6 years ago, we moved from the north to the south. Within the last year, we have moved my mother twice. I don’t want to ever have to do a complete clean out and pack EVER again.
If I have any advice to you, it would be to buy an kitchen timer and some medium trash bags.
Bring them into a room. Set the timer for 15 minutes. Stuff things you want to get rid of into a bag. Don’t make any bag too heavy. Stop after 15 minutes. Repeat every day.
One day, the bag could be for trash. The next day, the bags could be for things to donate.
Take the filled bag either to the trash, or into your car, for drop-off donations.
Spend time every day like this, and you will have down-sized quite a bit, if, or you need to move.
If you don’t move, PLEASE don’t leave extra “stuff” for your children to have to sort through. Having an ill or dying parent or relative is hard enough.
I too look towards the future. I have a 4 bedroom house with 2 baths, family room, sm kitchen, livingroom and dining area. My husband loves books so has one wall in the family room covered in books. I have made the mistake of having collections, one is dolls. I look around, at 71, and wonder how am I going to downsize. And I have done some cleanout but could do so much more. My DH stands in the way of that. Won't let me get rid of old VCR tapes, cassettes, Vinyl albums from the 60s/70s.
So first thing I suggest is doing a good clean out. If you haven't used it in years, then u don't need it. Donate it, sell it on a FB yard sale site. Of course, make sure you have a Will in place. If not the State will step in. POAs are important and great tools. If one is not in place and no one wants guardianship again the State steps in. Know when your home is too much. Oh how I wish I had talked Mom into moving to an apt after Dad died. All her SS went to keeping up an old farmhouse. It was hard to heat. Taxes were high, live in NJ. She paid to have her lawn mowed and it was not a little lawn. All that money could have gone into a nice apt with some left over to save.
Get familiar with what resources are available in your area.
Know when its time to downsize and make things easy for those who maybe doing the caring for you.
You are wise to plan ahead. Call Council on Aging in your community. They will be able to explain what options are available. Ask questions. Tell them of any concerns that you may have.
As Daughter said, get your affairs in order. If you already have everything done, review and see if any changes need to be made. This is priceless.
Consider giving up the notion, if you hold on to it, that your home is the most important thing. Some people are kind of hung up on never giving up their homes and make it very difficult on the family to take care of them because taking care of a house and yard is a huge responsibility and can get overwhelming. I wish I had advised my parents to sell their big house on an acre lot when they could no longer take care of. Instead, me and hubby spent countless weekends taking care of their property instead of our own. Big mistake.
For myself, at some point, I want to sell and get into an apartment that will free us up from taking care of a big house and yard. I'll miss my garden, but I'll get over it.
Try not to burden your loved ones with doing more and more for you as you age. If you are aware of this, you can realize when you need to hire someone to do things like clean your house, cut your grass, etc.
If/when you need a little help with daily things like meds and meals, it's time to hire help or go into assisted living. Some are VERY nice and can be a lot of fun.
You’re very wise to be considering your options. Start looking into the cost of having in home help in your area, look into the ranges of care if you need to move, such as assisted living, an independent living center with less chores and meals provided, along with memory care and nursing homes. Get familiar with the options, costs, and ratings. Talk to people who have family living in these places to get a good idea of what’s good. Make sure your finances and legal documents are in order, with POA for medical and financial decisions in place, and a will. Downside what you own as much as possible to make the future easier and less cumbersome
6 years ago, we moved from the north to the south. Within the last year, we have moved my mother twice. I don’t want to ever have to do a complete clean out and pack EVER again.
If I have any advice to you, it would be to buy an kitchen timer and some medium trash bags.
Bring them into a room. Set the timer for 15 minutes. Stuff things you want to get rid of into a bag. Don’t make any bag too heavy. Stop after 15 minutes. Repeat every day.
One day, the bag could be for trash. The next day, the bags could be for things to donate.
Take the filled bag either to the trash, or into your car, for drop-off donations.
Spend time every day like this, and you will have down-sized quite a bit, if, or you need to move.
If you don’t move, PLEASE don’t leave extra “stuff” for your children to have to sort through. Having an ill or dying parent or relative is hard enough.
Best wishes.
So first thing I suggest is doing a good clean out. If you haven't used it in years, then u don't need it. Donate it, sell it on a FB yard sale site. Of course, make sure you have a Will in place. If not the State will step in. POAs are important and great tools. If one is not in place and no one wants guardianship again the State steps in.
Know when your home is too much. Oh how I wish I had talked Mom into moving to an apt after Dad died. All her SS went to keeping up an old farmhouse. It was hard to heat. Taxes were high, live in NJ. She paid to have her lawn mowed and it was not a little lawn. All that money could have gone into a nice apt with some left over to save.
Get familiar with what resources are available in your area.
Know when its time to downsize and make things easy for those who maybe doing the caring for you.
As Daughter said, get your affairs in order. If you already have everything done, review and see if any changes need to be made. This is priceless.
Consider giving up the notion, if you hold on to it, that your home is the most important thing. Some people are kind of hung up on never giving up their homes and make it very difficult on the family to take care of them because taking care of a house and yard is a huge responsibility and can get overwhelming. I wish I had advised my parents to sell their big house on an acre lot when they could no longer take care of. Instead, me and hubby spent countless weekends taking care of their property instead of our own. Big mistake.
For myself, at some point, I want to sell and get into an apartment that will free us up from taking care of a big house and yard. I'll miss my garden, but I'll get over it.
Try not to burden your loved ones with doing more and more for you as you age. If you are aware of this, you can realize when you need to hire someone to do things like clean your house, cut your grass, etc.
If/when you need a little help with daily things like meds and meals, it's time to hire help or go into assisted living. Some are VERY nice and can be a lot of fun.