Skip to main content

Winterizing Your Home on a Budget- Week 3

Winterizing Your Home on a Budget
Week 3


Winter has arrived and trying to keep your home warm is quite the challenge.  If you are not planning
on how to heat your home efficiently then you are planning on failing at the job.  


Just think about it. If you are heating your home to 70 degrees and it is 20 degrees outside then you
will be heating the outside and your furnace will run non-stop resulting in higher heating bills.  


This series is geared towards simple things you can do to help eliminate heat from escaping and
keep your heating bills in check while on a budget.  


This week’s focus is on the Outside of the House.  


Look at your window frames.  Do they have visible cracks?  If so, seal them inside and out.
Caulking Cord cost $10.55 for a roll that should take care of your entire house.  This is easy to install
and can be painted to match your home.
Check your exterior for holes around your vents, faucets and other connections to the inside of your
home with spray foam insulation.   All holes regardless of size (large/small) need to be sealed. Not
only does it help to insulate your home from the bitter winds and cold of winter, but also from bugs
entering into your home walls during the winter months.  The spray foam insulation runs about
$11.00, but go to your local hardware store and talk with the experts to ensure that you get the right
product for the job.
Clean out your gutters.  A house’s gutter system is extremely important because it keeps water from
running down the side of your home and into your foundation which can cause erosion and moisture
inside your home.  Cleaning your gutters becomes even more important when you have trees close
to your home. Eventually I would like to install a gutter system, but that is not in the budget this year
my friends.  


Drain and put away all your hoses and winterize your irrigation system.  This will help to prevent
cracking and leaking situations in the spring. Your hoses will be protected from splitting and
becoming useless in the spring.  
Keep tree limbs trimmed away from your home because it could damage your roof and help small
animals like squirrels to climb onto your room and chewing.


If you have any suggestions on how to maintain your furnace’s efficiency, please leave a comment
below.  

Hit the subscribe button and never miss a post.  There are more tips to come for winterizing your
home.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Black Bean and Corn Salad--> $0.44 per Serving

  Black Bean and Corn Salad This recipe comes from Pennies & Pancakes.   Unfortunately, this blog is no longer active, so I am not sure how much longer we will have access to her recipes.    Here is the link:   Black Bean and Corn Salad.   Therefore, I am repeating her recipe below, because it is just that good.  Makes 7 Cups  Ingredients:  2 15 oz. cans low-sodium black beans (drained and rinsed) 1 15 oz. can sweet whole kernel corn (drained and rinsed) 1 red bell pepper (diced) 1/3 cup red onion (finely diced) 2 scallions (finely diced) 2 cloves garlic (minced) 1/3 cup diced cilantro 2 Tbsp. lime juice (Or the juice of 2 limes) 1 tsp salt *opt. 1 small jalepeno (minced) Directions:  Open and rinse both the black beans and the whole-kernel corn.   Then place them into a bowl.  Next, cut up the pepper and onion.   Add it to the bowl.  Finely chop the cilantro and scallions,  and mince the garlic to add t...

The Frugal Five: #49

  The Frugal Five: #49 With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     .          1- Haircut Savings Since haircuts are $30 per cut plus tip, each time my husband asks me to cut his hair, I am happy to.    This is a huge saving!   He gets his hair cut every other week, so on average, we save $60 per month on just his haircuts.    2- Beverages from Home  Each day I make coffee and take a travel mug with me to work.   In addition, I make homemade tea to pack for my lunch.    Since Starbucks’ coffee prices have gone up, my daily savings for my daily coffee has increased to about $5.75 per day.    In addition, sodas at work run about $2.00 per...

The Frugal Five: #46

  The Frugal Five: #46 With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     This week I focused on garden frugal ideas and savings.  Gardens take a lot of work and can take a chunk of cash.   Let's see how we can keep the price down and get the same results.          1- Free Seeds  How can we get free seeds and when do we start planting for the spring?   Previously, I was able to pick up seeds from my local library through a seed-sharing program.   However, since we moved, my local library doesn’t participate in this type of program.     Therefore, I looked for other opportunities to secure free seeds.   I found the Free Seed Project.  Through this ...