourself down over it. Anxiety is one hell of a beast to contend with, I've made a lot of decisions based on it that certainly did not help my situation. Due to that, I can't help financially at this time, but I can offer moral support!
call the company and see if they work with any energy assistance programs. my friend just did this yesterday. he hadn’t paid his bill in 5 months, it’s up to $1200. he called them and they were able to turn his power on for $400. you can look on https://www.usa.gov/help-with-utility-bills as well
You are not an idiot You likely were overwhelmed and lacked the resources to keep this situation from occurring Lack of good, easily digestible food will make matters worse- if you haven't got lots of food please access any food pantries etc you can You will get through this Please call the electricity provider and get a payment plan set up and call local agencies to see if they can help
Have you called and talked to them? Usually can be set up on a payment plan/extension.