Self-Care At Home For Any Budget

We have all spent far more time at home the past 10 months than we wanted. It’s more important than ever to take care of yourself and take care of your health. Here are a few cheap self-care ideas for any budget while you are stuck at home.

Exercise

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity a week. It’s harder to exercise when you’re stuck at home and have limited or no exercise equipment but don’t let that stop you! There are plenty of options to work out at home, no matter how small your space is including:

• Yoga and body weight workouts are offered by Studio Three Chicago 3 times a day for free on Instagram Live
• Do three planks for up to 60 seconds each
• 8 minute abs on YouTube
• Yoga on YouTube including these videos from Brave Spaces Yoga
• Pacing back and forth to get your 10,000 steps in (kidding, but it’s important to keep moving. If you don’t have the luxury of a large house or a yard and you’re in a high rise in the city this does mean doing “laps” around your small apartment)

Eat Healthy

Part of self-care at home is eating well. Make the choice to eat healthier as often as you can. NBC News pulled together this list of what food to stock up on in your fridge and pantry. It’s healthier to eat at home than it is to eat out and you can control the amount of salt and butter you add to dishes. At the same time, when you’re stuck at home it’s easy to graze on unhealthy snacks all day instead of sticking to a healthy meal schedule.

Try your best to eat a regular meal schedule and not graze on snacks throughout the day. Since fresh fruit and vegetables are harder to come by with less frequent grocery shopping make sure to frozen fruits and veggies instead. Most are flash frozen instantly and are just as healthy as fresh fruit! There are also health benefits for drinking tea, especially green tea.

If you’re not sure what to cook, try these recipes using common pantry and fridge staples.

Have a Home Spa Day

It’s important to take time for yourself and relax. What better way to do that than bringing the spa to you! I love to relax using Dr Teal’s Lavender Epsom Salt Bath. A 3 lb bag will normally cost between $5-6. Make sure to take a rinsing shower after taking an epsom salt bath as salt can dry out your skin. Light a nice candle and play music in the background.

Miss getting a mani/ pedi? A foot peel is a great activity for when you have to stay at home for a week or more because your feet may peel a lot. It removes dead skin and in my opinion is way more effective at removing the dead skin than a pedicure is. I’ve personally used the Baby Foot Peel. The price varies on Amazon, but I’ve usually found it for $20- $25. I found the reviews to be very helpful in making the peel most effective. This includes soaking your feet before you do the peel for at least 30 minutes, putting socks over the booties to help your feet absorb more product and soaking your feet every night for 10-15 min for the following week.

Treat Yourself To Warm Lemon Ginger Water

There are potential benefits to drinking warm lemon ginger water including improved digestion and weight loss. Additionally, warm lemon ginger water is a relaxing drink. It helps make you feel like you’re at the spa with their fruit infused waters. Lemon ginger water is easy to make and cheap. If you don’t have a juicer or don’t feel like crushing the ginger yourself you can buy frozen cubes of crushed ginger from Trader Joe’s. They are in the freezer isle and one package is about $3 for 20 crushed ginger cubes.

Check In With Your Loved Ones

Just because you’re practicing physical social distancing doesn’t mean you can’t be social virtually. Sent up a Zoom video conference or a group Facetime for your friends to have a virtual happy hour or game night. Text, call or email friends and family to let them know you’re thinking about them and to ask how they are doing.

Unplug

If all of the recent news is stressing you out and causing anxiety consider unplugging. You need to prioritize your mental health. Read a book, get started on that to-do list you’ve put off forever, organize your closets, bring back old fashioned game night.

There is also nothing wrong with watching mindless TV to get your mind off the news. You can unplug just from social media and stream your favorite TV series or movies or FaceTime family and friends. Another great way to stay connected is to write cards to family and friends to show you’re thinking of them (just in case refrain from licking the envelope).

See Also: Working from Home Tips

What are you doing for self-care at home?