SEATTLE -- When we learned how cold it's going to get this weekend, we started looking for special ways to keep your family warm without wrecking your budget.

And KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator David Quinlan found some inexpensive advice.

There are plenty of simple and inexpensive ways to protect your home and even your car from the upcoming storm -- ways that can not only save you money, but save your life.

It was a tragic Christmas for a Burien family two years ago. Five people died from carbon monoxide poisoning after using a charcoal barbeque to heat their apartment during a cold snap.

Safety experts say keep your charcoal grill on your deck or in the backyard, never in the house.

Even when it's not dangerous, a cold spell can create some real headaches for homeowners, including financial ones.

"There are times that you are going to have to use heat. We try to keep it off as much as possible."

Bobby and Ashley Frye of Olympia are new homeowners and they want to keep their heating bills as low as possible.

"Especially with the times right now, everybody is trying to save money."

We consulted cold weather experts to help you save money and prevent damage to your home and car.

Inside, keep your thermostat turned low when you're not at home and no higher than 68 degrees when you are.

Don't use an open fireplace. You'll lose more heat up the chimney than you'll gain. If your fireplace has a glass door, keep it closed.

If you have single pane windows, consider buying plastic storm window kits. They're cheap and insulate as well as double pane windows.

Using space heaters in small rooms saves money compared to heating the entire house.

Now to the threat of frozen pipes:

"You can just take a rag, couple of rags, wrap it around the hose bib," said Joe Mickelson of Seattle Public Utilities.

It's a cheap way to keep your outside water faucets from freezing, by wrapping them with rags and securing with plastic bags and bungee cords.

Inside the home, he recommends leaving your sink cabinet doors open to allow warmer air to keep interior pipes from freezing.

In very cold weather it's also a good idea to let the cold water tap run just a little bit.

Throwing a towel over your car windshield will prevent ice build-up, and cheap sand or kitty litter works well to give your tires traction if you get stuck on slippery roads.

Now if winter storms or cold weather do cause damage to your home, remember your homeowner's insurance may not cover everything. It usually covers burst pipes, wind or snow damage. But if there's flooding, you're not covered. That insurance is available from the federal government.