All Blog Postings by Mary
Winter Proof Your Life
By Mary Francis · Originally published: February 4, 2022
Archive notice: This is a historical post from Mary’s years of blogging. Some older posts may mention products, courses or shop items that are no longer available, as Mary now focuses her time and energy on supporting widows inside her private Facebook community. The guidance and stories remain here as a free resource for widows.
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Being a widow during the cold winter months requires learning how to winter proof your life.
- Stock up on bottled water and if you can’t find them on the shelves then get bags of cubed ice to melt into water.
- Keep your driveways and sidewalks safe with rock salt and if you can’t find that then use non-clumping kitty litter.
- Colder weather and a weak battery can make it hard to start your car. If you keep your gas tank full it puts less stain on your battery. Another benefit to keeping your tank full is that if caught in bad weather while on the road, you won’t run out of gas while in traffic.
- Check your water heater thermostat as it doesn’t need to be set higher than 120 degrees. Any higher and you are paying more in your heating bill then necessary.
- If your car door locks are frozen simply rub a bit of hand sanitizer into the frozen lock. The alcohol in the sanitizer melts the ice inside the lock.
- Even a small draft can raise your heating bill. Light a candle and walk around areas with common air leaks. Use a bit of caulk or foam insulation to plug the leak.
- Nothing is worse than burst water pipes. The best protection is to wrap exposed pipes in insulation. When temperatures dip below 20 degrees turn on faucets to a slow flow to keep water running and stop freezing.
- Save money by dusting your radiators, baseboard units or forced air vents. Dust blocks your system so it can’t run efficiently.
- Unstick your windshield wipers if they are frozen on, using a spray-on solution of 1 part water, 3 parts rubbing alcohol and a few drops of dish soap. You can also avoid windshield ice by swiping the cut side of a potato over the outside of the car windows the night before. The sugar in the potato keeps water and ice from adhering to the glass.
- We often keep an emergency kit at home, but also keep one in your car. Pack a portable shovel, emergence LED light, bottled water, snacks and any medications that you can’t go without. For your at home emergency kit go low-tech and have a battery powered radio, manual can opener and some cash as bank machines may be closed because of bad weather. Keep some glow sticks as they don’t need power and are safer than candles.
