Six Months Into My Forced Retirement

I have to admit that just like everyone else, I had never expected that my life would turn out the way it did, especially as it relates to what my retirement was going to be like. I never thought that I would lose my job and  I never expected that during the first couple of months that I would have to place my mother in a nursing home and visit her on a daily basis to help her get through the day.

Family circumstances led to my having to work until at least 66, my full retirement age, but then the prospect of a higher monthly check and looking after my mother, my plan was to continue working full time until age 70 and then ease my way into retirement by working part-time at half my salary for two additional years. I had also learned this year that I was entitled to my husband's Survivor Benefits and despite the fact that I had lost about 2-1/2 years in benefits, I was still entitled to another year and a half and that was going to be "gravy" on top of my salary or so I thought. But life had other plans in store for me

On that fateful day in March, my boss called me into the conference room and told me that he had to let me go because my position was being eliminated.  I can't say that I was happy about it, but being 68 I wasn't in the same financial position when I lost my job two times previously. I also didn't know that the months following my being let go that I would have my mother in the hospital three times and then placed in a nursing home as well as experience a financial loss approximating $80,000.

I decided that I needed a change today so I will soon be making a lunch for my mother and then heading out to Walmart for a distraction.

What I still need to do is put together some kind of plan to better utilize my time. Yes, I do have to work on decluttering my home and I have 3 e-books in various stages of progress.  I also have my websites to work on and my digital graphics and painting in addition to TV, movies, and puzzles. I will attempt to start re-planning my life both financially and time-wise in the next several weeks and hopefully by Jan 1, I will find more solitude to being where I am at this point in time.

My Apartment is Looking Like I Belong on "Hoarders"

This year, not only did I lose my job, but I found myself having to pull back into my apartment all the things I had previously stored in an outside storage company as they were putting in an elevator in the building right where they had the lockers.  I also found myself having to take in half of the stuff from my mom's apartment in the last two weeks after placing her in a nursing home.

I have to admit that I've never been noted for my clutter-free home, but the above objects have made it almost impossible to live in and feel good about myself.

FreeCycle hasn't been much help.  I tried to give most of it a new home, but those who responded were just out and out fussy so I had to pay to have it hauled away, including a 32" RCA traditional tube tv that was in excellent working condition.  Shame on you people.  If I had needed it myself I would have kept it as I never buy something new to replace something that is still working.

Anyway, I came across this article on Houzz and thought it might help some of you who are in a similar position as myself.  I've already started cleaning my place out but thought this might provide a little bit more of an initiative or motivation to keep going.

5 Ways to Jump-Start a Whole-House Decluttering Effort

 

 

Have a great week.