Tips for Frugal Self-care

You wish you could just take a break from it all! The cycle of life can often be vicious. Wake up, get ready for the day, get kids and or the significant other ready, work, look after the home, shopping, prepare for the next day, and then do it all over again! Just typing that, felt exhausting!

As human beings, we are instinctively wired to be always looking after others. We do, however, need to reserve some of the time we have for ourselves. Sure, others think about you sometimes but these self-care tips I am going to share with you, are really for you to make happen for yourself. Some of these can be done in five minutes. For some, you will need to carve out even 30 minutes of your precious time, even at the end of your day.

Why do we need self-care? Well, here are a few reasons:

• There’s only one you
• When you look after yourself, you feel good
• When you feel good, you are more likely to continue to look after yourself
• A boost in how you feel gives you more energy to help others
• Looking after yourself gives you a few minutes for self-reflection
• Self-reflection helps you to solidify your plans and dreams in your own mind
• The few minutes you spend doing self-care routines helps to relieve stress

Have I convinced you yet? Well, here are a few more reasons:

• If you busy yourself too much with work and earning money, at the expense of looking after yourself, soon, you will need a lot more money so that others can look after you and your health.
• Self-care does not necessarily mean spending a lot of money. Some of the supplies you need are in your own home already!
• Practicing self-care gives you something you can share with others. Tell them about what you do, how it makes you feel, and how it can improve their lives too.

If you start practising self-care, you will be able to add to my list of reasons (by thinking about the benefits you receive).

I remember in the past, being so tired when I fell into bed that the scary thought came to me: how would I even move, if a fire were to break out? That indeed is a scary thought. But I was run down completely. Not anymore! I’ve decided to live more consciously, know my limitations, and spend the time to look after myself more.

So I am going to share a list of self-care routine things you can do. These self-care ideas are frugal too, and most of what you need, you already have. Do tell me in the comments if you have tried anything else that you can say actually does work. The ones I am sharing are my personal favourites. Then I will list others you can do too.

Self-care for Chapped Lips

Chapped lips are unsightly, so I would suggest that you not wait, if you can, until your lips get to that stage. I discovered that a lot of products for the lips contain petroleum! What! Aren’t we concerned about this resource running out? What can we find in the home that can do an even better job? Honey! Honey is soothing and it contains a natural sweetener, which means it attracts moisture. You already have honey in your home, it is cheap and, there’s no problem if it is swallowed. In fact, I have a little tube of lip scrub that I got as a part of a gift last Christmas and I do notice that it tastes sweet. When I checked it out, I found that honey is the basic ingredient.

 

Take care of your feet as part of your self-care Routine

When I have a day off, one of my favourite things to do is to give myself a thirty-minute foot soak and scrub. I wrote this post about tips for beautiful feet and I keep getting so many comments about it. If you don’t have one of those foot spas, a small tub that will fit some water and your feet will do. All you then need is body lotion to soften your cuticles, some Listerine or other mouthwash, and a towel. If you plan to give your feet a scrub then you could do with a foot scrub. This half an hour where you are not rushing about can be used for self-reflection, reading, or even for a nap!

Give yourself a facial as part of your self-care routine

For looking after your face, natural products are the best. You are less likely to have breakouts on your skin, they are cheap, and may even be found in your pantry. My favourite natural items for my face are:

• aloe vera
• cornmeal and honey (for a scrub)
• oats, milk and honey (for a 30-minute mask that’s washed off right before bed)

Natural Detox ideas for you self-care routine

I’ve been reading up a lot about this lately. Some of the statistics are scary and I won’t share them here (you can do your own reading) but colon cancer is real! Spen some time giving your stomach a break. You can actually clean your colon using a number of natural items. May I just point out that I am not medically trained so I would suggest that you speak with a doctor if you have concerns. I’ve tried these to help with flushing so I know they are safe for me:

• a drink made with water, aloe vera, lemon, spinach and kale
• a drink made with water, apple cider, honey and cinnamon first thing in the morning
• lemon and water first thing in the morning (and throughout the day)
• Extra virgin olive oil and lemon (for a liver cleanse at night)

Some other self-care habits include:

• breast self-examination
• hair care
• shaving
• waxing
• manicure
• juicing
• sleeping
• exercising
• having fun
• drinking enough water each day, consistently, and
• giving yourself some time where you do nothing

Afterall, there’s only one you and you have to do the best you can to employ self-care habits for self-preservation. Give yourself the roses (and other flowers) now, while you can go out and get them.

Has this inspired you to start your own self-care atlas? It should do. Drop me a few lines in the comment section below about what you do, or plan to do as part of your routine. And don’t forget to share with others too. Sharing is definitely caring.

 

Grammarly