If you will be caring for an elderly parent in your home, you may need to budget for some extra expenses. Even if your parent has his or her own income to pay for items such as prescription medication, you still may have additional costs that creep up and raise your bills at the end of the month. Make sure to put a little extra aside in the following categories of your budget.
With an extra person in your home, you may see an increase in your electric bill. Many elderly people can’t get around and tend to watch hours of television. You may have medical devices that also suck up the electricity in your home, such as apnea machines. When my father came to stay with us, our normal frugal electric bill went up by almost 50 percent!
Heating
While you may be used to having your home at 66 degrees, chances are that your elderly parent will need things a bit warmer. To reduce this expense, you can look at zoned heating, such as using a small electric heater in just one room. Of course, this may raise your electric bill (see above).
Additional Supplies
If you don’t already have them in your home, you’ll need to invest in extra items, such as bedding, towels, furniture, etc. If you have notice ahead of time, you may be able to get these items used or at a discount to lessen the impact.
Extra Laundry
With an elderly parent staying at your home, you will be doing a lot more laundry, especially those bedding items and towels mentioned above, as well as clothing.
Food
With an extra person, your food bill will increase, especially if your parent has a special diet or won’t eat the meals that you prepare for the rest of the family. Crafting budget meals in small portions and freezing them really helps with the expense of extra food.
Hosting an elderly parent in your home can have many benefits. Just make sure that your budget is prepared and you’ll lessen the stress for everyone.