she is 85, ambulating is a problem for her. she is still in her own home and want to remain. So far there are no cognition problems. I clean(living room,bathroom, kitchen and dining room, dust, do laundry and shop/put groceries up and supervise any other work that is done at the home from people coming in. I do this for her 4 days a week
Please Read the article linked below for more details.
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-get-paid-for-being-a-caregiver-135476.htm
take care of yourself and make sure not to neglect your own long term care and support needs.
Is your aunt on Medicaid or eligible to be on Medicaid?
In a growing number of states, there is an effort to keep elders in their own homes, as being a less expensive option than care center placement. Many states have programs that use Medicaid money to pay for some in-home care. For example, the elder may be eligible for a few hours of cleaning per week. Maybe they qualify for someone to help them bathe once or twice a week. Perhaps an aide will be be authorized for so many hours per week.
In a growing number of states the elder can choose how to receive that service and one of the options is to use the money to pay a relative. Often the program case worker will have the relative go through an agency, to be sure all of the tax details get worked out.
I don't know how this works in your state, but you certainly should check it out. If Aunt is on Medicaid now, then the person to talk to (with Aunt's permission) is her case worker. If she is not now on Medicaid, start with your state's Medicaid website, and learn whom to contact from there.
It is true that a huge number of relatives taking care of elders are doing it as volunteers. It is also true that a large number of them have put their own financial security at risk and are going to be in a difficult situation (for them and for our country) when they retire.
If your state is one of the growing number trying to address this problem, by all means, take advantage of that!
As for payment to you... the vast majority of grown children/nieces/nephews are not paid unless the elder pays them themselves. If this work is starting to become overwhelming, and it will start to be more demanding as the elder gets older and less mobile [maybe some hearing and eyesight loss, too], your Aunt will need to think about moving to a continuing care facility, unless she can afford to pay 3 shifts of caregivers to be with her.
Could your Aunt afford to have a cleaning crew comes in once a week? That would relieve a lot of time for you, or are you doing the cleaning to fill up your time while at your Aunt's home? Cleaning is such a thankless chore :P As for groceries, some areas offer on-line shopping for groceries with home delivery.