We all take care of our homes like it’s our child. We invest time and energy; we make sure our homes get the best of everything and look the best. It’s only fair that we feel attached to the place where we spend most of our time. But if you care about your house, then you should take care of it as well.
You cannot buy your favorite pieces of furniture and turn your house into your haven and not look after them. If you don’t water your plants regularly, they can start dying. If you want beautiful flowers to bloom in spring, you have to take care of your plants. Similarly, if you want to live a good life, you need to do your house maintenance on a weekly or monthly basis.
However, this particular task can be especially hard on widows or anyone who just turned single. It can be hard to manage everything and take care of every detail. So, here are some tips to keep you company while you work on improving things.
Home Maintenance When You’re Living All by Yourself
We have all experienced realizing the importance of something only when it’s gone. For instance, if you have a favorite spot in the house, you won’t notice how comfortable it makes you feel until someone makes a change. This can happen when you get used to living with your spouse and sharing life.
You both divide all the tasks around the house and keep a check on everything. However, the sudden demise of a loved one can rock our worlds. We might forget to do all the things they used to do around the house. It can be hard to get back up and take charge of your life again. You might be facing a stack of bills on the table or a kitchen cabinet that’s still not fixed.
It can be quite easy to feel overwhelmed because you don’t know where to start. But life goes on, so you have to start taking care of your home again. You can try the following things to get started.
1. Test Your Smoke Alarm Battery
The last thing you need after a traumatic experience is another unexpected problem. Imagine one day you’re relaxing and you don’t realize that you left the stove on or if there’s anything on fire. It can be hard to keep an eye on every corner of the house when you’re living alone.
You need to check your smoke alarm and regularly change its battery. You can also test it to make sure it still detects smoke and can save you from any trouble. All you need is a stool and use it to stand up and check your smoke alarm. You can push the test button and see if the sound is loud enough for you to hear from across the room. If it’s not, then you can change the batteries.
2. Change Your Furnace Filter
Just like we clean our house every day and do deep cleaning every month to avoid any health issues and get rid of dirt, we should do the same thing with our furnace filter. If you leave it unattended, a lot of dirt and foreign particles can accumulate in one place and reduce the functions of your furnace.
You need to regularly change your furnace filter if you want to use it to your advantage. Changing your filter will also purify the air because you will be getting rid of all the toxins. You can ideally change it every three months, but if you smoke or have pets in the house, it’s important to change your filter more often.
3. Keep a Record of all Your Bills
No one wants to deal with a power shortage and later finds out that it’s because you forgot to pay your electricity bill. If you’re living alone as a widow recently, chances are you’ll be caught up in every other thing. You will forget to keep track of all the bills and pay them on time.
One good idea is to keep a list of all your bills and important documents and set reminders for the due dates. You can pay them all on time and won’t have to face any other problems.
4. Take Control of Something Your Spouse Used to Do
Marriage is a two-way street that means both persons need to put in the effort. Some days you do the laundry, and sometimes it’s your partner’s duty. However, as a widow, it can be hard to do everything alone. You feel lost and confused because you have so many responsibilities around you.
One way to be prepared is by taking control of something that you used to be your spouse’s duty. For instance, if they were responsible for cleaning and maintaining all the carpets around the house. You can take charge and visit the nearest carpet cleaning company to get it done. You won’t have to panic over another responsibility.
5. Check for Any Leaks Around the House
A lot of times, we forget to focus on the small things. So, you’re moving on with your life and trying to take charge. You’re doing all the household chores and fulfilling all your responsibilities, but you’re not thinking about the underlying problems. This can result in a lot of future problems for you.
We are so focused on maintaining the outer look of our house that we don’t focus on the insides. You have to check for any gas or water leakage around the house. If you ignore these issues for a long, it can cause a lot of damage to your property. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Take Control of Your Life with These Helpful Tips
It’s not easy to get out of an old routine and start a new one. Usually, the death of your loved one is so sudden that we can barely process it. Moreover, thinking about doing everything on your own can make you feel worse.
These tips will give you a rough idea and how to get started. You don’t need to do everything at once because you need to give yourself time to breathe. So, you can use these tips and take baby steps. It will take a while, but you will get used to it, and it won’t be as hard anymore.
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Arslan Hassan is an electrical engineer with a passion for writing, designing, and anything tech-related. His educational background in the technical field has given him the edge to write on many topics.
