You’ve got the bags packed, the kids are buzzing, and your group chat is already debating who’s in charge of snacks for the drive. The last thing on your mind is a checklist – and that’s exactly how people end up coming home to a flooded bathroom, a maxed-out electricity bill, or worse, an empty jewelry box.
This vacation checklist isn’t about packing your toothbrush. It’s about the things people forget to do before leaving for vacation that are already out of mind the moment you lock the front door. Some of them take 30 seconds. A few of them could save you thousands. All 13 are worth doing before you go.
What Should I Do Before Leaving My House for Vacation?
Think of your home as something that needs to be “closed down” before you leave, not just locked up. The difference matters. Locking the door keeps out the obvious threats. Closing down the house properly handles everything else – burst pipes, power surges, opportunistic thieves, rotting food, energy waste, and the slow drip of appliances nobody thought to unplug. Here’s the complete before-you-travel checklist you actually need.
1. Turn Off the Main Water Supply
This one catches almost everyone off guard. Most people lock the front door and assume the house is covered. They forget that water runs under constant pressure through every pipe, and all it takes is one small crack or a worn appliance hose to turn a week away into a major restoration project.
The biggest risk of leaving your water running while you’re away is the potential for leaks or burst pipes. Even a small leak can cause substantial damage over time, leading to costly repairs, mold growth, and damage to your belongings. Even a small leak running at just 1 gallon per hour adds up to 24 gallons a day – and over a week-long trip, that’s 168 gallons potentially sitting under your floorboards.
It’s generally a good idea to turn off your water supply when you go on vacation, especially for extended periods. Before leaving, close your main water shut-off valve. If you’re not sure where yours is, the location depends on your home’s construction style and water source. If you use city water, check the perimeter of the house on the side facing the street. If you have a slab foundation, look inside the home, often under the kitchen sink or in a utility room.
2. Adjust – Don’t Kill – Your Thermostat
Turning off or lowering water, gas, and electricity helps prevent accidents and reduces utility costs while you’re away on vacation – but there’s a right way and a wrong way to handle the thermostat. Leaving the AC cranking away in an empty house all summer is pointless. Turning it off completely in winter can cost you a lot more than you save.
Setting your thermostat to around 85 degrees Fahrenheit in summer or between 50 and 60 degrees in winter is a reasonable approach. The right temperature depends on where you live – but make sure you don’t turn the thermostat off entirely. A house with no climate control is a house inviting mold, frozen pipes, and damaged belongings. This is one of the most common mistakes on a vacation preparation checklist that people don’t think about until it’s too late.
3. Clear Out the Fridge
You know the smell. You’ve opened someone else’s fridge after a two-week holiday once in your life, and you never forgot it. Don’t do that to yourself – or to whoever housesits for you.
Avoid buying perishable foods in the days leading up to your vacation. Then go through and throw out anything that will spoil while you’re away – you don’t want to invite unwanted pests or create unpleasant odors. It’s also worth giving the fridge a quick wipe-down inside before you go. Some items can be moved to the freezer for long-term storage, and ideally you can set up a meal plan in the days beforehand to use up most of the perishable ingredients before you leave.
4. Take Out Every Bit of Trash
This one sounds obvious and still gets skipped constantly. People empty the kitchen bin and forget that every bathroom, bedroom, and home office has a smaller bin sitting there quietly waiting to become a pest magnet while they are away on vacation.
Take out the trash before you leave town – leaving your trash cans full invites pests and foul odors into your home. Don’t forget the bathroom and any infrequently used bins, too. Wiping down your trash cans further inhibits bacteria and mold growth. A clean house before vacation also means a much better homecoming.
5. Unplug Non-Essential Electronics
This one has a fun name: phantom power. There’s a hidden energy cost that often goes unnoticed – phantom electricity, also known as standby power, is the electricity consumed by devices that are plugged in but not actively in use. These “energy vampires” quietly drain power around the clock, adding up to significant energy waste and higher electricity bills.
For the average household, phantom power can waste anywhere from $100 to $200 annually – and that’s on a normal year when you’re actually home. Going away for a week or two and leaving everything plugged in is just setting money on fire. Make sure to unplug all unnecessary electronics before leaving – unused chargers, hair tools, televisions, microwaves. Unplugging will help keep your home safe from potential fire hazards and could save you money on your electric bill.
6. Hold Your Mail and Stop Package Deliveries
This one matters more than most people realize, and it connects directly to home security. If possible, ask a trusted neighbor to help collect your mail. This helps you stay organized while you’re gone and prevents papers from stacking up outside your door.
If you’ll be gone more than a few days, ask USPS to hold your mail or have a friend collect it. A full mailbox can signal an empty house – which is the last signal you want to send. The same goes for packages. A pile of boxes on a porch is a billboard that says “no one’s been home in days.” Contact any delivery services and pause or redirect shipments before you travel.
7. Set Timers on Your Interior Lights
A house that looks lived-in is a house that’s less likely to be targeted. Turning the lights on and off can be automated with a timer, and this simple step does a lot of heavy lifting. Leave some lights on – but leaving the same lights on for your whole vacation can actually signal that you’re away. Use timers or lighting control apps to turn a couple of lights on and off at different times throughout your trip.
Whether you’ll be away for a few days or a week, it’s always wise to make your home look occupied as a deterrence to would-be criminals. Light timers are relatively inexpensive and are an excellent way to keep your home looking lively.
8. Collect Any Hidden Spare Keys From Outside
Most households have one. It’s under the mat, inside a fake rock, tucked in a planter near the front porch. You know it’s a terrible idea. You put it there anyway because it’s convenient. Before you leave for vacation, bring it inside.
Travelers are advised to collect any hidden spare keys from around the exterior of the home before vacating, noting that many burglars know common hiding places like beneath mats and in potted plants. If you need to leave access for a house-sitter or dog walker, give them the key directly or use a lockbox with a code you change regularly – not a plastic rock from the gardening aisle.
9. Test Your Smoke Alarms
This one gets overlooked because it’s not immediately connected to the vacation mindset. But an unattended home with a malfunctioning smoke alarm is a serious risk. State Farm advises travelers to test smoke alarms and replace batteries before departure, as an unattended home with a malfunctioning alarm poses a serious fire risk.
It takes under a minute. A quick press of the test button, a battery check, and you’re done. If your alarm hasn’t been tested in months – or if you genuinely can’t remember the last time it was – do it before you go. This applies to carbon monoxide detectors too, which often get forgotten on the before-you-travel checklist entirely.
10. Check Every Window and Door Lock
Check all your doors and windows to ensure they’re locked tight. This helps keep anyone from intruding and prevents a window opening and your alarm system going off during a powerful rainstorm.
Beyond security, it’s worth confirming that any smart home monitoring systems are activated for extra peace of mind. And don’t forget the garage door, the back gate, the basement windows, and the sliding glass door that everyone in the house uses and nobody ever remembers to lock. A cracked window isn’t just a security risk – a gap can allow bad weather to damage the home while the owner is away.
11. Activate or Set Up a Home Security System
Here’s the data point that should make this non-negotiable. According to The Zebra’s 2026 research, 46.9% of people do not have a security system installed in their home, leaving them significantly more vulnerable to break-ins while on vacation. Homes without a security system are 300% more likely to be broken into and burglarized.
The good news is that there are more affordable and flexible options than ever – from full monitored systems to smart doorbell cameras that alert your phone in real time. The Council on Criminal Justice found that residential burglary decreased by 19% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, so progress is happening. Staying part of that trend means not leaving your home as an easy target.
12. Stop Oversharing on Social Media
This one is hard for people to hear, because the instinct to post that airport selfie or drop a “Two weeks in paradise!” caption is strong. But consider who might be reading it. Others will feel something very different when they see your vacation announcement – excitement, because they now know you’re out of town and your house is empty, making it a prime target for robbery. According to research 78% of burglars are now using social media to track their victims and select possible targets.
The simplest fix: save the posts for when you’re home. Relive the trip in your own time. Your photos will be just as good on a Tuesday morning when you’re back in your kitchen – and your house will be a lot less interesting to anyone who might be paying attention to your feed.
13. Schedule Any Bills or Payments Due While You’re Away
Unpaid bills can result in expensive fees, and it’s an entirely avoidable stress to come home to. Before you leave, check what’s due in the next two to three weeks and either set up autopay or schedule the payments manually. Don’t let your vacation be ruined by missing bills or loan payments. If you have payments due while you’re away, schedule them to pay automatically through online bill pay. It only takes a few minutes to set up and provides peace of mind knowing your finances are in order while you’re off having fun.
This goes beyond just mortgage or rent – think subscriptions, utilities, car payments, and any irregular bills that might not be on autopay yet. A five-minute check before you leave saves a painful surprise when you return.
Read More: 10 Smart Safety Habits Practiced by Danger-Savvy Kids
The Bottom Line
A solid vacation checklist isn’t about stress – it’s about removing stress. Every item on this list is something you can knock out in a focused hour the day before you leave. Taken together, they cover the four biggest risk categories: security, water damage, fire safety, and energy waste. Skip any of them and you’re essentially hoping nothing goes wrong for the entire time you’re gone.
The families who come home from vacation ready to do it all again are the ones who left with confidence, not crossed fingers. Run through this before you go. You’ll barely think about it once you’re on the road – and that’s exactly the point.
Disclaimer: This article was created with AI assistance and edited by a human for accuracy and clarity.