7 Tips to Save Big This Winter

Furnace Fixes

En español | Changing filters at least every three months saves you 4 to 6 percent on heating costs and prolongs your furnace’s life. Properly sealing and insulating ductwork can save even more.

Up in Smoke

Install a simple, inflatable chimney balloon (about $50) to keep warm air from escaping up the chimney when a fireplace is not in use. The device decreases heat loss more than just closing the damper.      

No Crock

Use a slow cooker, which typically consumes only a penny or two of electricity per hour, to turn inexpensive ingredients such as tougher cuts of meat into freezable batches of home-cooked meals.

Fragrant Draft Detectors

Place lit, smoky incense sticks near windows and doors. If the smoke moves, you have a leak. Seal with caulking.

It’s a Wrap

Insulate out-of-the-way windows by misting the inside glass with water and applying a piece of Bubble Wrap to the pane, bubble side against the glass. It sticks all winter, peels off and can cut heat loss from an uninsulated window in half.

AARP Offer: Protect Your Money, Grow Your Nest Egg

Take advantage of great information and tools to help build your future and prevent your money from going down the drain. Join AARP and start saving for your dreams today.

Hot Covers

If you live where wintertime is still pool time, install an inexpensive solar pool cover. This helps heat the water for free, reduces loss through evaporation and makes pool chemicals last longer.

Extra Cash

Try the 52-Week Money Challenge. Set aside just $1 the first week, $2 the next week, $3 the third and so on, until the final week, when you’re banking $52. By the end of one year, you’ll have a total of $1,378 saved!

View More Slideshows

• The best ways to spend $100
• Frugal habits of the rich and famous
  
• 10 common spending regrets
• Where to find the lowest prices
• 10 easy DIY home improvement fixes

Discover great deals and savings with AARP membership