There's a lot you can do to try to save money on your heating bills, especially when the weather is bitter cold. Many homeowners have extremely high heating bills for a variety of reasons.

One of the most common reasons is that they don't take the time to evaluate how they handle their heat on a monthly basis. Another reasons is that many Americans live in older homes that haven't been upgraded in many years. The good news is, it doesn't take a lot of money, time, or effort to make a few easy changes that can help improve your home heating performance.

Depending on the current market, if you are a homeowner that uses propane gas for your heating, you may be able to save on your yearly heating bills if you plan accordingly. The price of propane gas fluctuates from season to season and from year to year depending on many factors. One year the price of propane can be considerably higher if there is a shortage or propane due to environmental reasons, or if the weather happens to be particularly worse than previous years.

One way to lower your year heating bill is to pre-buy your propane. This is a particularly good idea if you believe that the propane price is low at the time you're considering a purchase. Many propane companies allow for pre-buying, but only offer a limited number of gallons for purchase. To find out more, contact your propane company for to see if they're currently offering a propane pre-buying program.

Another very popular way to conserve energy is to lower your thermostat at night while you're sleeping or during the day while you're away at work. By snuggling up under a few heavy blankets you can save a few dollars every month.

If you happen to live in an older home, chances are good that you're losing a lot of heat without even realizing it. It can be relatively inexpensive to insulate your windows if you purchase insulating plastic. You should also look around your home for any other places that heat may be escaping, like under older doors or through gaps in the attic. Add extra insulation to your home wherever necessary to keep the cold air out and the warm air in.

If you have any advise on how to lower your heat bill or have any experience you'd like to share with pre-buying your propane, leave your comments below.