ML, that is what got me- before I could qualify for services/help, I had to go thru every penny in savings and pay bills late. I didn't "get" how the system works because 1) I'd never been thru anything so drastic before and 2) I was trying desparately to hold onto hope and faith that something would break with a job before getting to that point. As a result, I cashed in difficult child's education fund, my retirement fund, and all available credit trying to keep up with bills that I could have gotten help with, then had to file bankruptcy. Now that I'm basicly indigent, I'm learning about all this help and the methods that could have helped a year ago. Call your utility companies. If you are paying medication insurance on you or manster, call your primary care physician's office and see if their medical system has any assistance program (not their specific office, but the hospital system that is usually "sponsoring" them). Is your husband a veteran by any chance? If so, PM me. He can call Goodwill- I understand they have some sort of re-employment program similar to the VA's. He might have to go along with some program requirements, but I figure it's worth it if it gets me back on my feet. Whatever you do, don't keep drawing on credit to pay bills that there are ways of getting assistance for like I did. I wish now I'd filed for BR sooner, but as we all know, hind sight is 20-20. difficult child's education fund would have been protected. Admittedly though, I was so ticked at him for pulling the knife on me and ending up in state Department of Juvenile Justice and finding out how much he'd put on my CCs he stole, I didn't care at the time. Well, it's not that I didn't care, I just resented it and figured "why should I go hungry because I put this money into an account for my kid who turned on me".