It is winter time again and along with that comes the cold weather for most of us. I live in an area that does not get much snow for the winter but the wind does get the place feeling quite cold at times. We recently dropped down into the 40s and with the wind chill it felt like I was turning into an icicle!!!!

It is tempting to turn the heater up as high as possible to get away from the chill but you need to take into consideration the high bills that will come along with that and ruin your budget in the upcoming months. I am not saying that you need to freeze to death in your home but I do have a few tips that will help you not have to face the bill shock that usually comes along with the winter chills.
-Improve your insulation. This may be hard if you rent your home but you can still do a few simple checks. I noticed that there was a draft around one of the windows so I put an old towel on the window sill to block the flow of cold air coming in. It was a simple fix and it did not cost me any extra money to do, yet I now have less cold air flowing into my apartment so I don’t need to run the heater as much.

The maintenance people put in some new rubber insulation around the bottom of the front door and that blocked the draft in that area as well, reducing the need to have extra heat pumped into the living room. When I was in college we also put a towel around the front door but that was a bit of a problem as people kept coming in and out of the front door.

Wear more layers. I am not saying that you need to bundle up like an Eskimo while the temperatures in your home are slightly above freezing..but there is no need to have the thermostat set to 80 degrees either. Simply find a setting that is comfortable and then turn it down a few degrees to where you feel slightly cool if you are wearing a tee shirt and shorts. Then throw on some sweats and socks and instantly feel the difference. I wear socks to keep my feet warm and will wear something with long sleeves in the house, so I keep my thermostat about 68 degrees so it can kick in if the rooms get too cold.

These two easy steps will certainly help you to save money on your heating bills this winter and will help you to keep your budget on track.