accreditation of home
Evaluate potential nursing and retirement homes by checking/asking if they are currently accredited, licensed and certified for Medicare and Medicaid. They should have a written certification for the home for you to see, and
all paperwork should be current and in force.
Save time on your house cleaning
I never overburden myself with cleaning chores. I have a 3-bedroom home and found myself worn out trying to clean in one day. All cleaning chores are done in the mornings when I am more alert (after a cup of hot tea). I first do my dusting of each room; then vacuum the floors, picking up dust that just settled there. Some areas I vacuum more than once a week; with pets this is a necessity. The rest of my day I spend baking, reading, writing, or whatever. Each day I allow a time for a particular cleaning chore and time for relaxation! If you have full-day plans, double-up on chores the day before.
Gather family/friends to a party
A great way to develop relationships with friends and family is to invite them to a party...YOURS! These don?t have to be elaborate or expensive. Plan ahead and you?ll suprise yourself with your own ideas. Do you want decorations? Make them. Do you serve food? Be frugal with cold-cuts, breads, condiments. Get a friend to help with grilling hamburgers, hotdogs, and veggie-kabobs. And utilize plastic plates and large cups for drinks so you don?t worry about breakage. Then relax, and enjoy yourself!
Investment return and risk
How much risk you are willing to take will affect how fast your nest egg grows and how safe it is after your retire. While you are still working, you can take more risks to increase investment returns because you will have time to recover from a stock market setback. But once you¡¯ve retired it¡¯s advisable to reduce investment risk in order to protect your nest egg from sudden declines in value when you need to make withdrawals.
Hit the showers
We can actually use less hot water by taking showers rather than baths. Hidden savings on utilities.