3 Cheap and Cheerful ways to cope with what's left of the cold.

With February coming to a close, many of us in the northern hemisphere are looking forward to longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures. While many regions are already experiencing milder weather conditions, winter isn't necessarily over yet. Damp and chilly conditions can persist until well in to April, but here are three ways to cope with the what's left of the cold that don't involve adjusting your thermostat.

1. The Hot Water Bottle
These retro bed-warmers are due for a comeback having already experienced a return to popularity in Japan a couple of years ago. Hot water bottles are easy to use, and an economical way to warm up your sheets. The upfront cost of the items themselves is pretty low (easily under $20 USD), and once you've heated the water no electricity or other power source is required. Hot bottles are a great, often cheaper alternative to an electric blanket, and are less likely to cause a fire. Scaldings are not common, but they can happen so it's important to take care and follow safety instructions. Most hot water bottles come with safety instructions, but safety basics can also be found here.

2. Long Underwear/Long Johns
Long Johns, or thermal underwear still have a reputation as being bulky, woolly, and unattractive, which need not be the case. There is a huge variety of lightweight thermal fabrics these days, from space-age synthetics to cotton blends, to fine but durable woven and knitted silks. The popular brand Cuddl Duds can be found easily, directly through their online store, through third party merchants, and occasionally at outlet stores like Marshalls or TK Maxx. Lightweight thermal undergarments are a great option for those who spend a lot of time working outside as they add a great deal of warmth, without adding a great deal of bulk or hindering your range of motion. A pair of silk long johns feels feather light when worn, and they make elegant, but simple pajamas. While silk thermals don't usually come cheap, you can pick some up now for reduced prices. This scoopneck top from Land's End has been marked down to 24.99, from 49.50.


3. Slaving over a hot stove.
Cooking a nice, hot meal on a cold, wet evening serves two purposes. First, your culinary efforts produce something warm and tasty to heat your innards, and second there's nothing like standing in the dry heat of the oven as it slow roasts some butternut squash or bakes a delicious homemade lasagna. Cooking a hot and hearty meal has other benefits as well; after all the wisdom across budget-living blogs everywhere still contends that cooking at home is always less expensive than eating out. Additionally, cooking a big dinner creates more opportunities to try new recipes and build up your skill-set in the kitchen. There is a huge wealth of culinary inspiration on the web, and a great place for tips on how to make gourmet meals on a tight grocery budget is this and many other articles at lifehacker.

Stay toasty!

The Goods

As promised, a pictorial presentation of my new (new to me anyway) clothes.


Silver halter dress from Express. I feel like all I need is some blue eyeshadow and feathered hair and I'm all set for the disco.



Pencil Skirt!



I thought this t-shirt was flippin' hilarious. Almost as hilarious as an "I shot J.R." t-shirt, which I DESPERATELY dream of finding at Goodwill .



A few people have told me that of all the things I acquired at the clothing swap, this was the ugliest. I love it though. It's so 60's! I can't wait to wear it with some white tights, boots and my hair flipped out in a Breck-wave!

A Good Trade

For the uninitiated, a clothing swap is a social event that, if memory serves, has been touted by many of the lady mags in the past couple of years as THE way to get some free, new-to-you clothes while getting out of the house and seeing the gals (or guys, I reckon, ya’ll share clothes sometimes don’tcha?) at the same time.

It’s a fairly straight-forward operation. The host invites some of their friends over and has everyone bring their unwanted, wearable clothes. Everyone convenes in the living room, the den, the boudoir, what-have-you and the swapping of clothes commences!

There are a few different ways of doing this. One suggestion is each person takes a turn, holds up each item of clothing and says something about it. After each person has finished, everyone is free to go around and make an offer to trade an article of their clothing for an article they saw during the presentation period. I wouldn’t recommend this method if you have more than four total participants, as you could be there all week. Another way is for each participant to set up a little pile, or booth of their stock and go around, pointing to wares that strike their fancy. The original owner may choose to let the fancier have their way with their old blouse for nothing, or they may demand that the interested party make an offer for trade. If the approached party does not care for the offer they are free to decline and see what others may tender in exchange, or demand that the other party make another offer. Tea may or may-not be served.

It sounded simple enough, and while I wanted some new clothes, I was skeptical at first of the success of such a venture. I mean, how many of you have friends who are sartorially similar enough to share clothes? However, a couple Saturdays ago I ended up being quite pleased and a bit surprised by the afternoon’s conclusion.

After arrival, our gracious host Mara, first served a lovely tea, with sandwiches and salad.Then we all tripped up to her room for two hours of agreeable chatter and clothes changing and trading. There was no fighting over dresses or t-shirts, and compliments and encouragement flowed like coke at a disco! Everyone was pleasant, generous, and generally just pretty cool. Also, I just couldn’t believe that not only did I end up with some gorgeous little things dahling, but there were people thrilled to get my tired-ass old clothes in exchange. Who knew? Apparently the ladies at Cosmo.

TOMORROW: PICTURES OF THE SPOILS