Brace yourself — winter is here.
Sure, the snow might be a nice change of scenery, but with the cold comes the increased heating bill. For renters and homeowners, especially poor college students, the money starts to add up.
People don't want to be stuck in the cold, especially indoors, but it seems choices are limited when saving money. Still, it doesn't have to be a one-or-the-other scenario.
The obvious solution if you do have to pay is to try and cut down on heating costs. Although they might bump up your electricity bill, items such as electric blankets and space heaters could help cut gas costs.
Right now it would be hard to go out and put solar paneling outside an apartment or rental home, but there are easier ways to cut down on energy costs this winter.
A good first step is to go around the apartment or house and search for drafts. These drafts make your thermostat work harder to keep the place warm, driving up the bill in the process. The most common places for these leaks — the bottom of doors and around windows — can be fixed for a small fee or by purchasing a plastic window insulation kit.
Other simple precautions include keeping the drapes and blinds open to let sunlight in or turning the thermostat down a few degrees while you're in class or away from the apartment.
Although it's annoying to have to pay these prices to keep warm, the costs, in the end, might help.
Amid rising gas prices and Hurricane Katrina wiping out some U.S. natural oil supplies, there's still some good coming out of the oil shortages.
The only way to make people care about alternative fuels is to hurt their wallets. Natural gas prices are unlikely to go down soon, which might speed up research and development on alternate sources of energy.
Renewed interest in research on wind, solar and thermal energy, as well as furthered development on alternative fuel for cars seem to be stemming from the rising costs.
In the meantime, it's not too difficult for renters — even poor college students — to save a bit of money on keeping their places warm.
