I'm afraid that we'd need a picture, or at the very least a very good description of your 'bug'. Have you done some 'googling' for images of mealybugs, so that you can compare them with what you see on your plants?

I ended up going to Home Depot with a clipping and bugs in tow. The lady there confirmed that they were spider mites and not mealy bugs. At her suggestion I bought some insecticidal soap, she gave me her instructions on what to do. The only thing is that she told me that I would loose all the leaves off my plants. I really don't want to do that to my ivy if I don't have to. Any suggestions?
Thx,
Hobbes812

So, these white things were smaller than a period at the end of a sentence, right? Spider mites are almost invisible to the naked eye, and not really stationary if you watch them. I guess I'm not entirely convinced that your plants have spider mites.

Where are these critters located on the plant? (Stems, leaves, etc.) And about what size are they?

Insecticidal soap does not make the leaves fall off plants, at least not the vast majority of them. I'm a little bit worried about the advice given by the lady at Home Depot.

Ok so this is what I can see on the plant. Most are tiny, tiny white rods. I thought that these might be larva but I think they have legs and such. Then there are the smaller bugs (smaller than a period). These are kind of off white/light tan and they do have legs, antenna, they look like a tiny, tiny spider. The ones that I had in the bag were moving around.
I would say that most of the insects are on the leaves, a few on the stems but most are on the leaves. Also they are on top of the dirt. I dug down in the soil and there were none below the surface.
I guess I could take a pic if needed but they are so small I'm not sure if I could catch them all.
Does this help any at all?

Thx,
Sharon