Barker_Tx, we are in Austin, Tx and if you have any suggestions, please email me at bevangel_72(at)yahoo.com. A big problem we're having is the cost of all the facilities in Austin. MIL gets about $1100/mo social security and about $900/mo investment income. All of her money is invested in CDs however and none of those mature until next March, so even though know she needs to start spending down the principal, we'd very much like to wait to cash one out to avoid the early withdrawal penalties. In the interim, DH and I are supplementing her living expenses. But, both our jobs are currently "shaky" so we really can't afford to supplement more than about $1000/mo and even that is a MAJOR stretch. If either of us actually loses our jobs, we're going to eat through our own financial cushion very very fast! In Amarillo, MIL's social security and investment income came really close to covering her expenses and she would cash out a CD about once a year to put enough in the bank to cover the rest of her expenses for the year. The only thing we were supplementing was her medication management at about $400/mo. Moving her down here and paying the $3000 non-refundable move-in fee to the Meridian ate thru pretty much all the extra cash she had on hand. So, until next March, we're going to have to supplement every penny above about $2000/mo that it costs her to live. As for the Meridian... I have talked to the administrators until I am blue in the face. They just keep shifting their stories to cover their a**es. First they claimed that they intended for another resident who attends almost all the activities in the main area to go and get MIL and befriend her... but that that resident moved out shortly after MIL moved in. When I pointed out that 1) they never TOLD us the volunteer resident had moved out and 2) THEY were the ones who made the promise and, if they couldn't find a volunteer to fulfill the promise, they should have assigned a staff member to do it, they changed their story. They NOW claim that the only activities they EVER promised to take MIL to were the ones in the Platinum Plus wing and that, if we understood anything else, it was just a misunderstanding on our part! They won't respond to the fact that we talked repeatedly about how much MIL enjoyed playing the dominoes game called Forty-two, which was shown on the MAIN schedule 3x per week and is NEVER shown on the Platinum Plus schedule, and which they very specifically stated they would make sure she got to play. They also ignore the fact that we talked very specifically about my concern that she would get lost trying to get all the way down to the main activity room by herself and discussed the need for her to have a scooter because it was too far for her to walk. The area where they hold their once daily platinum plus activity is right around the corner from MIL's apartment. She can find her own way there quite easily and doesn't need a scooter to go that far. But, "we only said we'd get her to the Platinum Plus activities" is now their story and they are sticking to it. As for the non-events on the health center calendar: According to the administrator, the "current events" activity on the health center calendar would have happened except that the volunteer that leads current events on the weekend was unexpectedly called out of town. The "worship services" on that calendar was a reference to the worship services happening in the Platinum Plus area (as if any one living in the Health Center could POSSIBLY have made it up there since it is at least a 5 minute walk by a healthy person!) The "social hour" was a reference to the fact that, about 3PM the nurse came around and gave each resident a cookie and some cranberry juice! As for the non-events on the Main Calendar: their story now is that "our independent residents lead most of the events that are scheduled and, if they decide not to hold them, we ask them to let us know so we can revise the calendar but, if they don't, that is nothing the Meridian can do." And, as for scheduled afternoon game time that didn't happen in the Platinum Plus wing: "our staff member was there at the scheduled time to lead the activity but none of the residents showed up, so after a few minutes, she left and went to take care of other duties." As I said, they're covering their a**es! As the situation now stands, MIL is back in her apartment and we have been told that they will "remind her of all activities, including those in the main building, when they go in to give her medications." They will also tell her where the activity is happening (as if she can possibly find it on her own) and that, IF a staff member "has time", one will walk her down to occasional activities in the main building. I would bet a million bucks that no staff member will ever have time!!!! Bottom line, she will be left to vegetate in her room until we can move her out. The only reason we even looked in Temple was that Austin seemed so expensive and, as one went further out from Austin the prices seemed to drop. We figured we could afford the time and gas to drive 50 miles to/from Temple once or twice a week more easily than the prices of similar places in Austin. BAD PLAN! Obviously the staff at these places need to know that family members can and will drop in at any time of the day or night! Otherwise some of them are going to take advantage of the fact that they can pretty much lie to you with impunity. I don't want to file a lawsuit or bring other legal action against the Meridian as long as MIL is still basically in their control. No telling how they might take it out on her! Further, a legal action would probably be unavailing because all the promises were made verbally --- nothing in the written contract about them. Once MIL is out though, I intend to sic the state on them for running an unlicensed assisted living facility and also to post bad reviews at every location I can find. Meantime, we're still looking for a good situation for MIL in or near Austin that is somewhere within reach of our budget.

When I was very ill with depression, I became overwhelmingly behind in my paperwork. Here is the simple filing system that helped me get caught up! I file routine stuff by date. I have 12 file folders - one for each month. I rotate them so that this month's folder is always at the front and I keep it in front for a few days into the next month. Anything bill that is automatically paid just goes into that folder the minute I open it. The envelope and anything else in the envelope just goes into recycling after I have glanced at it to see what it is. At the end of the year, all the folders have stuff in them. I just reuse them for the next year. I make a big brown envelope with the year written on it and as I move each month's folder to the front, I immediately put last year's stuff into the brown envelope. This means that when tax time comes, I have all that stuff in a folder by year and I can go through it and remove anything needed for tax purposes. I used to keep back copies of bills for a few years but truly I have rarely needed them. If I need one urgently, I can get it from the company. So now I only keep them for a couple of years. Because they are in their own envelopes, by year, I can just take the whole envelope and shred it some time when I'm feeling industrious. When I was getting caught up, I just filed EVERYTHING in the monthly folders. After things settled down, I broke out a few categories. I have an INCOME TAX file that I put stuff in that I know is tax related; I have a file for savings/investments that I track regularly and I have a file called 'cards' where I keep additional copies of car insurance cards, health insurance cards etc. I find it easier to keep up this personally simplified filing system. I rarely need stuff from the monthly files but if I do, I can usually recall approx. when I did what so it's not that hard to go through them. Good luck getting caught up. I have a friend who is a professional accountant and believe me, he is used to folks who are in a panic about their finances and there are huge numbers of these folks. So I would advise you to get a professional tax prep. person to help you if it doesn't work with your sister as they are non-judgmental and used to dealing with folks who have your kind of concerns.

OOOOhhhh Laundry, I have 2 boys (3 if I count dh - and yes, I'd better), and it seems I have to do 1 - 2 loads per day, if I skip a day then the load quantity seems to compound itself! I miss our old tiny rental, the laundry was in it's own room off the kitchen and it was so much easier to keep up. Now we are in our new (dream) home and the way the layout has turned out, laundry is in the basement (along with the 2 kids's rooms) or I could have hidden it upstairs (where the big people live). Half of one or half of the other. I used to know a girl who is mom to four boys, and she said if they ever could afford a bigger home, she wanted a laundry room that could also house all the boys' clothing (in closets and dressers). They go in to dress, dump the dirty laundry, and it would be quick and easy to launder and put away since it's all in the same room. Makes sense to me, instead of carrying from bedrooms to laundry room, then back again. It will be a while before our home is completely finished, and I get shelves and drying bars in my laundry room, but I am appreciating all these new and modern ideas/accessories that I did not know were about, to aid in that chore. Thanks so much for the ideas and links.

My central calendar is my dayplanner. It's "central location" is my purse, but I'll pull it out and leave it on the kitchen counter on weekends or home and I'm working with it...but it goes in my purse no matter what. I have a small spot at my counter near back doo where I keep pencil can and misc office-supply stuff...pending bill pile, etc. It's not a lot of stuff either. Is this a calendar used by you...for you & keep you going with family things, or does your husband refer to it, add to it, and/or have any responsibilities to keep it up? I tried a central calendar when I was married...at H's request...but his input to the calendar ended up minimal and not worth the effort to make it public and useful for the masses. My calendar was all me & my responsibilities. It was harder to manage more than me when I was the only one doing the work on it. I'm a big dayplanner user, and by adding pockets & tabs, the lists, info, my stuff is always there, and nowhere else. As for the mail, I go thru right away. Catalogs & mags get put in the living room where I would sit to read them. Bills go in my pending bill stack (in the kitchen office/dayplanner corner), junk is just out right there on the spot, and anything to keep or address later is inserted into my dayplanner or put in the files. That's how I do it. I do not have a home office anymore...just the dayplanner and few necessary supplies in the kitchen corner. My laptop can go in whatever room I want. My file cabs/archives are parked in the library. That's all I do. I painted the inside of several kitchen cabs with chalkboard paint for lists and to-do things. It was fun for a couple months...but a chalkboard cabinet is not a portable paper list I can throw in my purse/dayplanner and run out the door. I was finding myself re-writing lists because I had to transfer them to paper to take to the store. Easier for me to list quick in the dayplanner and go...and...the lists are always with me in my purse no matter where I am. Good for impromptu shopping when I'm at a particular store and KNOW I had a list going already for things already. Gayle