New Year’s isn’t just for making personal resolutions such as getting fit and spending more time with family. For homeowners, it is also a chance to plan out what they want to do around the home, and to set deadlines for getting it done.

Whether it be renovating to sell in a market like the Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary real estate markets, or just to improve quality of life, when it’s all been said and done, home renovations can be just as rewarding as any personal resolutions since the benefits affect everyone.

Here are some home improvement renovation resolutions to help ring in 2019.

1 – Upgrade Aging Home Technology

There are numerous benefits to upgrading home appliances of yesteryear. These include more energy savings, reduced water usage and overall greater efficiency and ease of use. If you want to reduce your utilities bill—especially for houses in the chilly Edmonton real estate where you pay on average $248 in utilities per month—look to replace things such as refrigerators and laundry machines with energy star equivalents.

Of course, you can also look for more simple ways to save such as replacing a showerhead with a water efficient one. Newer showerheads can actually use less water without sacrificing any water pressure, helping you conserve water and save energy at the same time. Another thing you can do is to upgrade the thermostat to a programmable one. The biggest benefit of this is that you can program multiple different temperatures during the day which can actually reduce the energy bill by anywhere between 10% to 30%.

2 – Organize Your Home

Take advantage of the new year’s fresh start to finally declutter your home. Cluttered homes can happen to anyone and usually results in a feeling of stress and helplessness. However, it is not impossible to declutter and once again take control!

Start by cleaning out of the fridge and throwing away any food that has been sitting there for a long time. Sometimes, we tend to leave things like takeout and leftovers in the fridge and just forget about them. Next, target areas such as the living room, dresser, and closets which are usually culprits for disorganization; things tend to get misplaced in the in these key areas which makes it seem messier than it really is.

It’s also a good idea to go around and eliminate excess belongings such as unused appliances, utensils, old papers and magazines, and so forth. Once that’s done, look at any old clothes or bedsheets that you rarely use or wear and pile them up together—these are things that you can donate to homeless shelters or thrift stores so that someone else can get use out of them. When everything is done, create a regular cleaning schedule to help prevent future cluttering.

3 – Start Budgeting

Your home is a lifetime investment; and as with any investment, there are costs and other things that will arise. This means that you should always have enough funding for things such as unexpected repairs or upgrades. Budgeting looks like something very difficult at first, but it is actually easy if you follow a couple of key steps. The first thing that you should do is set goals—this can range from paying off your credit bills to looking to save enough for bill increases and property tax.

Once the goal is set, you can determine how much breathing room you have by looking at your income and expenses. Determine whether your household income is fully accommodating any expenses you have and see if there is anything you can cut back on. Things like bills, housing, and car payments are all essential and shouldn’t change too much whereas other “leaking” expenses such as groceries and personal spending can quickly add up. To prevent this, create a weekly spending limit for these two things which you must absolutely abide by. By budgeting your weekly expenses, you can slowly start to build an emergency fund in case things such as sudden unemployment or environmental damages to your home.

4 – Plan Some DIY Renovations

Do-it-yourself projects can be a very effective way to add a personal flair and cut costs in certain areas – when it is done effectively. DIY renovation can range from simply refinishing a hardwood floor to completely renovating your basement or deck.

When planning a DIY, you have to consider the time and cost of everything—determine whether or not you can put enough time and effort into completing the project in a given deadline. The worst thing about a DIY would be the feeling you get from walking by and seeing that you’re still not done due to delays and lack of motivation. Once you’ve determined that it is possible to finish within the given deadline, start creating soft goals for yourself to help you stay on track with everything. Next should be the actual budgeting for the project. It helps put everything into perspective when you have all of the cost laid out in front of you. Consider asking yourself questions like “do I need any additional equipment for this” and “Am I able to put aside enough money for this project”. If the project is simply beyond your current available budget, holding off until you’re in a better position financially.