You live in Ohio. You have central heating. You need to:
1. Keep your guitar in it's case with a good humidifier. OR
2. Humidify the room.
If it's 1. Get an Oasis. No guessing when to fill it, it will tell you. Either the kind that fits in the soundhole, or the kind that will attach to a magnetic fastener in your case. I like the soundhole ones.
If you are married to the idea of saving money, make yourself one per the instructions above. You'll have to be a bit more attentive to these, but instead of distilled water with the Oasis, you can use tap. Distilled water because of mineral buildup possible in the Oasis, and tap because you can just tear off another bit of sponge every now and then and replace the mineral crudded one. Distilled costs about .75/gallon, and lasts a few years.
2. If you humidify your guitar room, it's preferable for your home if it's just the one room, and not the whole house at 40-50%. I think it's ok to keep a smaller room at 40% when it's 5 degrees outside, but if you try to keep the whole house like that, first off, it's pretty impossible, and if it IS possible, you risk creating a good environment for mold and damage to your house.
If you're in an apt, or pay rent.... up to you whether you give it a try or not.
Oh yeah, a hygrometer is nice. Caliber III, ebay for about 20 bucks, they'll fit in the case too.
You DID spend a good amount of cash, so it's good you're interested in taking care of it, but you don't have to get too nuts. The above is pretty much it.
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