A little chunk o' life

I'm getting sick(I think) so I had to steal my post off my "Small Chunks" page of my Giving Room site. Sorry bout that folks, I just can't stay sitting up much longer.....

Today I realized that while I've been raising money for my friend, I have forgotten to keep track of myself. People have been saying to me,"How can you raise money for someone else when your situation is so bad?" The deal is, that's what I do. I cannot stand to see someone who is inches away from being in my situation. If there is something I can do to help them not be "here", then I'll do it. Usually I just keep my head above water while helping others. This time I manage to go a few feet under with only a very small air pocket. Ya know, when you are expecting a payment that doesn't come on time, don't let your mortgage payment get automatically deducted from your account. This happened once before (that a check was not arriving when expected), but before I managed to contact the loan company and have the date delayed on the payment. This time my head was elsewhere and I am busily racking up overdraft charges. AAARGH!!! I hate it when I let that happen. Oh and just to beef up the "Don't let this happen to you" experience, I called the phone and electric company at the beginning of the week to have them extend my payment date until Friday. That was back when the check was going to be here on Tuesday.
So what have we learned from this small chunk o life?
1. Don't forget to call if you need to delay a payment. Companies appreciate it much more if you let them know before you are late.
2. Post a sticky note on your forehead reminding you of #1. Then hammer it in with a nail because it is THAT important.
3. Don't call the bank and ask them to reduce your overdraft charges if after reducing them you are STILL in the negative. They kinda frown upon that.
4. Don't set a date to pay a late bill unless you are POSITIVE the money will be there. This kind of bad planning can cause a domino effect that ends in a nasty picture of no electricity or phone and more of #3 than you can imagine.
5. The local food pantry at the church is a good thing even if you are too proud or feel too stupid to utilize it.
There is your daily chunk o life.
Use it wisely.