How To Get Ready for Winter – 9 Tips

Believe it or not, winter is coming. It has to right? Sure, it's the end of December and it is 50 degrees here in Chicago, but c'mon, we all know the cold and snow are eventually going to come. So we've put together these tips for how to get ready for winter. We've got tips for your house, your car, and even you! This post has been sponsored by Snow Joe, but all thoughts and opinions shared here are our own.

How to Get Ready for Winter

In the house: Assuming you've got a good furnace, the trick is to keep that heat in. No one wants to be paying for heat escaping through cracks or gaps in the house.

DIY weather stripping. We started doing this last year and it worked like a charm. Our house is a bit older and has some quirky characteristics from settling. For instance, there are random gaps in the doorways. We've put weather stripping where we could but other spots it just doesn't work. I found the perfect temporary solution! Take strips of fabric, plastic bags, or, my favorite, the tie from a robe and use a letter opener to press the material into the crack. It seals the air in and prevents cold drafts from sneaking in.

Heat-seal the windows. I learned all about these in our old house where we had a window with only one pane (the thermal pane had broken). Inexpensive kits are available and easy to apply. You simply use a hair dryer to seal over the windows. It's amazing the difference it makes.

Use an accurate thermostat. This can save so much money and frustration. My thermostat right now is set to 86 degree. The house is only at about 70 degrees. But the fiddling around to get it right has wasted a ton of energy.

Outside of the house:

Clean your gutters. Before the cold and snow arrive, make sure your gutters are clean to avoid deadly, potentially harmful icicles from forming.

Get an electric snow blower. What's worse than 2 feet of snow and a driveway the size of a football field? Having to drive over it all, packing down all that snow to go get gas for the snowblower. Solution: get this absolutely awesome Snow Joe iON Hybrid Snow Blower.

An electric shovel? Yep. That's a thing. Don't ever break your back throwing heavy snow with a regular shovel again. Check this bad boy out!

In the car:

Have you ever forgotten your ice scraper and had to use your hands to clear the snow off your car? Or make the feeble attempt to chip away ice with a credit card? Yeah, I've been there. Never again! With the Snow Joe Illum-n-Broom Lighted Snow Broom and Ice Scraper, you'll feel like Chuck Snowris!

Foil blankets. Foil blankets fold up to be about the size of a deck of cards. I keep 4 of them in my glove box in case of emergency.

All weather mats. Save yourself the trouble of having to clean the car floors after a season of slush, salt, and mud. Make sure you've got floor mats that can handle the winter mess.

On your body:

There are so many incredible options to keep yourself warm in the winter months. From heated mittens, to face masks that will give you the face of a Boston Terrier, there is really no excuse not to be ready for winter. But, just in case you've forgotten–with all these warmish days–here's a checklist of winter gear you'll need for each family member:

What do you have left to do to get ready for winter?