Taking care of a senior can get to be expensive. Finding affordable caregivers to offer Reliable In Home Senior Care is a challenge that more of us are tasked with meeting each and every day. If you feel like you’re spending far more than is necessary on getting good care for your senior, here are some easy ways to lower your costs while maintaining the high standards you expect for their well-being.

Hiring a Caregiver

Many seniors have private caregivers in their homes to ensure their well-being. However, hiring the right individual is not always easy as you don’t want just anyone coming over to the home of your senior to watch over their well-being.

So if you want to lower the cost of hiring your senior’s caregiver, do so directly with the individual you are bringing in and avoid consulting with an agency. Deciding to go it alone, so to speak, can save you nearly 30% on your caregiver expenses. Just keep in mind that you will be taking on a greater level of responsibility and perhaps extending your search, as an agency will usually make you pay more because of the services they provide.

That includes things like background checks, training, insurance, and taxes, even providing you with a substitute caregiver in the event the individual you initially hired isn’t available.

Tax Breaks

Many costs related to providing care to seniors are eligible for certain tax deductions or credits at the federal and state level. These can be very helpful in reducing the amount of money coming out of your pocket on care. This is particularly valid for those taxpayers who claim a senior as a dependent on their tax returns.

If you have questions about which deductions and breaks you may be eligible to claim, discuss your situation with a tax preparer or contact the IRS.

Meal Services

Another way to lower your caregiver costs is to outsource some of their duties with alternative services. That way you can still receive the important care needed and pay less in the process. This is where meal services come in as they can do the work of supplying and preparing food for your senior to eat.

These meals are healthy, nutritious, and delicious, so the quality of the food won’t be compromised just because you’re trying to save some money on the costs of providing senior care. With a meal service all of the costs of the food and the work involved in prepping and cooking that food are included whereas hiring a caregiver to prep and serve meals can get a bit more costly because that represents additional time for which your caregiver is on the clock.

Utility Costs

Seeking out public assistance programs to help pay for heating and cooling expenses in the home of a senior is another useful solution for lowering your expenses to care for a senior. This is particularly critical during those seasons where extreme heat and bitter cold can wreak havoc on home expenses.