When you were still living under your parents’ roof, they seemed to have it all figured out when it came to maintaining the house and repairing, which you never had a problem with. You didn’t see it as a big deal until you had to experience it yourself for the first time living independently. This is when you realize that home maintenance is no joke, especially when you have your career to prioritize.
Home maintenance and repairs are some troubles you have when living alone, among other things. With that, here are some tips on how you can maintain the house on your own.
Repairs You Can Do by Yourself
You can definitely do simple things like painting the walls, fixing a broken door lock, tightening a leaky kitchen or bathroom pipe, and replacing a light bulb by yourself. You can learn these things on the job and through experience. Knowing simple home repairs is like a superpower when living alone. It also means you have to know when to call a professional.
Monitoring Your Utility Bills
This is important because your bills may indicate if there’s something wrong with your home’s facilities. For example, suppose you notice your energy bill suddenly inflates. That can signify air leaks or problems with the air ducts. Just like when your water bill increases, it’s telling you that there might be leaks somewhere. Suppose the issue is beyond your DIY knowledge, better to seek help from a professional. You might need a service provider that offers plumbing and sewer repair, especially with backed-up water and clogged drains.
Saving Contacts of Home Repair Professionals
There are a few home maintenance you can do on your own. Still, many can be dangerous for you to handle, so it’s best to let a professional inspect and address them. When problems with electrical wirings and pipe bursts occur, fixing them by yourself without proper knowledge can make things worse than they’re already are. Therefore, it’s vital to save the contact information of repair professionals as soon as you move in in case of an emergency.
Keep Your Place Organized
According to experts, keeping a disorganized and untidy home can negatively affect you physically and psychologically. Many people living alone don’t bother with this since they have no one to tidy for. Organizing your place and keeping it clutter-free makes you feel like you’re in control of your surroundings and boosts your mood, having a sense of calmness.
Get rid of things you have no use for anymore and store away properly the stuff you don’t use at the moment. Place your keys, TV remote control, kitchen utensils, or other times you often use in easy-to-reach areas, so you know when to find them when you need them.
Maintaining Cleanliness in Your Home
Of course, tidiness is not enough. No matter how busy you are, there’s not a good reason to neglect home cleanliness. Your personal hygiene and health are in line. So to clean your house regularly, schedule a cleaning day once a week or every other week. Do your laundry once a week, and don’t forget to disinfect bathroom and kitchen countertops and sinks daily. Deep cleaning your home at least quarterly is just as important.
Keeping Healthy Habits
When you live alone, you have no guardian to remind you what time it is and that you have to work in the morning. It’s easy to stay up too late, eat unhealthily, and do whatever you want. If this goes on longer, it can develop into something worse with your physical and mental health.
This is why it’s imperative to keep watch over yourself and be responsible for the simplest choices you make, whether to cook or order takeout or whether to clean today or tomorrow. You can always start with the smallest things, and it can have a significant impact in the long run.
Staying in Touch with Your Friends and Family
Living alone is isolating enough, and having no one to talk to can affect your mental health as well. Keeping in touch with your family back home is a great way to start. Make friends with the neighbors. Check up on your closest friends now and then. No matter how you’re used to being alone, everyone needs someone to talk to, even if it’s just for a little while. Loneliness can creep in any day without you noticing it.
Your home maintenance and repairs aren’t the only ones you need to keep an eye on. Watching your health is more important than anything else. So before deciding on living alone, there are a lot of things you need to consider.