When you\u2019ve made the decision to transition to a senior living community, it may feel like you\u2019re downsizing your life. At American Senior Communities, we feel that our residents aren\u2019t giving up anything when they move into one of our communities; rather, we prefer to say they\u2019re \u201crightsizing\u201d their lives. While moving into a senior living community is definitely going to involve some difficult decisions about what to do with all your possessions, it can also be a positive experience and a chance to streamline your life. If you\u2019re interested in rightsizing your life, here are a few places you can start.<\/p>\n
If your goal is to get rid of some clutter, you might as well make some money while you do it! Having a yard sale is a great place to start when you\u2019re rightsizing, so talk to your neighbors and find out if they\u2019d be interested in organizing a neighborhood event. By working together, you can advertise your sale, giving you a better chance of selling more items.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably got filing cabinets, boxes and drawers full of old paperwork, bills, mail and other paper clutter. While some of these documents may be important, you could likely do without most of them. Talk to an accountant (and perhaps a lawyer as well) to find out which ones you\u2019ll need to keep, and how long you\u2019ll need to keep them. The rest can go to the recycling center!<\/p>\n
Your garage, basement or attic may be home to paint, cleaning chemicals, motor oil and other hazardous materials. You won\u2019t need these in your new home, so now is a good time to dispose of them properly. Contact waste disposal facilities in your area; many will dispose of paint and other chemicals free of charge, and in an environmentally sound manner.<\/p>\n
Take a look in your closets; are they full of things you don\u2019t wear anymore? Whether it\u2019s clothing that no longer fits or that simply isn\u2019t practical for you to wear, cleaning out your closets can lift an enormous weight off your shoulders. Instead of throwing out your old clothing items, find a local thrift store or charity and make a donation.<\/p>\n
Over the years, you may have dedicated quite a bit of real estate to photographs, wall art, knick-knacks and other decorative items. When you\u2019re rightsizing, find the ones that mean the most to you and save them. If you have multiple items dedicated to one particular memory, you might consider keeping only one of them. Hanging photos and art can often be taken out of frames and consolidated to take up less space. This is probably one of the most difficult steps to take, so put some thought into it and find the items you truly can\u2019t bear to part with. As for the rest, those experiences will live on in your memory and the interactions you have with the people involved.<\/p>\n
Rightsizing your life isn\u2019t something you can get done in a day. As we mentioned, this process can be difficult, so don\u2019t rush it. You may want to enlist the help of friends, family or even professionals (there are a number of them that offer these types of services), so don\u2019t feel like you have to go through it alone. And most importantly, don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re giving something up when you rightsize; try to see this transition as an opportunity to meet new people and have new experiences that will enrich your golden years.<\/p>\n
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American Senior Communities offers a variety of lifestyle and care options. To find an assisted living community nearest to you, visit ASCCare.com\/al.<\/a> To find an independent living community near you, visit ASCCare.com\/il<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you\u2019ve made the decision to transition to a senior living community, it may feel like you\u2019re downsizing your life. At American Senior Communities, we feel that our residents aren\u2019t giving up anything when they move into one of our communities; rather, we prefer to say they\u2019re \u201crightsizing\u201d their lives. While moving into a senior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":238887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[527,555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement-independent-assisted-living","category-caregiving-2"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asccare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}