Everyone wants to keep their heating bills in check. After all, it's silly to pay more to heat your home than you have to. But many commonly recommended methods of keeping heating bills in check require you to spend a lot of money up front. If you're on a tight budget, upgrading to a new furnace, installing new ducts, or replacing all of your insulation might not be feasible. Luckily, there are some ways to lower your heating bills for $5 or less.

Rope caulk your windows.

You can find a roll of rope caulk for just a few dollars at a home improvement store. Sometimes dollar stores even carry it! Press the caulk into the place where your window sash meets the window frame. It will stop cold air from leaking in, which means your heater won't have to work as hard. When spring rolls around and you want to open the windows again, you can just peel the rope caulk off.

Change your furnace filter.

When was the last time you changed your furnace filter? Though you really should do this every month or so, many homeowners simply forget. It takes your furnace a lot more energy to push air through a dirty, clogged filter. Go buy a new, basic fiberglass filter for a couple of bucks, and your energy efficiency will improve. Plus, less dust will get strewn throughout your home.

Close the vents and doors in rooms you don't need to heat.

Does your storage room that you only enter every few months really need to be heated to 68 degrees? What about the guest bedroom? Close off the heating vents in rooms you don't use, and keep the doors to the rooms shut. As long as the rest of your home is heated, these rooms won't get too cold since a little heat will enter through the walls and floors. But, more heat will be left for the spaces you do need to keep warm, so your heat won't kick on as often and your energy usage will go down.

Go outside less often.

Try to minimize the number of times you open and close your exterior doors. Bring everything in with you after work rather than running back outside later. Go out to shovel snow and get the mail at the same time. You'll let in less cold air, so your furnace won't have to work as hard.

For more insight on how to lower your heating and cooling costs, contact services like Thermotech Inc.