New Year’s resolutions to stick to in January

New Year’s resolutions can be tricky things.

We’ve all been there: promising ourselves as the clock counts down to midnight that, once the fireworks hit, we’ll start our lives afresh. New Year, new you.

Perhaps you imagine that suddenly you’ll eat healthily and never drink again, and your body will be a temple from this moment forward.

And then the hangover comes and you find yourself munching down on a greasy fry up, planning your next night out.

It’s almost a yearly tradition, and one that brings amusement in some but disappointment in many.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The New Year really can be an opportunity to improve your life in many ways, as long as you keep your goals reasonable and stick to them.

This doesn’t have to just stop at getting healthier either.

You can improve lots of aspects of your life simply by setting realistic, achievable goals.

If you’re living in student housing in Hyde Park or elsewhere, as a Leeds Letting Agent, we know that sharing a roof with strangers can cause some friction.

So here’s some household resolutions to make your living situation better than the previous year.

1. Make your house a home

Often when we move somewhere new, we have big plans on how we are going to utilise our space to really make the most out of our new accommodation.

But then we put these plans off and before you know it, a whole semester has gone by and it looks little different to when we first stepped in.

This is just a case of getting organised and taking on little jobs at a time to really personalise your living space. And we’re not just talking about aesthetics here either.

When you first move in, you may find that your stuff seems to take up a great deal more room than you thought it would.

This is likely because you’ve yet to invest in any storage solutions, so you’re left with less space than you should have.

So, write out a list, give yourself plenty of time for each task – remember you’ll be here for a while and this is a marathon not a sprint – and start working on making your house a home.

We think you’ll be amazed at just how big a difference these little touches can make.

2. Finally do those cleaning jobs

You know the ones – perhaps there was a dirty bowl in the sink that no one would take responsibility for, and now that bowl has turned into a pile as everyone was too stubborn to back down.

Maybe one of you cleaned up and, after not getting much appreciation, refused to do so again.

This can easily spiral into a big mess where basic jobs get left undone due to disagreements.

Well, it’s a New Year and we think it’s time to leave these grievances behind, have a chat with your housemates and come to an agreement to finally get these things done and start afresh.

If this is your first time moving into student accommodation, then a resolution can be to pre-emptively have a chat to avoid these situations getting out of hand.

3. Make amends

Moving on from our last point, we know that living with strangers, especially when it’s your first time, can occasionally lead to some frayed tempers.

However, often you’ll find that most issues with housemates can be easily resolved. They don’t want to have a difficult living situation and neither do you.

In fact, you’ll often find that they want to resolve the situation just as much as you do.

So, start your New Year on a positive note by putting all past issues behind you.

And if you’re new to student accommodation, make a resolution to not let any disagreements linger and lead to a bad atmosphere at home.

4. Sort out those bills

If all bills are included in your student accommodation, this doesn’t tend to be too much of an issue, except for perhaps the TV license or Sky bill for example.

But if you are splitting bills with housemates, this can be more complex.

First off, you’ll have to organise how and how much exactly you’re going to pay.

Some people like to simply split all the bills by a percentage, while others find it easier for different housemates to take responsibility for different outgoings.

However you decide to organise it, make sure that everyone understands and agrees with what they are paying for.

If there’s confusion left over from a previous semester, get it sorted.

If you’re new, there are plenty of student houses Hyde Park based for example, or elsewhere in Leeds, that give you different options in terms of bills management.

Whatever you decide though, always have this conversation sooner rather than later.