Like most of us, you want to save money by avoiding turning on the heat for as long as possible. But it’s October, which means that for the next six weeks or so, the temperature will sway from 40 degrees to 70 degrees. Translation: Sometimes you’ll be perfectly comfortable indoors, and other times friggin’ freezing. But there’s no reason to turn the heat on and off daily. With a few easy tricks, you can keep the heat off for another month or so, as long as you take advantage of the midday warm weather. Click through to the next page for your cold weather/warm house cheatsheet! — Arianne Cohen

(Note: To see more pretty frosty window photos, like the one above from Rion Nakaya, click here.)

1. Keep your shades up during the day. You want to naturally heat your house up as much as possible during the day. Move any large plants or other obstructions out of the way.

2. Open both the top and bottom sashes of double-hung windows around 1pm, creating a natural in- and out- flow of air. This is how you air out your home, heat it up a bit, and avoid that “it’s stuffy and gross in here, but too cold to open windows” problem at night.

3. Plug all drafts. If your apartment or house is getting cold at night, that means that cold air is leaking in from somewhere. Each room should be able to maintain the daytime temperature through the night, not dropping more than a couple degrees. Make sure area rugs are down on the floors, plugging any floor drafts. Then dampen your hand, and run it around your windows and doors to find the source of the cold air. The easiest — and most fun — way to plug holes is with Great Stuff Expansion Foam which is like shaving cream that hardens. Stick it over drafty window crevices.

Total Saved: Two monthly heating bills. (Or, if you’re in an urban apartment that doesn’t turn on the heat until Nov. 15th, your sanity…)

For more helpful tips from Arianne, visit her website, ariannecohen.com or pick up a copy of her book, Help! It’s Broken: A Fix-It Bible For the Repair-Impaired from Amazon.