Senior adults often decide to downsize in preparation for moving to a smaller house or assisted living community, and it is always a great opportunity for their adult kids to jump in and help. While you naturally want to get started right away, it is important to keep in mind that being organized helps make the whole process go faster. As your parent prepares to scale down their lifestyle, be sure to make these three preparations before they get too deep into the heavy work.

Assess Their New Living Arrangements

The first thing that you need to do is get an idea of just how much your parent needs to scale down. Ask to accompany them on a tour of their new home, and bring along a tape measure and note pad. As you walk through each room, make a note of the dimensions and general floor plans. This way, you can accurately assess your parent's current furniture and other belongings to figure out which things are best for them to keep.

Shop for Supplies

While downsizing is all about getting rid of unnecessary possessions, you will need to start the clean-up process with a few provisions. For instance, sticky notes are great for using as labels to make sure that anyone who helps knows what to do with each object. You may also need boxes, plastic bins, packing tape, and garbage bags to help you have somewhere to put things that are to be donated or trashed. Then, stock up on water and snacks so that you can keep your cleaning crew fueled up for working hard on the downsizing efforts.

Arrange for Waste Disposal

Over the years, your parent has accumulated a lifetime of belongings, and you should be prepared to discover that there is more trash to get rid of than you might expect. This is especially true if you anticipate having to discard large appliances or furniture. For this reason, it is important to arrange for a roll off dumpster rental that gives you one spot to throw all the trash so that it can be hauled off. Dumpsters are also available in several different sizes from which you can choose based upon an estimate of how much trash you expect the clean up to generate. Talk to a company like Area Disposal for more help.

Impress your parent with just how organized you are by doing a little preparation before you get stared on helping them downsize. While it only takes a few minutes to set up, having supplies on hand and a roll off dumpster on site gives you a great start to the next phase of your parent's life.