How To Do Self-Care Without Spending Money

Self-care without breaking the bank.

I used to believe that self-care was just luxurious spa days and face masks. However, I began to realize that self-care doesn’t have to involve breaking the bank. Over time, I began to discover different activities requiring no money.

This blog post will go through steps to practicing self-care without spending any money. It’ll also list a number of activities that are categorized in the types of self-care including physical, emotional, mental, social, intellectual, and fun.

You’ll learn how you can implement self-care in your life without financial strain. All these steps and a list of activities can help you find a way to practice self-care without relying on expensive stuff. This blog post is for anyone who wants to practice self-care without spending a dime.

Now, let’s dive in.

Step 1 – List down what fills up YOUR cup

This is where you write down a list of activities or rituals that fill up your cup.

Some examples include going for walks, cooking, reading a book, listening to upbeat music, and many more.

This is important to be aware of people how everyone fills up their cup is different from everyone else.

On social media, you’ll see a range of people showing you what they do to fill up their cups in the morning routine or evening routine, and throughout the day. However, what matters more is what fills up YOUR cup.

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RELATED: 9 Amazing Ways to Do Self-Care Every Day

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Step 2 – Take care of yourself like someone you’re responsible for

Imagine you got to take care of your 6-year-old self for a day. Or even your 15-year-old self. Or any of your old selves.

How would you take care of them? How would you talk to them? Even if you were tight on a budget, what would you do to make them feel better on good and bad days?

For example, you would cook your 6-year-old self their favorite breakfast, read a book, and help them relax. You don’t need to spend a dime.

This is a great way to practice self-care because self-care is literally taking care of yourSELF. You’re also encouraged to be a lot kinder to yourself. Because you wouldn’t be mean to a 6 -year-old or even a 15-year-old (or anyone else for that matter), you can also do the same for yourself.

These are not only ways that you can improve your self-care, it’s also a way to enhance your self-love!

Step 3 – Schedule self-care time every day

I don’t know your circumstances. Maybe you’re working full-time, studying full-time, having a part-time job, or juggling multiple commitments. But nevertheless, you need self-care time during your day.

Self-care is one of those things where you need to MAKE time for it, rather than trying to FIND time. It’s just like with step 1, you need to find things to fill up your own cup, so you can continue to do your best in everything you do.

You can schedule it in your calendar or set a designated time every day after work to do self-care. At the end of the day, it’s your schedule, and you’re the one that truly knows when you’re going to be able to do it.

You do not need to earn your self-care. Instead, self-care is supposed to be non-negotiable so you can always have the capacity to do the things you usually do. It’ll help you become more productive as well.

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RELATED: 7 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Do Your Self-Care

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Step 4 – Create a Self-Care Routine

A self-care routine includes the following steps:

1. Set your non-negotiable self-care time;
2. Have a list of activities you enjoy doing;
3. Brainstorm new activities to try out

Having a routine for self-care is an easy way to stay consistent with it, and always make sure that you are doing your self-care. By having a self-care routine, you are able to automate self-care. When you automate self-care, it becomes instantaneous for you to do your self-care to ensure that your cup is always filled.

The rest of the blog post will give you multiple ideas on self-care activities that don’t have to cost you money:

We’ll categorize it into types of self-care:

Physical Self-Care

1. Going for walks
2. Cooking meals and presenting it like a restaurant
3. Romanticise whatever drink you are drinking (even water)
4. Follow a workout video on YouTube
5. Have a dance party at home
6. Household chores – these count as physical exercises!
7. Stair Climbing – find a staircase at home or at a public place, and incorporate it into your routines!
8. Daily Digital detox
9. Daily sunlight walks
10. Do workouts/walks with friends

Emotional Self-Care

1. Journalling
2. Mirror Affirmations while doing skincare – saying your affirmations in front of the mirror as you’re doing your skincare.
3. Go for a scenic drive
4. Breathing exercises
5. Creative activities – playing an instrument, writing, drawing, etc.
6. Gratitude exercises
7. Social media detox/sabbaticals
8. Engage in comedy at least once a day – comedy TV shows, funny videos, comedy podcasts
9. Create a go-to UPLIFTING playlist
10. Create affirmations cards or sticky notes for you to remind yourself of them.

Mental Health Self-Care

1. Watching comfort TV shows or movies/Have a movie night
2. Eat your favorite comfort food – food you can cook, or food you can get takeout.
3. Romanticise your baths and showers
4. Treat your hair wash days like spa days
5. DIY Spa Day
6. Baking
7. Make your own coffee/drinks
8. Have your solo game night – puzzles, trivia (you’re guaranteed to win!), coloring, painting
9. Read a book
10. Listen to podcasts
11. Watch funny YouTube videos/or motivational videos

Social Self-Care

1. Virtual catch ups through phone calls or video calls
2. OR plan catch ups in person that involve free activities
3. MINDFUL social media engagement – use social media for connecting rather than consuming
4. Volunteer work
5. Attend free networking events – find events on Meetup, EventBrite, or Facebook Events
6. Virtual game nights
7. Connect with new people on Linkedin
8. Join online communities – some influencers or content creators create free communities where everyone can connect with one another
9. Have accountability buddies
10. Attend free classes

Intellectual Self-Care

1. Visit a local library and find a book to borrow
2. Do some crafts
3. Watch educational YouTube videos (that are fun and entertaining)
4. Do an online course (find free ones!)
5. Online quizzes and brain teaser games 
6. Watch documentaries
7. Read blogs and websites (like this blog 😉 )
8. Learn a new language – such as online or through language learning apps
9. Experiment with new recipes
10. Create a Personal Learning Journal

Fun Self-Care

1. Play arcade games on your computer – you can find some free ones online!
2. Have a picnic at home or at the park
3. Window shopping
4. Watch the sunrise or sunset
5. Watch inspiring Ted Talks
6. Create Pinterest boards on Pinterest
7. Create a self-care jar
8. Scrapbooking
9. Face mask night
10. Nature walks & hikes

Take a SMALL STEP

Personally for me, I like trying out a new self-care activity every month to switch things up a bit, and also discover what else I enjoy doing.

You can try out a new self-care activity every month, every week, or every couple of months… it’s up to you!

To Wrap Up

Hopefully, now you’ve got a great idea on how you can implement self-care in your life with absolutely no cost! And hopefully you also got some new self-care ideas that don’t cost a thing that you can try out.

If you love this blog post, and would love more resources on self-care, I’ve got a free mini e-book, Small Steps to Self-Care that you can download in the Free Resources Library! You can download it here, and you’ll also be able to access my free book, Small Steps to Progression as well!

In the meantime, I hope you take the time to prioritize yourself this week!

-Lauren 😊

P.S I recommend you read these blog posts next:

• Quick Guide of Self-Care Activities & Resources
• Self-Care & Self-Love Tips That People Ignore
• Simple Weekly & Monthly Self-Care Tasks For When You Don’t Have Time

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