Guest Post: Look After Yourself with These 8+ Cheap Self-Care Ideas

The following is a guest post by the lovely Sophia. She’s a fantastic blogger, and I recommend checking out her blog. Find out more about Sophia at the end of this post!

Looking after yourself should always be a priority. Whilst thinking about and prioritising others, we can forget about the most important things, including our own well-being.

Expensive tools and methods are not necessary to improve your mental health, and there are many cheap self-care ideas to keep you going and create the life you want.

In this blog post, find out how to look after yourself with 8+ cheap self-care ideas!

Keep a Journal

Noting down your feelings and getting them out on paper is an efficient tool to understand your emotions.

Especially when there are problems, venting your ideas by journaling will always be a better solution than bottling everything up.

Relax

We’ve all experienced burn-out, right? It is an absolute nightmare, for sure.

A slump does not need to be the end of the world, it just means that relaxation and downtime are the medicines you need.

cheap self care ideas

Slow down your work pace for a while and insert relaxation between the tasks in your day.

Sleep

If you need cheap self-care ideas– it must begin with sleep.

It is the cheapest option around! There are so many reasons why sleep is important, yet many of us do not hit the required 7-8 hours a day.

Let your mind rest by getting the sleep it needs, and hopefully, it will improve your overall well-being.

Sleep deprivation can cause many side effects, from irritability to restlessness. Shutting your eyes, even for a few hours, should help your mind to unwind from busy days.

Reduce Your Screen Time

It might be a 21st-century problem, but screens are a real issue. You can understand why many parents aim to reduce the screen time of their children.

The same policies should remain in place as you get older.

Focus on your well-being by reducing eye strain and turning on the blue light filter on all your screens!

Filter What You See

Leading from this, a major cause of worsening well-being is social media culture.

We have all compared ourselves to others, and we are driven to push ourselves way too hard at times, such as the need for our stats to be better.

We want to be more aesthetic; we want to improve our image. This impacts self-care because the important things are pushed to the side.

Take vanity and image out of the question and scratch beneath the surface to improve the person you are on the inside.

Talk to Others

No matter what your mind may tell you at silly hours in the morning, there will always be
someone to listen to you.

Whether it’s a loved one, a friend or a helpline- if you’re struggling, share your feelings with others and let the self-care process take over.

I spent years bottling up my feelings- and choosing to speak out was the wisest thing I did. When you do start talking, you notice all the issues you’d forgotten about.

Improving your well-being will always help, as you allow yourself to open up and understand the root cause of the pain- to clear your head fully.

You may not have a solution to your problems, but noticing that something is wrong is half the challenge!

If you ever need to talk to someone check out Mind or The Samaritans.

Do What You Enjoy

When looking at cheap self-care ideas, starting with what you enjoy is the easiest route.

I usually run a bubble bath or watch a crime documentary- anything to escape from the stresses of life. Use trial and error to find out what works.

Do you need to do nothing, or stay active? Nap or run? Someone can give you a step-by-step guide to bettering your self-care, yet the main issue is that every single person is different.

Especially when it comes to downtime- we all do things differently in our spare time.

So, the best tip: take the advice of others but do what feels right for you, and only you.

Appreciate the Little Wins

Things do go well at times, even if it may not seem that way. Self-care can always be put at risk if we focus on everything that is going wrong all the time.

Shift your mindset to focus on activities that allow you to appreciate the little wins.

goal setting

At the end of the week, I always make a list of things that went well- whether it be blogging-related, self-care or nice things I have done for someone else.

Inserting some form of positivity into yourself and appreciating the great person you are can do wonders for improving your self-care.

Improve Your Daily Routine

I don’t know about you, but I have constantly beaten myself up for falling into bad habits.

Waking up late, not drinking enough water, not washing my face- the list goes on. Build a routine you are happy with and be proud to stick to it.

Self-care is easily improved by focusing on the person. Know what needs to change and make improvements to do so.

Even if you’re just taking baby steps, the aim is to look back retrospectively and think that you have done all you can!

About the Author

Sophia Patel first started her blog in 2015 as a New Year’s Resolution and an outlet for a rough few years.

All these years later, the rough times are behind her and yet- she is still typing! Her main calling is blogging for beginners, and all things home, finance and well-being.

Do you like to find new self-care ideas to look after yourself? What are your cheap self-care ideas? What do you think of these cheap self-care suggestions?

Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

Happy reading x

62 thoughts

  2. These are all great tips! I think that filtering what you see and do what you enjoy most are the best tips. With all we see on social media, we need to understand that it’s just a small part of what happens. Also appreciating every small milestone is so important x

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  4. I love all these tips. Keeping a journal is one of the best self-care idea that I’ve learned from the past years! Self-care is really all about enjoying little things 😊

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  5. I love this! I feel like a lot of people overlook the importance of setting some time aside to simply do what we enjoy most. The phrase ‘self-care’ has become such a buzzword and is normally associated with activities like relaxing bubble baths. However, if that’s not something that you enjoy, it’s not going to have the same effect. Everyone is different and we need to listen to our hearts. For me, spending some time outdoors with my dogs is far more effective – whether it’s hiking a forest trail or relaxing in the hammock.

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    1. Yes that’s very true, there’s no need to spend money to look after yourself! That’s so true, you have to know what you would enjoy and not everyone will be the same 🙂 that’s great x

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  9. This is a wonderful post with really simply and easy things you can do! I feel like reading this list I was connecting with a lot on the list and I find sleep and reducing screen time to be what I ensure to infuse into my daily routine. Thanks for this reminder and for making this wonderful list!

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  11. You’ve mentioned so many great tips and it just goes to show that you don’t need to spend lots of money to take care of yourself. Sleep is so underrated but even just a power nap can sometimes make me feel so much better.

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  14. These are some great ideas. sleep is one of the best ways of self care. I always find you feel much better after you’ve had a good nights sleep or a good nap in the afternoon. Thank you for sharing Xo

    Elle – ellegracedeveson.com

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  18. These are such great ideas which are so simple to follow! I’ve always found reducing my screen time helps so much, you don’t always realise how much time you spend on your laptop/phone! Thanks so much for sharing x

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  22. Self-Care is so important and these are all such great tips. Getting enough sleep is so important, there is nothing worse than being tired it can make you feel really rubbish.

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  29. I’m trying hard to reduce my screen time. I keep reading books or manga from my phone after or before sleeping. I can’t stay away from my phone haha that’s really a bad habit. These tips are really helpful! Thank you x

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  30. I loved reading this! Journaling and reading always help me to relax when I want to take time for myself. I’m trying to reduce my screen time so all of this was very helpful! Thanks for sharing!

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  31. I loved reading these ideas! Especially the paragraph on ‘filter what you see’. It’s so true that we can fall into the trap of going after external things, but these can take a toll on our mental wellbeing. It’s more important to focus on who we are internally! x

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