Your home is a big part of your life, so why not set New Year resolutions for it, too? New Year resolutions are really just attainable goals and writing them down or even just saying them out loud can be the motivation you need to achieve them. Are there some changes you’d like to make in your home next year? Try treating those changes as resolutions and watch progress follow. Here are some ideas:
Recycle, Reuse
Whether you already recycle regularly, sporadically, or not at all, there’s always room for improvement. Make a New Year’s resolution to make a recycling plan for your home. Get all your household members on board to participate and follow the specific guidelines for your community’s recycling resource. Set up accessible bins in your home to make recycling easy as well as reminders on your smart devices so you don’t forget.
Reusing items can be as important for the environment as recycling. Before discarding items, ask yourself if there’s a way it could be repurposed. Instead of discarding furniture and purchasing new items, refinish or recover pieces to fit your needs. Reuse plastic bags to line wastebaskets and to store produce, or for organizing and storing smaller items. Empty tissue boxes are handy for storing plastic bags and making them easy to grab. Use old clothes for messy house projects, costumes, swimsuit cover-ups, or quilt pieces. Plastic shower curtains and liners can be saved for drop cloths or to protect floors, counters, and carpets.
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Save Energy
This year, renew your efforts to conserve energy and cut utility usage and costs in the process. Perform an energy audit in your home to see where improvements are needed. Leverage technology, such as smart thermostats, to enable you to set heating and cooling temperatures around occupancy, which keeps rooms comfortable when people are home and saves energy when people are away. Install energy-efficient appliances and low-flow faucets to distribute less water for showers, baths, and sinks. When it’s time to replace your water heater, consider an on-demand model that supplies hot water when you need it instead of holding it in a tank.
Prioritize Projects
The list of home projects can be overwhelming if you look at everything that needs to be done at once. This New Year, take the time to sit down with a calendar and list all the home improvements and tasks that you’d like to accomplish, and prioritize each one. Next, schedule the projects throughout the year, tackling the most important or critical projects to be completed first.
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Maintain
Make a calendar for the year to remind you about regular maintenance tasks that need to be performed around the house. Schedule tasks like filter changes, HVAC inspections, automatic irrigation checks, and fire detector battery changes. This will help you stay on top of necessary maintenance and help keep your home running smoothly.
Protect
Make a New Year resolution to protect your home system and appliance components as well as your household budget with HSA home warranty coverage. You’ll also have a ready resource for reliable repair help when covered breakdowns occur, saving you the time and hassle of finding an available qualified contractor. Visit onlinehsa.com to find out just how valuable an HSA home warranty can be this year and every year.