Caregiving

Three Inexpensive Things to Do With Your Parent When You Are Short of Money

Some inexpensive things to do to get out of the house.

Introduction

Being a senior doing nothing but watching TV all day is boring. Seniors already feel imprisoned in a body that no longer works for them. Now they feel imprisoned in their own home.

And you are their jailor.

But you are worried about the finances. You are worried a fun afternoon outside the house will cost money you don’t have. You are worried about paying the monthly bills and your parent’s medication.

Your parent is fidgety with cabin fever and you are more stressed each day.

Well, my friends, I’ve been there also. When I was taking care of my mom we were always on a tight budget. We had to watch what we spent on a daily basis so we had the money for emergencies or a treat now and then.

Even though we were on a tight budget, we couldn’t stay locked away in our house. Neither can you. You need to get outside your four walls and get some fresh air.

But Dave, you don’t understand. That would mean I have to move my parent outside the house with their wheelchair. Get them in the car. Pack their wheelchair, then get them out of the car, only to have to repeat the process.

Yes, and? I did it for 12 years. I’m not dead. I admit to being sore a lot, but I got some exercise out of the deal. You will too.

Let’s look at a few ideas that worked for me.

Get stepping

Getting outside during the warmer months is always beneficial and fun. The best part is it doesn’t have to be that long. Even 15 minutes a day can break the monotony of being inside.

A short walk around the block each day will be a definite mood lifter. You and your parent get to be outside. Feel the sun shining on your face and breathe fresh air.

I remember, during the summer months, I would take my mom out to walk around the block. We took our big dog with us. It became comical how that dog would pull her around. He would always run her wheelchair off the sidewalk into someone’s yard and then poop.

I would get mom unstuck, get the poop into the doggie bag and then chase after them. By the time I caught up, the dog would have mom off the sidewalk again.

We always came back in a good mood. For a few hours, there was no complaining and bickering from either of us.

And it didn’t cost us a penny to do that.

Community parks and Forest preserves

Sometimes you or your parent want something more than a walk around the block. Let’s face it. The same scenery gets boring after a while.

Pack a lunch and head out to a local community park or forest preserve.

Local parks and forest preserves are great places to watch people and wildlife. There is more greenery which is great for lifting your mood.

Once or twice a week we would pack a lunch with whatever we had in the house, go to a local park and eat. When we had extra money, we would stop at a local hot dog place, then head over to a park.

We would sit in the car, eat our lunch, and watch the ducks or people walking their dogs. Our big dog was always happy — he got the french fries we didn’t eat.

Even when we stopped for hot dogs and fries, we spent less than $10.00. We also got a change of scenery, and a needed mood lift.

Free concerts

Many communities have free concerts in their parks or community centers. Most of these concerts are during the summer months. Performances vary between different genres of music each week.

You can get a listing of performances on community websites, print them out and decide which ones you want to go to.

Mom and I would go to concerts with one of her friends each week. I would stop at the dollar store early in the day so we would have some snacks and soda to take with us.

She would dance in her wheelchair and be happy throughout the two-hour show. I got to sit back, relax, and listen to some music. It was a peaceful time for both of us. We always looked forward to the summer concerts each week.

No, we didn’t take the big dog to the concerts with us. He would have been too much of a distraction.

Go for a drive

The fall and winter months are too cold in the northern part of the U.S. to go for walks or have lunches in the park. There’s only one thing left to do to get outside and not end up at the local dollar store or mall.

Go for a drive.

But Dave, gas prices are too high to take an aimless drive.

Yeah, and? Gas prices were high from 2009 to the middle of 2017. $3.99 per gallon in my area. Sometimes you have to take one for the team to keep your parent happy and yourself in a less stressed state.

Plus, it’s not like you’re going to be burning through a whole tank of gas in a drive. We’re talking about a short half-hour to hour excursion. You can still grab lunch to eat at the local park if you want. You will need to eat in the car with the heat on, though.

I’m not saying to do this every day. You can’t. If you took a drive every day, it would become boring and expensive. Once in a while is good enough. It’s even better when you take short drives. During the holidays you can drive around looking at the neighbors' holiday decorations.

The rest of the time you focus on indoor entertainment until the weather gets warmer again.

During the colder months, I would stuff mom, her wheelchair, and the big dog in my van and we would go for rides. Not very long, but satisfying. We live in a suburban area so it was a short drive down a few roads to more rural areas.

There, we could look out the van windows at horses and cows. Vast areas of farmland. Great-looking houses with large porches that are wonderful for family gatherings. Also perfect for sitting outside with a glass of iced tea or a mug of hot cocoa.

On Halloween and Christmas, we drove around the neighborhood to look at the decorations. We would admire the creativity of some people.

The rest of the winter we would watch videos we found at the dollar store or thrift shops.

Final thoughts

It doesn’t take out-of-the-box thinking to find inexpensive things to do with your parent or loved one. Simple things like walks or homemade bag lunches at the park will mean a lot to them.

It doesn’t take long for your home to feel like a prison. You need to get outside with your parent. You need to get both them and yourself into the sunlight and fresh air.

What kind of simple and inexpensive things do you like to do with your parent that they enjoy? Let me know in the comments.