
Things Everyone Should Do Before They Leave The House
1. Grab Your Essentials: Wallet, Keys, Phone
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2. Weather-Ready Attire: Rain or Shine
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3. Feed Your Furry Friends: Don't Forget the Pets!
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4. Pocket Tissues: You Never Know!
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5. Snacks for the Road: No One Likes a Hangry Commute
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6. Fully Charged Devices: Power Up!
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7. Medication Check: Stay Healthy!
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8. A Good Stretch: Limber Up!
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9. Lights Off: Save Energy
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10. Double-Check Appliances: Safety Comes First
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11. Secure Your Home: Lock Up
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12. Eco-Friendly Bottle: Hydration On-the-Go!
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13. Briefcase or Bag: Organize Your Stuff
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14. Sunglasses: Protect Those Peepers
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15. Hair Check: Tame the Mane
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16. Wallet Declutter: Keep It Lean
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17. Public Transport Card: Easy Transit
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18. Headphones: Tune into Your World
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19. Perfume or Cologne: Smell Great
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20. Laptop and Charger: Work Ready
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21. Watch or Jewelry: Time to Shine!
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22. Transit Apps: Stay Informed
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23. Text Loved Ones: Share the Love!
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24. Sunscreen: Protect Your Skin
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25. Room Quick Check: Neat and Tidy
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26. To-Do List: Stay Organized
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27. Appropriate Footwear: Comfort Matters
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28. Houseplants Watered: Nurturing Greenery
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29. Breathe and Relax: Center Yourself
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30. Smile: It's Contagious!
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31. Things everyone should do before you leave home for a vacation: get someone to watch the house
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If you can, it's always a good idea to ask someone to watch your house while you're away. If you get along with your neighbors, just ask them to keep an eye on things. If you need something more tailored, you could get a professional house sitter, or ask a friend or family member.Advertisement
32. Make sure bill payments are up to date!
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If you're going away for a while, you don't want to risk getting a bill through the mail that you can't pay saying things are overdue, and then become more overdue because you can't pay until you get back home! Make sure to get your due bills in shipshape before you leave!Advertisement
33. Double check your house alarm
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Your home alarm is there for security all the time, but especially so when you're on vacation. Make sure the batteries are fully charged, that everything is up to date and check whether you need to let the alarm company know that you're heading out on vacation.Advertisement
34. Put a hold on any expected mail
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If you have regular deliveries, or thinking of ordering something hoping it'll arrive in time, it's best to put everything on hold. If you have mail that's left outside your front door while you're on vacation, it's only drawing attention to the fact that nobody's home - and it'll just be sat there.Advertisement
35. Set your lights on timer
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Lights are the best way to make it look like someone's home while you're away, so that your home doesn't become victim to the prying eyes of wannabe burglars! Depending on what lights you have, smart lights can allow you to time everything, but you can even get a basic old-school timer for old-fashioned lights.Advertisement
36. Don't forget to hide the spare key
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If you usually have a spare key in a certain spot outside your front door, you'll want to bring this inside or keep hold of it while you're away on vacation. Or, if you'd rather still keep it outside in case you need it in an emergency, try to hide it in a better place than under the doormat!Advertisement
37. Give your garden and lawn a clean up
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An overgrown lawn is the one big sign of nobody being home and a house left abandoned for a while. So it's a good idea to mow your lawn an extra amount than you usually would before you go away, to limit the risk of it being unkempt when you get back. Tidy everything up so it's all good!Advertisement
38. Deep clean your home
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There's no better time to do a deep clean of your home than before you go on vacation, because it'll ensure no pests or critters are tempted to get inside while you're not there. Not only that, your future self will definitely thank you when you come home to a squeaky clean abode!Advertisement
39. Double check what's in your fridge!
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You don't want to forget that you left a certain food item in your fridge for weeks so it's nice and mouldy for when you get back! Empty out your fridge before you head out of anything that can go bad so that you don't have to come home to an awful rotting food smell!Advertisement
40. Seal up all your boxes of dry food
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But it's not just what's in the fridge that you should be thinking about - you should also double check everything you keep stock of in your pantry or any dry food that's around your kitchen. Securely the boxes and packaging securely so that nothing can get in while you're away.Advertisement
41. Change your bedsheets
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It's also a good time before you head out on vacation to wash and change your bedsheets - because we all know how much we dream of our own bed when we've been traveling a while, and even better when our own bed is freshly prepared with meadow-smelling sheets when we arrive home! Heaven.Advertisement
42. Unplug any standby electronics
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Have a good walk around the house to make sure anything that doesn't need to be plugged in while you're away is unplugged. This will help to save you money on your electricity bill by avoiding things being left switched on or on standby when you're not using them.Advertisement
43. Take out your garbage
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Even if your bin isn't really full, it's still a good idea to completely empty your garbage right before you go away so that there's nothing left sat there or causing a smell - which is something you definitely don't want to come home to! And you're heading out of the door anyway, so just carry the bag with you as you go!Advertisement
44. Decide what to do about your water heater
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This entirely depends on what water heater you have, and how long you're going away for. If you're going away for at least a month, you'll want to turn off your heater if you're able to do that. If you're only going away for a short time, there might be a vacation mode for your water heater, or any other settings to manage how it works while you're not using it!Advertisement
45. Check all your windows are locked
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Make sure to do a quick check of all the windows in your home to first make sure they're probably closed, and then make sure they're completely locked, for extra security while you're away. If you have a bigger property, it's so easy to forget that you left even one small window open!Advertisement
46. Close blinds and curtains
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Make sure no one can take a nosy in your empty home while you're on vacation by closing all blinds and curtains. Even better, you can kill two birds with one stone and do this while you're going around locking the windows! If you want it to look like someone is home, as your neighbor if they don't mind coming in to open and close the curtains every day.Advertisement
47. Check what food and drink you're going to need for when you get back
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With so much focus on emptying out your fridge before you go away, it's easy to forget what you're actually going to need straight away for the moment you get back (like milk, juice or something to have for breakfast that very first morning). You can then make plans to buy a few supplies on the way back.Advertisement
48. Run your dishwasher
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Double check that you haven't left anything in your dishwasher, even if your dishwasher is only half full and it's mainly just cutlery and glasses. You really don't want to leave anything festering in there, so just give it a wash cycle so that everything is nice and clean for when you get back!Advertisement
49. Double check your washing machine
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The same goes for your washing machine - you don't want to accidentally leave anything in there if you've been doing piles of laundry for your vacation clothes before you go, or if you forgot to leave the door open to let it ventilate after doing a cycle. Check it's empty, clean it and leave the door open!Advertisement
50. Adjust your thermostat
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Make sure you're not wasting energy while you're away by the thermostat heating or cooling your home when it doesn't need to! You can put it on a timer to be on a low setting to keep everything moving through, or tailor it for anyone staying in your home, like a house sitter.Advertisement