What are all the things that a person isn't paying for any more when they go to assisted living?

Car insurance. Knife sharpening. licenseing for hunting/fishing. Some student loans if permanently disabled.

Internet services: TV, Phone, internet,
Home repairs: plumbing, HVAC cleaning and repair, roof replacement,
Furniture: cleaning and replacement.

I’m guessing all of these costs are rolled into a single high cost charge. But at least you don’t have to pay separately for each of them. Fewer checks.

@RedDeerGuy1 Knife sharpening? Is that really a service? I just sharpen my own. I keep the tool on the kitchen counter behind the dish drying rack and sharpen when I wash the knife.

Some food costs. Different places may have different optional meal plans such as one or two meals a day included. If you are in an independent living apartment you are likely to have a small kitchen and the option of having some of your meals on your own.

Of course, if you still have a car you will be paying those costs yourself but there may be some transportation options included such as a shuttle to a supermarket or movie theater. And if you still hunt or fish you would be paying for those licenses yourself. I’m not sure what @RedDeerGuy1 is thinking of.

One that I know of is a mandatory once a month cleaning of the resident’s unit. This way the facility knows that the unit is relatively clean and not getting out-of-hand messy, hoarder situation or dirty to the point of needing excessive pest control.

I wonder if you even change your own lightbulbs. Of course “assisted” is a very relative term. It would be interesting to research the spectrum of differences from place to place.

@RedDeerGuy1 is probably thinking of himself in that situation rather than the OP.

Groceries should go down dramatically since you get a couple of meals/day. You might have to pay for cable tv and internet – they might not be automatically supplied. You wouldn’t have to worry about landscaping, yard work and snow removal. Medical costs may go down because of nurses and doctors on staff for the smaller things, like a UTI. Your gasoline bill should be a bit lower.

Definitely home repair. I’m fixing things in my house left and right these days. Same for my mom until she (recently) moved to assisted living.

The homes I visited are happy to give you a list of all the things you no longer have to pay for. I suggest buying new clothes is probably not on their list, but should be.

@YARNLADY People in assisted living don’t buy their own clothes?

As someone above said, there are many varieties of assisted living facilities which may provide different levels of service. They are not to be confused with nursing homes although there are continuing care facilities that may contain a skilled nursing area that you can “graduate” to.

One thing that hasn’t been touched on is entertainment costs. If one goes into a lively place, there may well be movies, concerts and discussion groups that one can participate in without incurring the costs of outside entertainment.

@jca2 People in assisted living rarely buy any new clothes because there isn’t enough room, and no reason.

@YARNLADY Not true in my mother’s case. She loved to shop and look smart. But again, there’s all kinds of assisted living from independent apartments to skilled nursing homes. In a nursing home, you probably don’t dress up much but you might.

I had a weird dream that must have been sparked by this topic. I was living in an assisted living apartment with my parents and uncle. A housekeeping worker was assigned to bring us meals and come in every day to clean, etc. We didn’t like her or the control.

I once had a client who was a resident in assisted living. She had her own apartment, with a small kitchen. It was in a national brand of facilities that are known for being a little posh. They had a beautiful entryway and a craft room, library, etc. She had the option of going to the dining room daily for one meal or eating in her unit, and she had her own clothes, food, personal hygiene products and everything in her unit. They had mandatory cleaning once a month to make sure each unit was kept up as far as cleanliness.

@jca2 Yup, that’s what my parents had. My mother had us for family dinners several times a year. The last three or four years my Dad was in the nursing home wing while my Mom still had the apartment.

@janbb: I had some friends from our library who moved to this place. They said the first question when they contacted the administration about living there was about their finances. The people (a married elderly couple) described the place to us and they were very excited about the potential for activities, trips, groups, and a new beginning. It’s little ways outside of Philadelphia.

https://www.sunriseseniorliving.com/communities/pa/the-quadrangle