Balancing the books on downsizing The family home is typically the most valuable asset you own, and there are a few factors to consider before downsizing. If you are newly retired, or over 50 and still working, you might be looking at either a retirement village or an over-50s lifestyle resort for your 'rightsizing' move.According to finance expert Rachel Lane author of Downsizing Made Simple with Noel Whittaker, understanding the difference between a retirement village and over-50s resort is vital.“There are currently five types of retirement village contracts - leasehold, license, company or unit trust title, strata title and rental - while land lease communities have only two separate components, which include the contract for your home and contract for your land,” she says.Cheryl Chalk, who lives at Amber by Living Gems agrees. Now retired, the former accountant made the decision to move into a Living Gems resort after careful consideration."I was familiar with the land lease community model because my...

Bring memories and not piles of albums Digitising old pictures and restoring colour to faded photography is a great way to give new life to treasured memories.Photography has come a long way from the days you were limited to a 24 or 36-frame roll of film.Today everyone carries a camera on their mobile phone (and many of the younger generation are all too ready to photograph every occasion – including lunch).While it’s lovely to sit down with your family, open the photo albums, and remember those special occasions, there are some very real advantages in turning those photographs into electronic media.It takes up less spaceScanning photographs reduces the number of physical photo albums you have. Those precious memories are safely stored on a digital media box or computer hard drive, and you’ve gained more space in your new home.Remember, back up those photographs online through cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox or Google Drive. You can give other members of the...

Braised beef cheeks It’s the first month of autumn and, as the weather cools down, it’s time to bring out your trusty slow cooker and prepare some warming comfort food.Talented Chef Matt Conquest shares a braised beef cheeks recipe infused with incredible flavours heightened by the process of slow cooking.IngredientsServes 22 whole beef cheeks or 1 large beef cheek cut into half 2 carrots 1 small sweet potato 4 small shallots/golden onionsDry ingredients:2 tsp sea salt ½ tsp black pepper 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp ground cuminPaste:1 tbsp gravy mix or corn flour MethodTurn on your slow cooker to the low setting. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Trim off any excess fat or sinew around the beef and place it into the slow cooker. Sprinkle both sides of the beef cheeks with dry spices. Cut the carrots and sweet potato while leaving the onions whole....

Living Gems has launched a 2023 photo competition to highlight some fabulous destinations, favourite local spots, macro shots, action photos, best pet shots and lots more from our homeowners. So get your cameras and phones ready this year (or dig through your archives)! As a Living Gems resident, you can submit as many photos of your choice each month and be in the running to be selected as the month’s overall photo winner for the Living Gems community. Each month, one winning photo will be chosen from across all Living Gems resorts and featured on the back page of Thrive magazine and shared on the Living Gems Facebook Page, so get your exclusive bragging rights ready and share your masterpieces with us. Send your submissions, with your full name, resort name and where the photo was taken, to [email protected] February Photo Winner Congratulations to February’s winner, Alan Wadsworth from Living Gems Toowoomba, for his entry ‘#10 Lake Dunn Sculpture Trail’ in Queensland, an area known...

How to organise your downsizing move Benjamin Franklin once observed that every minute spent organising is an hour earned, so we have some great tips that will help you prepare for the move to your new Living Gems home!Will it all fit?Remember when you moved out of home and had only the basics? Start with a thought exercise – what pieces of furniture do you really need? Consider your new life at Living Gems and the life you want to lead, then consider how much you need to bring with you (goodbye to all that fitness equipment!).Some Living Gems homeowners decide they want all new furniture and furnishings to go with their brand-new homes and brand-new lives. But even if that’s not you, it is likely you will have household goods that will need a new home.Grab the tape measure, take your Living Gems floor plans, and have a good look at your existing furniture to see what will fit.If you...

Interior design tips when downsizing Figuring out how to decorate and furnish your home when downsizing can be both exciting and daunting.Deciding what furniture to take and how you want your new space to look and feel is one of the most fun parts of a downsizing move, but it can be overwhelming too, especially if you’re coming from a large family home.Living Gems Interior Design Coordinator Ange Osborne has guided dozens of residents through the process of creating their dream homes over the past few years. In this month’s issue of Thrive, she shares her top interior design tips to minimise the pain and maximise the pleasure of a downsizing move.Take what you loveIf you really love it, take it with you. Special objects or pieces of furniture can be worked into a larger interior design scheme.“People think they must get rid of everything and start from scratch, but that’s not the case. If you have a piece that you...

Donate to your local charities Give your preloved items a new lease of life by donating them to worthy organisations near you.Local charities are always looking for donations of quality goods, and you can make an impact by giving your unwanted items to those in need. We have a handy round-up of great charities to help you with a downsizing declutter. Defenders for HopeLocated close to Amber by Living Gems and Opal by Living Gems, Defenders for Hope helps victims and survivors of domestic violence with finding the right local programs to assist in rebuilding their lives. The group is dedicated to bringing awareness and assistance programs to the local community. Their op shop is at 6/10 Industrial Avenue, Logan Village, with a furniture store and food bank operating in Jimboomba.The organisation can be reached by email at [email protected] RizeUp AustraliaRizeUp Australia is a Queensland-based organisation that helps women and families move on after the devastation of domestic violence. Their mission is to...

What a big month our Living Gems resorts have had! From mystery holidays to several birthday celebrations, getting physical and getting ‘quilled’, and even attending cruises and concerts, Thrive can report that the resorts have been buzzing with activity.Caboolture, Sapphire and Ruby put on some fabulous Australia Day celebrations with everyone getting into the spirit of it all, including some terrific decoration set ups, costumes, and even a barefoot bowls event at Sapphire.Amber at Living Gems has had a resident couple recently return from Vietnam with lots of overseas adventure stories to tell their friends. We must say the coconut water looked very tasty indeed!While some returned home from active holidays, others kept their fitness up on site, such as the Amber ladies running aerobics classes. Add to that the first sections of the Country Club's suspended slabs being poured, it was an exciting month at Amber!It’s a-cruising we will go at Living Gems Caboolture Riverfront, with some of the...

With Thrive magazine’s debut edition introduced last month, it is time for a sneak peek into what’s been happening at our Living Gems resorts in our first resort round-up!Homeowners at Sapphire by Living Gems kicked their heels up and celebrated New Year’s Eve in style. While many of the residents hit the dance floor for a group routine, others enjoyed some up close and personal couples dancing. What a great night enjoyed by all.Amber at Living Gems has also been keeping up with the Jones’, beginning with morning craft classes taking off thanks to the skills of some talented women. But that’s not all, a little birdie told us that the recent return of Bob and Fay Brodhurst-Hill from their caravanning expedition drew a nice crowd, and a block party celebration took place.Living Gems Caboolture Riverfront saw some of their men enjoying birthday celebrations recently, but if you think their human residents are the only ones having fun, think again....

Living Gems’ upgraded website is now live, featuring a fresh, contemporary look and feel in keeping with the company’s rebranding roll-out which sports an updated colour palette and logo.Living Gems CEO Adrian Puljich said the primary goal of the redesign process was to create a more visually pleasing, user-friendly and responsive website that was simple to navigate across all platforms and devices. “After many months of hard work and dedication by the marketing team, I am thrilled about the launch of the updated website. The site has lots of terrific new imagery for a modern and consistent appearance, with a warm overall look to communicate the easy-going, upbeat vibe that is part of the Living Gems DNA,” Adrian said. “In addition to the new look, the website boasts an easy-to-read typeface and information-rich pages which are straightforward to locate and explore, not only on users’ desktops but also their mobile phones or tablets,” he said. On the resort-specific pages, prospective buyers can now...

Frame that shot …Living Gems is launching a 2023 photo competition to highlight some fabulous destinations, favourite local spots, macro shots, action photos, best pet shots and lots more from our homeowners, so get your cameras and phones ready this year (or dig through your archives)!This means that as a Living Gems resident, you will be able to submit as many photos of your choice each month and be in the running to be selected as the month’s overall winner.Each month, one winning photo will be chosen from across all Living Gems resorts and featured on the back page of Thrive magazine and shared on the Living Gems Facebook page, so get your exclusive bragging rights ready and share your masterpieces with us.Send your submissions, with your full name, resort name and where the photo was taken to [email protected] Submission Guidelines Photos must be:Taken horizontally Submitted at least 2MB in size Taken by you