When I worked as an auditor in Orlando, Florida, I’d sometimes spend 12 to 14 hours a day in the office.
During the winter, I whittled my electric bill down to $35 a month by leaving the heat off while I worked. As soon as I entered my freezing apartment, I cranked up the thermostat to 80 °F (27 °C), stripped down to my undies, flopped on the couch, and stuffed my face with Cheez-Its.
Those carefree, winter nights of frolicking around sans pants with cracker crumbs on my chest ended when I relocated to an affordably priced place in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
Although I save a ton of cash by dwelling in a small residence where electric and gas utilities fold into the rent, the property manager controls indoor temperatures. Unfortunately, my landlord thinks temps in the high 60s/low 70s °F is plenty warm enough. It’s not.
That's the secret to staying warm.
If you want to slash your heating bill this winter, the trick is quite simple: Turn the heat down. Just make sure you have the proper garments handy to throw on so that you don’t freeze your butt cheeks off.
With the holiday sales season nipping at our heels, now’s the perfect time to stock up on indoor winter wear.
Here’s what you need.
Down Comforter
An artificial feather filled comforter changed my life.
Snuggle under a thick blanket, and you might be able to turn your heat completely off. On some cold nights, I have to tear the covers off of me when I break out in sweats. For about $65, you can snag a comfy down alternative duvet from Amazon that’ll last winter after winter.
Socks
I’m talking about big, thick fuzzy socks–the uglier, the better.
Nothing ruins a middle-of-the-night refrigerator raid like the feeling of ice cold flooring on the soles of your feet.
Try socks with reinforced soles for extra grip to keep from slipping and busting your rump on non-carpeted areas.
Fleece
When you crawl out from under your down comforter, you’ll need something to keep you warm. That’s wear fleece comes in. It’s so soft, and it feels so good on the skin.
A few years ago, I snagged a set of pink, fleece pajamas for less than eight bucks from the internets. They’re too wide and too short for my size, but they’re one of my most prized bargain buys.
If you’re the kind of person who can’t sleep in, um, clothes, make sure you have a set of fleece pajamas handy that you can quickly throw on as soon as you get out of bed.
Fingerless Gloves
With the advent of smartphones and tablet computers, the art of “going to sleep” has been transformed.
At bedtime, you switch off the television, say goodnight to your Facebook friends, shut down your laptop, then fiddle around with your smartphone or tablet computer until you pass out from exhaustion.
Wear fingerless gloves, to keep your hands warm and pliable for typing, texting, and web maneuvering. You could accomplish the same objective with regular gloves or you could accomplish the same objective with regular gloves and a stylus pen.
Wool Hat
Although scientists have largely debunked the myth that we lose the majority of our body heat through our head, that sucker is attached to our body and we can’t ignore it. Trap warmth into your dome by pulling on a wool cap.
Yeah . . . so . . . basically, you should dress like the homeless people you see in Hollywood movies if you want to keep warm in the winter.
What do you wear in the winter to stay warm?
Shawanda Greene is a free thinking, frugal gal whose only vices are boxed wine, lip balm and money grubbing. You can find more of Shawanda's musings at 
Along with dressing in more layers, adding layers to your home works as well. We do the plastic window kits, foam insulators on the outlets on outside walls, and weatherstripping around doors. The first year we spent $50 on supplies and saved more than $100 in heating costs! We were able to leave the items up for two years (and saved on the cooling costs in the summer too).
The Dollar Tree has some AWESOME socks right now. They had the fleecey,winterey ones that are $5 on SALE at Kmart, and they had some with the grippies on the bottom, so you don’t slide across the floor. LOVE THEM!
My favorite purchase has been an electric mattress pad. No more jumping into a cold bed.
We keep the heat pretty low and all always walk around in sweatshirts and layers. The fire place I installed though definitely keeps it warm in the family room, so that helps!