50 years ago when I was on my own for the fist time, I lived in an older mobile home. It was very cold. Once I had to use a blow dryer to get my door open so I could go to work. I made what I called quilteds. I stapled velcro around the windows and sewed velcro to the finished edges of the home sewed quilts that fit the windows. This made it livable. Thanks for all this good advice.

I hate to add a little warning. I live in an area where it can get to -10 degrees Fahrenheit. I was very comfortable at night but froze pipes in a heated basement. I keep the thermostats at 65 degrees. It's cheaper than the plumber.

Sitting on the couch under a heated throw, 75lb German Shepherd Dog sleeping next to me on the couch with his head in my lap, warming my legs and feet, Cup of hot organic soymilk sweetened with maple syrup held to warm the hands. Wearing flannel pajamas, socks and a fleece robe. Trying to make it to Nov 1st before turning on the furnace. A heated throw and a beloved dog will help me get there.

As a retired nurse in a hospital, we had a blanket warmer for our cold patients. So I have learned to put blankets, socks , PJ's, house coats etc. in the dryer before bed. It warms you up really well and actually keeps you warm so you can sleep..

I had no heat during last years artic storm in Ohio. I layered clothes, wore a jacket, drank warm beverages, battery heated socks and thermals and a small electric heater from Walmart. My fur babies helped too.

I live in Arizona so cold isn't an issue, but cooling during the hot months is a HUGE issue. My partner passed away so living within a budget just got a lot more important for me, all I did was reset my thermostat from 78 to 81 and thus far I've saved $787.40 in 10 months. Part of the savings was also a massive drop in laundry costs because stage 6 and 7 dementia meant I did lots of laundry. I live in a housing development with an HOA so I can't hang clothes out to dry, but I started using the garage to hang items to dry. Every little bit helps.

If you don´t want to use food for draft catchers, you can use sand (pet food aisle) as a filling instead. And for heating pad fillings you can use cleaned cherry 🍒 stones. (just wash the pits thoroughly after eating cherries, 🍒and dry them). They have a great thermal mass and release a nice constant warmth. In Germany we call them "Kischkernkissen" (cherry pit pillow) 🙂

During the recent TX winter storm with no power, I found sleeping with my fabric mask very comfortable. It was only 34 degrees inside the house and I could not sleep with a frozen nose until I thought to put on my mask.

Water bottle with hot water works really well for keeping you warm while sleeping! Also socks and a hat helps a lot!

Love all the tips. I wanted to share one I recently learned. My desk (I work from home) is adjacent to my sliding glass door. I get a lot of draft from the door. Last winter I even had ice forming on the bottom metal trim around the glass- inside the house! I called maintenance (I’m in an apartment) they came out and checked and said there was nothing they could do. That prompted me to search for a method I could use to reduce the draft. You can insulate your windows with bubble wrap! Cut a piece the size of the window glass. Using a spray bottle of water, spray the window glass and the bubble side of the bubble wrap. Place the bubble wrap on the window, bubble side down and press into place. The bubble wrap will stay on the window until you’re ready to peel it off. When you do, there will not be any marks on the window. Be sure that you save your cut bubble wrap for use again the next winter. I’m bubble wrapping my sliding glass door this coming weekend.

First exposed to heated mattress pads on a trip to Scotland. It was late September and really chilly. We were staying in a stone cottage and I was sharing a bed with my mom. She made me get in first because the roomwas so cold. I braced to get in and then went aaah. The landlady had turned on all the mattress pads so that we’d sleep comfortably.

When I lived in the big woods of Pennsylvania, we lived with only a woodstove for heat. The milk could be left out on the counter overnight, and it would freeze overnight. My daughter was young, from 2 to 7 years old, and the house would drop to 30° on cold winter nights. We’d get the house up to 68 by the time she woke up in the early morning. My daughter used a sleeping bag meant for cold temps along with extra bedding. I used about 4 thick blankets. Let me tell you something, we never got sick - not once actually. She lived her entire childhood, not knowing what being sick was. One time, someone asked her to blow her nose, she didn’t know how to do it. There’s something about letting your house naturally drop to a lower temperature at night that I think either strengthens your immune systems or maybe killed the “bugs”. Idk but I miss that so much. I miss that life. . We couldn’t leave overnight all winter because the pipes would freeze. I miss that life. I’m going to try that again this winter. Nice thing is since we brought our daughter up that way she’s tough as nails and doesn’t even notice the cold. Anyone else have a similar experience?

When I worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant, I would sometimes be asked to warm up blankets in something called a blanket warmer. After placing the warm blanket on a patient, I was then instructed to place another blanket (unwarmed) on top of the first. This kept the patient quite warm by prolonging the warmth of the first blanket.

#1 best idea is the heated mattress pad! We have one with two units so we can both control our sides. We have found that if we turn it on 30 minutes before we turn them on 30 minutes or so before we turn in and climb in it is enough and can turn them off or leave on low, unless it's really cold. We live in Wisconsin in a 104 year old house :)

Honestly, I don’t understand why people get on ‘team hold out’ and refuse to turn the heat on until a certain date on the calendar. We’ve worked hard our entire lives & neither of us likes to be cold….so heat it is. Great information on how to keep warm

My husband grew up with a dad who is a thermostat tyrant. He was always cold. Now I pay the price! He states, “I’m not going to be cold.” He wears wool socks and long underwear, layers, heated mattress pad, space heater, four blankets, pellet burner, and furnace have all been used in October in Iowa already. 😅

I'm retired person from Finland. I have watched your videos for mayby two years. You have helped me to make right decision, helped me to live by my means Previously I was afraid how I can manage to live with my pension. But now, I can manage. Sorry, my english is not so good.

We also live in Illinois and know all too well how cold our winters can get. My husband is 72 and because of health issues, his weight has dropped to 125 lbs with no muscle mass. He freezes in the fall and winter, so when I saw Larry's heated vest. I knew I had to order one. Thank you!

Long underwear, Smart wool socks and an Eden Pure heater are our secret(s)!!! People would come to my home and in spite of having a roaring fire going my friends would complain how cold my house was! My healthcare professional told me that being too cold is not healthy or good for the body. I now turn our heat on as soon as our house gets cold.

After living in China without heat inside a cement block building I can testify the tips Larry & Hope give are useful Fingerless lightweight gloves were so helpful. Also wearing down filled vests inside. Warming bed with electric blanket as it removes the damp from the bed. I unplug it after the preheating because they can be a fire hazard if malfunctions when you are sleeping.

If I work outside in the winter I spray antiperspirant (not deodorant) on my feet. This keeps your feet dry so they don"t get moist and cold. It really works !!!!

After spending almost a whole year in Germany, I've learned to live without air conditioning. German homes don't have AC units, and the furnaces are used sparingly, especially given the current situation. So if you really want to learn how to save money on heating and cooling, ask a German or someone who has lived there for awhile.

When I was growing up we had a lot of power cuts in the UK. My mum filled empty plastic soda bottles with hot water, secured the top and wrapped them in a towel before putting the bottles in our beds. She also sewed a snake draught excluder which she filled with sand. It did its job well and I still have it now.

I lived in a mobile home that was drafty. I was told to go to dollar store and buy the craft foam boards and put them inside the windows to save money. It saved me in winter and summer. Lowered the bill by 20 dollars. Plus heat or air conditioned was either lowered or put higher till i came home. Was not a very pretty solution on outside of home but well worth the money being saved! I ended up putting fancy static cling privacy lace up facing the outside.

I lived with my husband in Eastern Europe for several years and we did block off rooms as suggested here - that is what most of the people we knew there did also. They would all sleep on couches near their fireplace. Our first apartment didn't have a fireplace so we were heating with space heaters and probably keeping it just over 60 degrees. We didn't do an elaborate blocking of the bedrooms, just shut the doors most of the time. My trick for feeling warm was to visit the bedroom every so often and sit in the cold for a minute so it felt warmer when I went back to the heated room. After the apartment we moved to a stone house and I double-layered sweaters and wore a scarf inside when it was particularly cold. I also made a rice bag to microwave to warm up the end of my bed and help my cold feet. Before I was married I lived with 6 roommates and we set the thermostat at 66 in winter, no touching it allowed. Anybody who was too cold wasn't wearing warm enough clothes. We drank lots of tea, had lots of throw blankets, and one roommate who had a little art studio in the garage made a little diy space heater with terracotta flowerpots and a tealight.

Last year I purchased spring tension rods and placed them in my windows. I then would drape a thin panel drape over them to make a two layer air block. I then pulled my drapes across and pinned them closed. I did this at night. In the morning I removed the thin drape, left the rod in place and opened my regular drapes. In my bedroom I placed a fleece blanket over the rod, then the thin drape then pulled close and pinned the drapes over those. What a difference it made @ least 5-10 degrees warmer in my bedroom. I also find wearing socks, a tank top layered under a thin yet comfortable cotton top, long pants, and when watching TV covered in a blanket. I have also used a hooded sweatshirt or wrapped a fleece scarf around my head. Last year I purchased a few small fleece scarves from Dollar Tree and with a quick edging stitch turned a couple into hooded scarves, and another set into a double layer scarf that I can unfold to use as a shawl or fold to have double the warmth. ON YOUR BED remove the sheets layer a comforter or large blanket over your mattress and tuck it in. Replace your sheets and blankets. The extra layer will hold onto your body heat throughout the night allowing you a warm, and cozy night's sleep.

I hung plastic shower curtains then hung my drapes and boy that made a huge difference!

My furnace is off, but I did kick it on for a few hours last Sunday to take the chill out and to make sure all was working well before I really needed it.

Doing house chores! I never stay cold when I vacuum or clean the shower 😀 I heard also about thermic curtains so I'll have to check those out. Also I tend to use more spices during the cold seasons ( I am in Finland ), cinnamon on all thw baked goods and chili, pepper, whatever will bring heat!

Love the heated blankets! And we use old bath mats and towels as draft preventers 🙌

I keep so warm with a scarf!!😊 12 years ago we visited Italy for the first time and it was October. They had such beautiful scarfs for sale and they were affordable too. Lots of the locals had them tied so cute. The gentleman we bought mine from was so gracious and showed me how to tie it a few fashionable ways. I’ve bought many on return trips I’ve become obsessed with them & the beauty & comfort they bring. Great tips you two❤

I bought some wool socks from Darn Tough in Vermont. Guaranteed for life and they are fabulous!! I keep my thermostat at 55 in the winter, lots of layers, hat, scarf and sometimes gloves. 9 blankets on the bed and wear a hat to bed as well. Kept the power bills under $125 a month last year.

I have some quality flannel sheets, flannel and fleece jammies, and warm blankets so I am comfortable sleeping with the heat turned down lower at night. The Problem is... I recoil at getting out of bed for work in the morning! I seriously hate having to climb out of my warm nest to the point it's a daily personal battle. Thanks for these really useful tips! And I haven't yet turned the furnace on here in Michigan, but I did take advantage of some seasonal sales and purchased 4 new furnace filters 😊 -Julie

We don't have a furnace/boiler/heating system just really good insulation. Our floors, walls, ceilings, doors, windows, roof are all insulated. We wear thermal fleece clothing, slippers and heat our home with one wood stove. We open the windows for 5 minutes each and every hour to air the house.

I love these tips. We got two sides of our house re-sided and as they were taking the old stuff off, they found that there was no or disintegrating insulation. They put insulation in as they were putting the new siding up and those rooms are soo much warmer. I also have a space heater that I will turn on in my office, before turning on the heat. I also wear socks and slippers and have scarves and hoodies all around, so if I get a little chilly, I can add the scarf. My doggies also don't mind having blankets draped over them, so that is one way to keep them warm 🙂

Small gravel is great to fill (under filled so it conforms to the space) the door draft tubes and it stays in place easier, plus if they get wet they are less likely to mold. The heater bags can be filled with all types of dried beans as well. If you don't have a microwave to heat up the heater bags, use a crock pot to warm them up.

I'm crocheting blankets as Christmas gifts. While I make them, they keep me warm too! Totally with you on keeping feet warm, I can cope with most things if my feet are warm. Hand knitted socks and some good slipper boots keep my feet toasty and gets rid of that gap at the bottom of my trousers.

I have never tried those heated socks, but I must confess that since my sons have grown up and moved out I can quite often be found at home wearing my son's old "hockey socks." I live in eastern Ontario in Canada and winters are cold! If my feet are warm, the rest of me is happier.

Growing up, basically off the grid, we never turned the furnace above 55 and used a wood stove. When getting ready for bed we had an old fashioned bed warming pan between the sheets. As an adult I keep the furnace as low as my husband can tolerate and I wear long underwear, woolen thigh highs, wool skirts or dresses with sweater vest and cardigan with a pretty scarf. Also I bought a Norsari last year and love it

Love these ideas! I also like to serve "stick to your bones" meals in cold weather. They seem to help us feel warm and cozy.

Instead of rice bags, we make corn bags with dried feed corn. We'll buy a 50-pound bag of corn from the feed store. I prefer to winow and rinse the corn, to get the dusty stuff off it. Then I dry it in a warm oven, on baking sheets. We have some heavy cotton canvas that sews into 8 by 10 inch bags. Add 4 cups of dried corn and sew them shut. Useful with or without a little pillowcase, but the washable cotton pillowcase keeps the bag clean. One to 2 minutes in the microwave. You can also make a long narrow one for around your neck, and a back pad, a rectangle with channels in it, to hold the corn in place. The important thing before you sew the thing, is to make sure it will fit in your microwave, to heat up. I used to buy a 50-pound bag of corn for a bit over $5. I think now it's almost ten. But cheaper than rice. I admit a rice bag, (always use white rice, not brown) holds the heat a bit longer, but costs more to fill. When was made however many corn bags we need, we throw the rest of the corn out under the pine tree on cold days. Squirrels love it.

The flannel filled bag in the microwave is great, but you have to make sure the fabric you use is flame-retardent, other wise they can start on fire in your microwave 😊

Read about this online a couple years ago. Get bubble wrap and cut it to fit the window, usually one piece for top and a second piece for bottom half. Spray with water the side that you will press against the window. That should make it stick there all winter if you did it right. There are KZfaq videos online about this. Another idea is get drapes or even a shower curtain to hang in doorways if you don't have a door to close off a room (like a hallway or kitchen). I got a spring rod, a thick shower curtain and shower curtain hooks to hook onto the spring rod to hang in the doorway. I do that for any doorways leading into the living room as I stay in the living room the majority of the day. If you are still cold, get a space heater just for living room and then turn it off when you go to bed. You won't need the central heat on during the day if you do this.

Ventilation is vitally important in order to avoid mould. I’ve not been able to heat my house hardly at all the past three winters. But no mould. I’ve done it by diligent window opening, having a breeze always going through. Strategically having one room I can be in that is not blowing through. Then a different day switching rooms so it gets changed around. I’m spoiled because the house is big enough to do this, but that is what I had to do to be an to afford to keep the place! Electric blanket was the best thing I ever bought. Keeping me alive in my one not draughty room. And managed to pay the mortgage and electric bill. Not sure about this winter because the standing charge has gone up, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t use any power, the cost has gone up!

Remember the old time beds with curtains around them? Those curtains were to keep the heat in I believe.

I'm almost finished knitting an afghan to use while watching TV.

When we lived in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, one of the ways we saved on energy was putting heated mattress pads on the beds. We plugged them into timers so they turned on an hour before bedtime and shut off about an hour after bedtime. Hopping into a warm bed enabled us to turn the heat way down during the night.

Programming our thermostats here in southern Maine is very helpful; makes it easier to save energy and money, similar to the way cruise control improves gas mileage on your car. We have 3 zones in our house, and program each one differently according to how much and when we use each one. Also, lots of Mainers use wood stoves.

Larry I am so glad to see you seeming like you feel a lot better! I know Hope is making you walk the line and do everything you're supposed to lol! Take care both of you! Joyce

Great tips all around. I am very fortunate to have radiant heat in my floors. I love it, the house was built in '57 and the whole subdivision has radiant heat downstairs and hot water registers up stairs. I don't use the upstairs anymore so I only keep enough heat going so the pipes don't freeze. I have a 3 season sun room with an electric heater (looks like a little wood stove) and I spend the better part of the day out there crafting. I try to keep the thermostat around 68 which is fine because I'm plenty warm in the sun room. The house is heated with gas by the way. I think I will ask Santa for a puffy vest though and maybe even an electric throw, although wrapped in a quilt for TV watching is comfy too. Thanks for sharing and y'all have a Blessed day.

Please be cautious when running a space heater in regards to fire hazards and also some of them can easily double or triple your electric bill. Also I have found that running a humidifier helps to keep the heat inside our home longer

I discovered heated throws a few years ago and love them. I bought the Sunbeam brand and am pleased with that brand. I eventually bought four of them - two for me and two for my cat. They are machine washable and should be air dried. There are three heating settings, and the heat control automatically shuts off after three hours which is a nice safety feature.

For toasty feet I use an old pair of fur lined mukluks that developed holes in the heel so they are no longer good for walking in the snow, but great for keeping my perpetually cold winter feet warm in the house. They were pricey, from Manitobah Mukluks (tall Snowy Owl, rated -25F) so I'm glad I'm able to get more life out of them.

One more cold weather idea. I use a bed jacket at night. (A short robe). That keeps the upper part of my body warm when the blankets slip down.

When I was a kid in Pennsylvania, my dad kept the thermostat at 46 (the lowest setting) all winter! Just warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing! 46, plus cold showers 🥶 We wore hats, scarves, gloves, coats, etc, in the house, even to bed. And often the 7 of us all slept squished in the living room for more warmth.

By not turning the heater on, it sometimes makes the home damp. I go to the dollar store and buy about 10 boxes of moisture absorber. Not only does it take some dampness out of your home but it also makes it less cold. If that makes sense

Where I live the city provides free you fill sandbags and sand for flood control. You can use the sand to fill tubes of fabric to stop drafts in windows and doors plus of course, do flood control. I used to live in a cabin with just a woodstove for heat, we would fill jars with hot water and put them under the covers to pre warm the beds. We'd remove the jars when we got into bed. I also would put my clothes on a chair next to the bed and get dressed under the covers.

I keep my thermostat at 55 degrees just to keep the pipes from freezing. I bought a heated vest and socks last winter. I dress in layers and have a small electric blanket on my couch for my pets and use an electric mattress pad for 15 mins before going to bed. Thr mattress pad is a game changer and keeps me warm the entire night with my down comforter.

We bought insulated shoe inserts and put them in our house slippers. Helps so much keeping the tootsies warm.

Yes to the heated throw. I bought one each for my neice and nephew . They really loved them. Now I need to get myself one. Larry and Faith TFS all your tips and tricks. ❤😂

Three cats that like to sit with you, provide lots! Of heat!😊

The best gift my parents ever bought me was an electric blanket when I was 11 years old, as I frequently could not fall asleep due to feeling cold in bed, despite having a hot water bottle. I’ve never been without one since and always recommend them to friends, who always say it’s the best thing they’ve ever bought!

Love your videos, many great ideas to help us be comfortable at little expense. Larry, you are so "coming" back from your accident. I can see a big difference when you first came back to do videos and now. Keep up the good work. Thanks again for all the work you do to put these very informative videos together. Liz

From the U.K. my added ideas are. If you have old duvet's. Make door curtains with them. I have covered mine with nice fabric. Buy a roll of quilted metal insulation, attach to cardboard and fit behind radiators. When you boil your kettle for hot drinks, place any remaining boiled water in a flask and use for future hot drinks, washing up bowl for dishes, to strip wash and negate having to use your hot water from your tank.

We love our electric blankets. Even when the furnace is on, we turn it way down at night and use our blankies. They’re so economical, and I love sleeping in a cool room all bundled up

I don't go by date I go by outside temperature. Weve had cold temps already (below 40) here in upstate NY but next week it will get warmer hitting 70's. As far as baking. I haven't cooked in the oven all summer, now is when I roast dinners, bake and make long cooking soups, so the kitchen is always warm at night. And I always use my elec blanket, previously using an elec mattress pad, when I'm cold I can't sleep. ps One tip Id like to share is that I hang a heavy curtain in front of my back door, floor to ceiling. It has a glass window, faces north, and I rarely use it in winter. The whole door is cold and drafty. I use an extendable shower rod so no drilling involved.

Always look forward for your hints as well as just a very comforting couple to watch. I have other things I do. I love anything that is a double win. I only do baking in winter, and I like to do this when is early cold or late evening cold. I sometimes do crock pot cooking at night which provides a warmer kitchen to get up to. Temperature turned way down at night. I save on baking bread and making neat desserts, as well as warming the house up cozier on frosty mornings. Also, found crock pot adds much needed moisture to house which I learned in nursing school helps ward off infections in throat and lungs. Summer brings an entirely different lifestyle with time spent in the garden and using very little bread with minimal baking. Lots of windows open. By the way, I think that window being down at top accidentally is a recent thing with the newer windows. I just discovered one in grandson's room, and it was about the size Hope demonstrated. The old windows in my old house just did not do that. I love your versatile no nonsense approach to saving with so many subjects covered. i tire of channels that only concentrate on grocery savings..

Here in Ireland we tend to use hot water bottles a lot. Most houses are well insulated but it still gets cold during the winter months often a few degrees below freezing during the coldest peroid. I find using my hairdryer to quickly wrm my bed is effective also. Great tips thank you

I'm sure going to enjoy the wood 🔥 stove I made three years ago. I'm reading all the comments while it's getting going. I went to the truss company this afternoon and got a pickup load of free wood cut offs that they have to pay to have hauled off. I'm unloading it so I can go get another load tomorrow. It's already the right size. I does cost about a gallon of gas to go get the wood. I'm going over to my uncle's place to get some small trees cut up that I cut down two years ago. Total cost, less than ten bucks. I found out today that the average utility bill is $550 here. I had to get two new batteries for the off grid power system this month.($ 260) I went to a better battery than I have been using the last four years, gradually replacing them as they go bad. The twenty a're showing 25.4 volts at 2:30 a.m. Full charge is 25.8v, so they charge up by nine thirty in the morning. I have plenty of power and heat. This winter is the first that I'll have the wind generator in addition to 1600 watts of solar panels. The sun will be less, but Im hoping the wind will make up for that. Now I can cook some on the wood stove and save my propane.

Its condensation season so remember to turn on your heating on low for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. Make sure you keep the house well ventilated too and don't dry clothes indoors where possible. This will reduce mold and expensive damage to your property.

We used our closed off room as a food pantry. Since a cool and dark area is best for food storage, it is perfect.

Last winter in Maine we only ran the furnace 2 days when it was down to 10 above and very windy. Our heat pump kept us toasty warm and once we learned how to set it, the electric bill was about the same as using the oil burning forced air furnace, plus we used very little oil ... oh, it's on heat mode now.

I live in an old drafty house and finding ways to stay warm without keeping the heat cranked wide open is a must. I wear a lot of fleese lined clothes, fleese socks and use insulated shoe insoles. I use a heated throw blanket on the couch and a heated blanket for the bed. The electric blanket uses far less energy than the space heater I used to use in my bedroom and I am much warmer.

We are in SC, but we've had an actual fall this year! We haven't used the heat though! We are having 40° nights. Just open the curtains and blinds open to let the sun warm things during the day and layering clothes. It's been so cozy❤.

In the early 1970s I was freezing at a hundred year old barracks in Cheyenne WY. My mother sent me an electric blanket and it saved me.

An extra blanket ontop of your bottom sheet in pinch works eonders..

Weighted blankets are pretty cheap now and add warmth as well. I found this out by using one all year long. 😊

Great tips! In regard to drapes and curtains, for some reason a lot of homes are designed with the heat vents underneath the windows. Depending on how far away from the wall your curtain rod extends, and the length of your drapes, heat from your furnace could just going up to the inside of the drapes and warming the window area but not making it out to the rest of the room. Yeah I know it sounds like a no-brainer, but I've seen several people's homes with beautiful floor-length curtains hanging in front of the dang heat vent! (Yeah, it was idiotic). So hem the curtains, or drape them in a way to ensure they're not blocking air. You can also purchase (or MacGyver diy) an air vent deflector to get that warm air to flow where it's needed. Also consider the way that your furniture is placed in the room, since that can affect airflow from your heat vents as well.

Years ago, when I moved into a 70 yr old home....with 70 yr old windows...for winter...I applied this stuff called shrink wrap. I couldn’t afford brand new windows at that time and this shrink wrap for winter was a life saver for keeping the cold OUT and heat bill down. It basically has a two sided tape to put on the frame of the window, then you put the plastic...almost cellophane wrap on....put a hair dryer to it...and it shrinks to fit the window...and keeps ALL wind/cold out. It's clear so sun can still come through. And it is fairly cheap. I believe Lowe's hardware still carries this product. Well worth the 10 minutes per window to put on. I still laugh at the time the electric company came out and replaced the meter on my house because they thought I was stealing electricity 😅 The meter guy was loooking at me like he had a real thief on his hands 🤣 Ha...with the new meter I even lowered my bill.😏 I too have a goal of funance turn on ....November 1st. I just placed all new filters in the house yesterday. Great show of suggestions!!! I've never used a heated mattress pad🤔 I might have to try that this year.

For draft dodgers I use polar fleece remmants that you roll up and tie with ribbon or shoestrings

We live in the New Hampshire woods. Although we have a furnace, we never have to use it. We heat with wood, our home is south facing and well insulated.

I live on the Central Coast in California, and I turned on the heat for awhile yesterday morning just to take the chill off. We actually could see our breath outside!

I'm cutting firewood tomorrow. I just got home from the truss company, I have a pickup load of short pieces of pine 2x4s.

I’ve made rice bags for years! Since I tend to use cotton I only heat for up to 30 seconds at a time to prevent burning. This year I made small palm sized ones for my hubby to stick in his pockets, especially when out shoveling the snow. So excited to use them this year! We have to keep our house at 55-60 through winter because of oil costs. 😅 so definitely going to be investing in some heated jackets for my family. I’m the penguin, so a good sweater and wool socks is all I need, but for the rest!!! ❤

Flannel sheets on the bed

Thanks Larry and Hope for sharing your ideas which seems to spark more ideas from the community on this channel. I read through all the comments which had a lot more ideas on how to stay warm without turning on the furnace. This community is generous with ideas that are also very thrifty.

Good video! I would add to have pants with elastic at ankles and shirts the same, foam liners for outlets and switches, fingerless gloves where appropriate, locks on windows to be sure they are completely closed, door sweep weatherstripping, using sleeping bags for younger kids, onesies (if you can tolerate them) for everyone to sleep in or just around the house, down filled or sherpa lined ankle high slippers over socks, keep a kettle of water on the wood stove for hot water & steam or better yet a pot of soup stock.

My husband prefers the cold and I prefer warmer temps. I have a small ceramic heater I have on the end table next to where I sit. It keeps me comfortable but doesn't put off so much heat that it bothers him. If the temperature is extremely cold I wear some Cuddle Duds under my clothes. They are soft and thin and really keep me warm.

A heated mattress pad works so much better than a heated blanket. I turn mine on an hour or so before I crawl into bed on a setting of 2 or 3, it warms the mattress and blankets (I keep a comforter on to help hold in the heat), I turn it down to the lowest setting then and am comfortable all night, sometimes I even turn it off during the night.

What a great gift your e-books would be for wedding and shower gifts. Giving newlyweds a head start with your knowledge is invaluable.

When I was in college I lived in a house that was kept a bit chilly to save on the heating bill. When I got too cold, I would take my lab for a run around the block. We both got some exercise and I got warmed up and stayed comfortable for quite awhile. Just getting up and dancing or rebounding or doing jumping jacks can warm you up.

What a lovely couple! And thanks for all the hints and tips.

When we lived in North Dakota in a home that was dual fuel equipped (fuel oil and electric), we could not afford the fuel oil, so we kept our house at 60 degrees. When they turned off the heat to allow for the dual fuel to save energy we used plugged in electric heaters during that time. Essentially using electric heat in a large, uninsulated home where it get subzero, snowing a lot. They read our meter 3 times to make sure it was correct, then did not do that again. We do most of the things you are stating to keep warm. Still doing it now that we are living in Montana, a state we love. Blessings from Eastern Montana.

I place a folded wool blanket across the foot of my bed. Folded, it provides several layers that keep my feet toasty warm.

I bought an entire roll of foil batt at a fabric shop. It’s like the foil survival blankets sewn between 2 quilt batt layers. I made quilts with this and drapes with the foil batt too. I am going to make draft stop snakes stuffed with the foil batt scraps. Foil batt makes great socks too.

Much of this video really depends on your location. If you live in northern Maine, you have to fire up the wood stove (if you have one), and at least fire up your furnace too. If not you will have frozen pipes and just generally be miserably cold for the whole long winter (even with all these tips and tricks) and being chronically cold is terrible for your physical and mental health.

We redid our floors and put radiant heat mats down and then put ceramic tile down ….no need to use heater here….gets very hot. We just unplug ours in the living room! My 84 yr old momma has a separate unit in her room and she stays nice and toasty❤

I made behind my curtains, crocheted curtains made from left over yarn. I have small nails at top of windows then made loops on top of the crocheted curtains and hang them up. Super easy and uses scrap yarn up

Last couple of years I've picked up "32 Degree Heat" long under pants, under shirts, vest and jacket at COSTCO. The pants and tops go for about $9.99 for 2 and the vest was $12.99 and the jacket approx $20. They work VERY WELL!

I love listening to your ideas I have always tried to keep my bills low. I have a satin and fake fur blanket that I love to use when I put the fur side down it keeps my body nice and warm and if I put it on the satin side it keeps me a little less warm