What do you do when you feel stressed and overworked?

Make a spa appointment and have a massage? Visit the mall and buy something for yourself?

Call your friends and go barhopping? File a leave of absence from work and have a vacation?

These things work if you can afford it. But what if you’re living on a tight budget? How do you manage your stress and find a way to relax without hurting your finances?

Personal stress management doesn’t have to be expensive. There are a lot of frugal activities that can help us get rid of stress, unwind and chill out. So if you’ve been feeling restless, tired and pressured from work, here are some cheap ways you can relax and rejuvenate.

1. Sleep. No cost, always effective. Just don’t oversleep though or you’ll feel sluggish.
2. Go someplace quiet and appreciate the silence. You can go to the church and pray for spiritual strength.
3. Meditate and call for positive energy or alternatively, simply take deep breathes and empty your thoughts.
4. Pamper yourself in your own home. Take a relaxing bath or shower. Prepare a sumptuous home cooked meal.
5. Stretch, do some tai chi or learn a bit of yoga. The internet has free resources on how to properly do these.



6. Exercise or at least take a leisurely walk. Get some blood pumping and release some endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals.
7. Listen to your favorite music. Sing along or dance in your room.
8. Play with your child, your younger sibling, your baby nephew or niece or with your pet.
9. Gather old newspapers and magazines and learn how to do origami.
10. Try to learn a performance skill such as juggling, doing magic tricks or spinning poi.



11. Climb your roof and gaze at the stars. Bring a map of constellations and see how many you can find.
12. Read a book. If you don’t have anything good in your shelf, go to the library or a local bookstore that allows private reading.
13. Put your thoughts into writing and release. Make an attempt at poetry. Blog about your stress.
14. Take your digital camera and shoot around the house. Have fun with macro shots or experiment with angles.
15. You can also camwhore and pretend you’re a print ad model. Use the pictures to practice your digital photo editing skills.



16. Take out your memory box or old photo albums and reminisce the past.
17. Invite friends over and have a pot-luck house party. Play board games, watch a DVD marathon or simply talk and have some interesting conversation.
18. Re-watch a feel good movie in your home video collection.
19. Have some “quality time” with your spouse.
20. Change your bed sheet and pillow covers. Lay yourself on your bed and nestle into the freshness.

How about you? What do you think are other inexpensive ways to relax and get rid of stress? Please share them below as a comment.

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