1.Shrink-wrap the windows. It may sound goofy at first, but there was nothing that helped me save on my heating bills more than covering those draughty, thin windows. Of course I didn't cover them with actual shrink-wrap but effectively that's how the stuff functions. It is thin, clear plastic that you tape (with invisible tape) around your window frames on the inside of your home. Then with a blow drier, heat the plastic until it shrinks tight and is not noticeable. When you walk into the room, it should just look like an ordinary window until you get about six inches away from the wrapping. Hardware stores have generic brands of this stuff and it comes in various sizes. It can be quickly removed in the event of an emergency and does not damage the window frame. To do every window with generic brand in a five-room apartment cost about thirty dollars and I actually felt the difference in temperature within half an hour and turned the heat down comfortably. If you can only afford to do a couple of windows at a time, then do the ones in the room you use most. Close the blinds or draperies in front of other windows. Even a doubled over sheet with an interesting pattern will help.
2.Weather strip the door. Especially if you live in an older home or a rent house, the rubber stripping around the front door can crack, decay and fall off, letting in a constant chilly blast. The cheapest gray foam stripping cost less than six dollars for one package and will work effectively on two regular-sized doors. (not double or sliding glass doors - that costs a tad more, but not much).
3.Block the bottom of the door. You can also get a brushed kick-plate for the bottom of your front door. This looks like a very thin metal strip screwed to the bottom of the door and has black bristles like a teeny broom all the way across the bottom of the door. There are various types and sizes of this at widely varying costs and it works well to block the draught from under the door. If the weather-stripping and shrink-wrapping broke your budget, then do what I did the first time around. I got a couple of ratty old bath towels and cut them into strips five inches across and the length of the towel. Then sewed the long side and one short sides closed, forming a tube. I turned it right-side out so the stitches didn't show, filled it with buckwheat ($2.50 at the bulk food store - though the clerk did laugh when I brought the tubes to the check out counter), sewed the third side shut and viola - I had a draught blockers for the bottom of my doors. You can use any old fabric and some people get quite creative, sewing animals and things to be draught blockers.
