With temperatures in the single digits, shortage of propane and firewood, and the electric company asking us to conserve energy, it is all we can do to stay warm. How about stay warm and not paying an arm and a leg for it? MSN  has 14 tips to help lower your heating bills this season...

Low-cost fixes
So you've put the easiest, and free, ideas to work. Now you can really make a dent in that heating bill with one cheap trip to a hardware store (Home Depot, for example, has all of the items below) and a few hours of work

Block that leak!
The small gaps surrounding windows, doors and other areas in the American house, taken together, are like a 9-square-foot hole in the wall, according to EarthWorks Group's "30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do to Save the Earth." Plugging them can save you up to 10% on that heating bill, and the materials will pay for themselves within a year, ACEEE says.

First, find the leaks: On a windy day, hold a lit incense stick to the most common drafty areas: chimney flashing, recessed lighting, sill plates, window and door frames, all ducts and flues and electrical outlets.

Buy door sweeps ($3-$10) to close spaces under exterior doors, and caulk ($2-$5 per roll, plus a $10 caulk gun) or tacky rope caulk to block those drafty spots around window frames. Apply weather-stripping ($3-$6 for up to 17 feet) to movable joints. Outlet gaskets ($10 for 10) can easily be installed in electrical outlets in a home's outer walls, where cold air often enters.

Keep your ducts in a row
A home that uses ductwork to move heated air can lose up to 60% of that air before it reaches the vents if the ducts are poorly connected, not well insulated and travel through unheated spaces such as the attic or crawlspace, says the government. "If you are a halfway savvy do-it-yourselfer, and your ductwork and heating and air-conditioning equipment are in the attic, you can do an awful lot to fix your system, at low cost," says Sachs.

First, look for obvious places in the attic, basement or in crawlspaces where ducts have become disconnected. Reconnect them, and fix places where pipes are pinched, which impedes flow of heated air to the house, says the Department of Energy's Ryan.

Fix remaining gaps with tape, but don't use traditional duct tape, which deteriorates; instead, use metal-backed tape ($6-$10 per roll) or aerosol sealant. Where possible, wrap the ducts' exterior with special duct insulation ($8-$12 for 15 feet). Though the cost will be substantially more, it's a good idea to get a professional to help insulate ducts when electrical wires or lighting fixtures are nearby.

Erie is back in single digits! With temperatures so cold, there is a lot we have to worry about- don't make bursting pipes one of them. Here are some tips to keep those pipes working from weather.com.

Letting the Water Run

Letting a faucet drip during extreme cold weather can prevent a pipe from bursting. It's not that a small flow of water prevents freezing; this helps, but water can freeze even with a slow flow. Rather, opening a faucet will provide relief from the excessive pressure that builds between the faucet and the ice blockage when freezing occurs. If there is no excessive water pressure, there is no burst pipe, even if the water inside the pipe freezes. A dripping faucet wastes some water, so only pipes vulnerable to freezing (ones that run through an unheated or unprotected space) should be left with the water flowing. The drip can be very slight. Even the slowest drip at normal pressure will provide pressure relief when needed. Where both hot and cold lines serve a spigot, make sure each one contributes to the drip, since both are subjected to freezing. If the dripping stops, leave the faucet(s) open, since a pipe may have frozen and will still need pressure relief.

Going on a Trip

When away from the house for an extended period during the winter, be careful how much you lower the heat. A lower temperature may save on the heating bill, but there could be a disaster if a cold spell strikes and pipes that normally would be safe, freeze and burst. A solution is to drain the water system. This is the best safeguard. With no water in the pipes, there is no freezing. This remedy should be considered even when the homeowner is not leaving but is concerned about a serious overnight freeze. To drain the system, shut off the main valve and turn on every water fixture (both hot and cold lines) until water stops running. It's not necessary to leave the fixtures open, since the system is filled mostly with air at that point and not subject to freezing. When returning to the house, turn on the main valve and let each fixture run until the pipes are full again.

Things can somehow seem messier, dirtier and less organized during the winter months. Here’s how to tackle it in time to leave you feeling fresh for spring.

Tackle organizing closets and clothes
1 Go through all your closets and clothes and divide into keepers and giveaways. If you’re not sure, a good rule of thumb is: if you haven’t worn it in two years and/or it makes you feel guilty, it’s a giveaway. Of the keepers, wash, mend or send those that need it to the dry cleaners.

2 Pair up mitts and stack them neatly where they can be easily accessed without falling into a jumble again; singletons should be thrown out. (If you find the mate later, chalk it up to fate and discard it too.)

3 Clean boots thoroughly and spray with protectant; if they need new lifts or other repairs, take them to the shoe repair shop. Polish and clean shoes; many shoe repair shops sell polish in every colour of the rainbow for nicks and scratches.

Organize your finances
4 A new year is a great time to create, or overhaul, your budget. Create a budget that has flexibility in it (the number-one reason budgets fail is that they are too strict, rather than not strict enough), and resolve to stick to it. There are many good budgeting programs to be found online, and most are free. Plus, being budget-minded will help you achieve more in the upcoming year.

5 Pull your taxes together; if you start now, there will be plenty of time to go after missing receipts and add up deductions. If you have all the slips you need, you can send your return to your accountant earlier, if you use one, and get your refund faster. If you need to wait for certain slips like a T4, at least you’ll be ready and avoid any last-minute roadblocks.

Make appointments
6 Schedule dental checkups and annual visits to the doctor and various specialists (eye doctor, gyno, orthodontist, chiropractor, etc.), if you don’t have an appointment already scheduled.

7 Make an appointment with your financial advisor or bank, to check the health of your RRSP and other investments and make any adjustments.

Kitchen organization
8 If your pots and pans tend to end up in a jumble, perhaps you have too many. Consider a more convenient storage system for frequently used pans, such as a hanging rack (or drawer) near where they’re used. Pans that are used less frequently can be stored further away or even in another room.

9 Go through your spices and throw away those that are expired or have just a teeny bit left in the bottom. (A friend of mine labels her spices with the date she bought them and discards them after six months, which is when most dried spices lose their oomph.) Return them to the rack in alphabetical order, making retrieval much easier.

10 Pull all those cans and boxes of food out of cupboards and reorganize them. (If you’re like me, some things get shoved to the back over time, and you end up with multiples. Who needs three cans of baby corncobs?) If it’s still good but you really are never going to eat it, toss or give to the food bank.

Organize your home office
11 If you do a lot of work at home or make your living there (or even if you don’t), inevitably piles of papers, books and files grow like stalagmites during the year. Now is the time to go through them systematically. File what needs filing, and recycle what doesn’t. Again, if you’re not sure, ask yourself: Do I need it? Will I need it later? Is there a better place for it?

12 While you’re at it, do the same with your computer. Delete old files; empty the trash; store files you want to save on disks or a hard drive, or using one of the new Internet storage facilities such as Dropbox.com or Cloud. Once that’s done, you can give your computer a new lease on life by re-installing the operating system, using the disks that came with the computer. (It will prompt you to either reload the OS while preserving existing files, or wipe the whole thing clean, files and all.)