Okay, Purpletulip,

Breathe deeply.....hold.....release. Do it again 2 more times. I will wait.....................................
.................................................

Ready now?

You aren't making enough money to pay your bills now. We do understand this. That is why it's highly recommended that you check into county assistance, to see what programs you may be eligible for AND talk with your father about loaning a lump sum to you now. Enough to pay off your extended bank fees, energy bills, phone/internet/cable, with a little extra to get you through.

However...you still need to show that you're doing whatever is reasonable on your side to take care of these ongoing bills. How much of a penalty fee would you be responsible for if you left before your lease is up? Maybe just a couple hundred $. Paying that might be easier for you to do than struggling for another 6 months. Are you living in a pretty nice place, with extras, or in a nice side of town?

I said that I wouldn't do this in my last post...but I'm going to have to tell you a little bit here. When my ex-hub and I separated 6 years ago, I had nothing. I was a college graduate, but I had nowhere to go. I had to move in with my parents (even though we have a very messy background). I had no other choices! The little money that I was making through my job went to pay those bills that I was late on. During that time, I did what I had to do to get me through. I had to defer my student loan fees, a-g-a-i-n (which I hated doing!). I also drove a lot less than before which saved on gas, maintenance, and insurance fees.

I got my exercise by walking a few miles a couple of times per day. I also shoveled the sidewalk and huge driveway in the winter. My point is: I cannot express how much I wanted to avoid what I ended up having to do. Because that thought was a nightmare to me for many reasons ~ but I did what I had to do for 7 months (or so?) and then I got the hell out of there & back onto my own!! I also still had to make sure that my place was much more affordable. It's not my dream town. I miss a lot of the things that I had before. But, I got myself & our girls a membership at the Y for exercise ~ that's a nice, very important thing to me. I live downtown now, where all of the town events occur. I am right there ~ that can be pretty neat. There are a lot of parks within walking distance, I like that. So, those positives help me feel a lot better about the decision that I made years ago.

I'm not telling you that you need to move in with your dad. Don't worry about that. But, I am saying that sometimes we need to do exactly what we do NOT want to do so that we can eventually get into a better place. Rather than stay in the blender that we're in, getting chopped up smaller! Do you see what I mean now?

I hope that I didn't bore you with my story & that you have a better understanding of what I think you should do to help yourself in the long-run.