I am rehashing some of my old posts from another of my blogs looking for my own tips to stay warm, lol, thought y’all might like it too, this is by far one of the coldest winters I remember and it started early. Keeping warm works for me this Wednesday.

“how to stay warm when it is really cold without spending a fortune?”

that was the question on a list I am on,  my response is below, thought y’all might enjoy it too

we live in a big old 170 year old farm house, so you can guess it might be hard to heat. Half of the windows are good the others have single pane and storm windows. Our heat source is a nice big wood stove, no central unit. We have 5 or 6 small room heaters with fans that are used when it gets really cold, but not often, when they are used it is in a bedroom with the door closed at night or in the bathroom with the door closed for showers. They are not left on all day, only for each use. Usually it is just the wood heat with a big pan of water on top, humidity is warmer than dry air, much warmer.

other tips

• put towels or something in front of all doors at the floor and in the windows where ever you feel a draft
• vent your dryer inside and do your wash before going to bed and stick it in the dryer first thing in the morning
• put lotion on when you get out of the shower
• boil a pan of water in the kitchen for a bit to warm it up
• try to only use electric blankets to warm the bed before you get in, if you sleep with it on, you will freeze the whole next day!
• eat lots of beans or chili or soup or stew spicy or with hot peppers, it really works!
• drink something warm, I love hot water with lemon in it, learned from my grandma
• cook a turkey! we are expecting snow today and I have one of my stockpiled turkeys thawed and waiting!
• for those with wood heat, bring in your firewood in BIG bundles, going in and out too many times lets the heat out and the cold in
• shut down the wood stove at night for a slow burn
• of you don’t have a blower on your wood stove , put a box fan BEHIND it
• if you turn down your thermostat a degree per day you will actually get used to the colder weather better
• and wear long johns!

I will let you know if I think of more, oh yeah, I have a book around here somewhere about making some sort of blind for your windows, they would cut a big piece of foam or that insulation stuff that is solid and decorate it with fabric or wallpaper or something and put it in the windows when it got really cold, it was cut to fit the window, so if you had a 2×4 foot window it was 2×4 foot and completely covered the glass. I guess you could use them at night or in rooms you shut off. I gotta have light!