I got can food and other food items from the dollar general.
I used candles to read at night instead of watching tv.
I set my heat on 60 and covered up in blankets. I had older blankets as window curtains to keep the cold air from seeping in through the windows and around the doors. I only cooked with electric or did laundry with electric. I also used fans during the summer unless it was above 90 and then I would run the air conditioner just during the hottest part of the day and then turn it back off when the temp fell back to around 75-80 and ran the fans again.
I did this from 1995 to 2000. Ages 19-23 because I couldn't get help from my parents(they said sink or swim) and I wasn't going to take charity or food stamps. Too much pride and I didn't want my parents to think I was a failure.