Here is a little background:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/slippery-slope/When I came home this week to attend my cousin's funeral, my grandfather passed suddenly on the day of the funeral. He was like my dad, as I grew up with my grandparents.
Anyways, coming home is always stressful for me because of my mom. She has some mental deficiencies (mainly depression) and she lives in a house that needs major work (ie no running water). She's also a mild hoarder.
She's going to get $25K and I'm scared it'll be gone in a year with not much to show for it. (Just to give an example--when she found out she'd be getting the money she said she was going to give my brother and I some money, but we are working and she is unemployed). I think my grandfather would want me to help her use this money to get the best living situation set up for her as possible.
I already know it won't go far, but that's why I'm posting here. Yesterday my mom told me her house is in foreclosure. She is waiting on the 30-day notice in the mail so let's just assume we have 30 days from today to make a decision.
Here are the options I was considering:
1-Keep house. Means all of the money would go to bills she's behind on, getting water running, electrical repairs, fix central heat/air, etc. Pros: emergent needs are taken care of, potentially no mortgage to pay if she can pay it off. She can stay in her house, as she doesn't do well with change.
2-Buy a small trailer and let the house go. Pros: again, potential to be mortgage free. Get to start with a 'clean slate'; she wouldn't have to oversee a process she doesn't really have the capacity to. Cons: it's a trailer and won't last long, but would probably last long enough (15 years?). Another con is the place would eventually look as cluttered as the current house.
The major unknown here is how much is owed on the house. I asked her yesterday and she said its on 'some paper' in her house and she didn't know where it was. Yet hours before she said she was 'so close' to paying off the house. I think her mortgage was right at $30K when she bought the house 20 years ago.
I am going to try hard today to get her to tell me the balance. With this limited amount of info, can you please give me your best advice in terms of how best to use this money? Bottom line is, I will be responsible for her financial well being now. If it's not spent right, I will have to pick up the slack now.
FYI, I'm 35 and live in the Midwest; my mom is 55 and lives in South Carolina.