7 Ways to Make Your Home Warmer ...

This goes without saying, but it's actually really important. Make sure that all your doors and windows are firmly shut, for starters. That includes doors to the attic as well as doors to the outside. A single crack can let in a lot of cold air, so make sure everything shut securely.

If you have hard floors, whether they're hardwood, tile, vinyl, or linoleum, keeping them covered can really help. Most of our floors are hardwood, with vinyl in the kitchen and gorgeous, freezing cold tiles in the bathroom. Stepping out of the bed or the bathtub onto freezing floors is enough to ruin my whole day – but some well placed rugs, small ones or area rugs, can really help.

Sometimes you have to do the job yourself. Like, the Better Half likes to walk around in as little clothing as possible, and while the view is just lovely, that gets cold, too. Instead, when you're done for the day and ready to relax, just layer up: socks, slipper, warm pajama pants, long sleeved shirts. And when you go outside, if the temperatures have really dropped, try some thermals – shirts and long johns!

What? Well, yeah! If there are any cracks underneath any of your doors, that can let in a lot of cold air as well. All you have to do, however, is stuff some towels or blankets beneath your doors to keep out the chill. Rugs just inside the door can work as well, or you can make door cozies that slide into the space beneath them but still allow you to easily open and close your doors.

Some doors and windows are neither insulated nor weather proofed. That can be an enormous pain in the butt, but it's rather easy to fix. Go to any home improvement store, and you can by DIY plastic insulation. All you have to do is stretch it over windows and around doors, and then you apply it with a hair dryer. The hot air makes it stick, and voila! Your doors and windows are properly sealed!

The myth about space heaters is that they use a lot of energy – and that used to be true. Yes, they still use extra electricity, but not as much as you might think. A small, energy efficient space heater doesn't cost a lot, and it will heat up your room in about half an hour or less, so you don't even have to run it for a very long time. At the same time, though, you don't have to freeze.

Most people lock their windows as a matter of course, but sometimes, you just don't bother. They may not be accessible, may be located on a high floor, and so on. However, by locking even those windows, you can seal your windows enough to keep out the cold – and that doesn't even cost anything!

There are tons of ways to stay warm during the winter, and you don't have to spend a lot of money to do so. A lot of these options beat walking around with gloves and mittens, even inside. How do you keep warm when it's freezing cold outside?

Top Photo Credit: mturnage