But this is what happened to us. In June, we got help paying our light bill through Leap and prior to that I was on a budget with the light company so each month they defer part of the bill in the hot summer months. But because Leap commits to your bill for that month they don’t pay for two months and because of that they consider me late and they removed me from the budget and added all the deferred amounts to my normal bill. Now they want $569 in full. My shut off date was yesterday. My phone bill is also due; it’s $120.
We skip buying food as much as we can and stretch what we have but this month I was so out of everything I took a little of my rent money to buy clothes for the kids to return to school and a little food, which I have no more of now. My husband gets his unemployment check Thursday for $550. I feel like tossing it in the air and letting whoever catches it take it. I owe that to my landlord. It’s not enough for my lights and if you don’t pay the full amount they shut you off, even if you are $20 short. If I spend any of our incoming check on food or gas so my husband can keep looking for work, then I am really short.
There is no place to get help for hard working people that got laid off. I spent most of today on the street begging people to vote for Obama, telling my story and telling people this could happen to you. We never thought it would happen to us. I cried last night hearing Michelle (Obama) and Teddy (Kennedy) talk at the convention. These people feel our pain and we need them to get in that White House. Thank you for caring and saying nice words. I can’t help but cry while I write this. I would give anything for my husband to find a job. My daughter lost her job last night but her husband is still working so they will be okay. It will be hard but they can’t help us and I understand. Thank you.”
