5 Wise Ways to Keep Warm This Winter

Staying warm this winter doesn’t have to be a challenge! Although cold weather may make you want to relocate to Arizona or Florida, you can stay warm anywhere you live by following these simple tips.

Warm Clothing

Finding clothes for winter to keep you safe and warm is easy with the variety of high-quality thermal clothing available. It’s actually easier to change your body temperature than the temperature of a room. Sometimes it’s as simple as wearing slippers and a hat, although those nights with sub-zero weather often require long underwear. Simply adding another layer does the trick as well.

Heating and Ventilation Systems

Checking your heating and cooling systems is a preventive practice that will ensure your home stays warm. Heating and cooling systems do wear down over time, and it’s possible that an HVAC system or filter will become dirty and inefficient. Some basic tips to keep your home warm include getting the HVAC system regularly checked for maintenance and installing a programmable thermostat. Checking the filters also helps to keep the air clean and keep you and your family healthy. Keeping temperatures consistent throughout the season can keep costs down, as well.

Insulation

Over time, every home’s insulation can break down. Checking windows, door entries, and cracks in the wall are great measures to take when evaluating your home’s overall ability to keep the warm air in and cool air out. Check your attic, the Department of Energy recommends having at least 12 inches of insulation in this area.

Air Circulation

It may seem counterproductive, but turning your ceiling fan on can also help to keep your home warm since hot air rises. Just keep the ceiling fan at a low setting to circulate the warm air from your heating system. Many fans have a switch that reverses the setting, so the fan blades turn the opposite direction, which is more effective in the winter.

Warm Food and No Alcohol

Although alcohol is often considered a way to stay warm, it actually draws blood away from your important internal organs and doesn’t truly make you warmer. Instead, alcohol simply expands your blood vessels, making it seem that you’re warmer, when in fact, your body is working harder to maintain its internal heat. Instead of making a hot toddy or warm liquor drink, consider hot cocoa or some wonderful warm green tea with honey. Don’t forget that warm food can be a great solution. Making spicy chili, warm soup, or cooking something tasty in the oven will warm not only your body temperature but also your home.

Between choosing warm clothing, avoiding alcohol, maintaining your HVAC system, and keeping your home insulated and updated, you can be a toasty and warm household. Always check your HVAC system, load up with socks, hats and warm blankets. Drink tea instead of alcohol this winter. Other effective small things that you can do are to get an electric blanket, use a hot water bottle, or cuddle up with a partner or puppy. With good habits like these, your heating bill doesn’t have to go way up when the temperatures go down.

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Tips For Buying Used Cars At Affordable Prices

Serving as the most popular means of transportation, private cars and vehicles are exceedingly important for every type of person. Regardless of the wide range of makes and models released annually, they generally provide comfort and mobility to its user, with utmost autonomy.

However, purchasing a new car isn’t a no-brainer endeavor, given their prices aren’t suitable for sudden purchases. Thus, you have to think thoroughly about your soonest car purchase. Have you considered buying a used car, though?

Compared to brand new ones, used cars are less pricier and saves you more money. It takes a great deal to find the perfect pre-loved car that’ll get your money’s worth with its reliability and performance, despite the fact that it’s already been used.

Check out this helpful guide on finding the best used car at an affordable price, which caters to any car, especially the Buick GMC:

Make Your Budget Plan

Prior to any big purchase, you should always plan your budget to maximize your finances, see your money’s worth, and prevent financial mistakes along the way.

Your budget plan for a secondhand car should include the initial purchase of your car and an extra “for improvement” budget to keep your car competitive on the road, including some refurbishments, essential car accessories and gadgets, maintenance, and repair. You need to have about 30% more of your initial budget for the “for improvement” budget.

Why should you take note of this tip? Spending all your money only upon the actual car purchase can put you into trouble. Keep in mind that there are other purchases that you should be prepared for, such as car insurance, taxes, and registration.

If you don’t have a huge budget right now, it’s advisable to include your car purchase into your monthly income budget. Every time you receive your salary, prioritize what things need to be prioritized in your budgeting routine, and dispose of the remaining amount onto your car piggy bank.

If you have a larger disposable income, you can follow the 20/10 rule, where 10% percent of your income gets into your loan for your car budget.

Find Numerous Options To Choose From

Whenever you’re shopping and a certain listing catches your attention, don’t immediately settle on it and try to find as many options as you can to help you decide better. Chances are – there are cars that almost have the same features but are cheaper among others, or there are some with better features that can fit in your budget. After having a budget for your secondhand car, research extensively on all the options you can grasp.

To be more specific, a helpful guide in picking your options are:

• Assess your needs: This includes the type of driving you do, how many passengers you carry on a regular basis, and what convenient and safety features you need from a car.

• Start with the cheapest: Initially, dedicate your hunt for the cheapest ones from any accessible market from you, which will be discussed on the latter part, and work your way up. Start eliminating your choices whenever a cheap car doesn’t pass your criteria.

Check the Car’s Mileage

One of the best factors in determining the expected performance of a used car is to know the car’s mileage, or how much it has traveled since it started running. A general rule of thumb for this tip: the higher the mileage of the car, the more part replacements necessary.

To know the real mileage of the car, as some dealers might try to alter it without buyers knowing, is to get your hand on the car’s periodic maintenance schedule. According to the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, cars drive for 13,476 miles annually.

If the car has traveled quite a good mileage during its life, then you can allocate your budget also in getting replacement parts worn out during the driving, such as brake pads, radiator, tires, water and fuel pump, and more, which don’t come too expensive.

Know How Private Sellers and Dealerships Differ

Whether you want to buy face-to-face or through an online transaction, it’s best to educate yourself about the vehicle market available to you know. Thus, know the difference between buying from a private seller versus a car dealership.

If you still haven’t done the second tip mentioned above, the car dealership is the best place to go. They have a wide variety of cars to choose from, including older to newer models. Usually, their cars come in pristine conditions, making them more expensive compared to private sellers.

Together with the car, they guarantee that the used cars are certified and backed with a factory warranty. Moreover, they’re open to the vehicle’s history report to help you in managing the insurance, registration, and even know potential accidents the car was involved in.

Contrarily, private sellers can offer more affordable prices that are still open to negotiation. However, you won’t have the certainty that they’re telling the truth about the car. Thus, there’s a higher possibility of a fraudulent transaction.

Examine the Vehicle Thoroughly

After eyeing the perfect car for you, then examine the vehicle more extensively and, much better, test drive it. You’ll never be assured of the features and performance of the car as stated by the dealer unless you experience it yourself.

Also, you can bring a mechanic or technician with you to help you in inspecting the car, both the interior and exterior and advise you on which parts to replace or refurbish.

Conclusion

Finding the best-used car at an affordable price is an extremely painstaking task, but you’ll surely reap its benefits once you lay your hands on the perfect one for you.

After choosing your car and having it purchased, never forget to have it checked regularly, replace and repair, and give it consistent care as it’s a lifetime investment for yourself.

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