New Year’s Goals for Homeowners: Upgrade Old Appliances

A new year is an opportunity to make some changes in your life. You may want to make changes to your health, habits, or even your living spaces. If you own a home, consider putting these New Year’s goals for homeowners into action.

New Year’s Goals for Homeowners: Upgrade Old Appliances

When an appliance reaches the end of its lifespan and breaks, you find yourself in a time crunch to replace it. This isn’t the ideal way to shop for new appliances. The smart way to buy appliances is to research, read reviews, and prepare to wait if the model you want is back-ordered.

Replacing appliances may be expensive, but you’ll save money over time because newer appliances use less energy and water. Start the new year by replacing your oldest appliance and then start a savings fund with a goal to replace the others.

Start a Home Maintenance Calendar

You’ll be more successful at taking care of your home in the new year if you set up a home maintenance calendar. Schedule weekly, monthly, and bi-annual tasks. These include cleaning, testing smoke detectors, changing HVAC filters, and cleaning the gutters.

You can use either an online calendar that sends reminders through your phone or a large calendar hanging on the wall. Take time at the beginning of the year to put all the tasks you can think of on the calendar for the whole year.

Do a Safety Audit

Make your home safer in the new year. Has your home been tested for radon, an invisible gas that causes lung cancer? If people in your household have been experiencing severe allergies when they are at home, have the home tested for mold.

Make sure that you have smoke and CO detectors on every level of the home and at least one fire extinguisher. There may also be safety hazards on the exterior of the home, like loose railings on a deck or uneven pavers on your sidewalk. This month, check your property and fix any potential dangers.

Ban Shoes Indoors

Shoes bring in pollutants from the outdoors that make your floors dirty and affect your indoor air quality. Lawn chemicals, animal droppings, pollen, and other contaminants get tracked inside the home.

For the new year, make a rule that shoes can’t be worn inside. To make this easier for your family members and guests, place a rack or shelf for shoes next to each exterior door. Add a bench so people can easily stop and remove their shoes before entering the home.

Decluttering is One of the Most Common New Year’s Goals

The beginning of the year is the perfect time to declutter your home. Go through your belongings and think about if you used them over the past year. Chances are, you’ll find plenty of things that you haven’t used at all. Get rid of these items by donating them or throwing them away. Next, reorganize the house only with the useful items you are keeping.