Updated: October 3, 2021
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 them. 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 pressure from work, here are some cheap ways you can relax and rejuvenate.
- Sleep. No cost, always effective. Just don’t oversleep though or you’ll feel sluggish.
- Go someplace quiet and appreciate the silence. You can go to the church and pray for spiritual strength.
- Meditate and call for positive energy or alternatively, simply take deep breathes and empty your thoughts.
- Pamper yourself in your own home. Take a relaxing bath or shower. Prepare a sumptuous home cooked meal.
- Stretch, do some tai chi or learn a bit of yoga. The internet has free resources on how to properly do these.
- Exercise or at least take a leisurely walk. Get some blood pumping and release some endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals.
- Listen to your favorite music. Sing along or dance in your room.
- Play with your child, your younger sibling, your baby nephew or niece or with your pet.
- Gather old newspapers and magazines and learn how to do origami.
- Try to learn a performance skill such as juggling, doing magic tricks or spinning poi.
- Climb your roof and gaze at the stars. Bring a map of constellations and see how many you can find.
- Read a book. If you don’t have anything good on your shelf, go to the library or a local bookstore that allows private reading.
- Put your thoughts into writing and release. Attempt writing poetry. Blog about your stress.
- Take your digital camera and shoot around the house. Have fun with macro shots or experiment with angles.
- You can also camwhore and pretend you’re a print ad model. Use the pictures to practice your digital photo editing skills.
- Take out your memory box or old photo albums and reminisce the past.
- 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.
- Re-watch a feel-good movie in your home video collection.
- Have some “quality time” with your spouse.
- 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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Photo credit: matthiasripp
i just prefer to keep running and running everyday. That will help me reduce my stress.
this tips were great. i really need this on every time I went home from work. 😉
hahaha I like the model stretching! step 19 is not applicable with me… hahaha
Ibang klase mga model sa picture ah he he he :).. Nice one fitz..
@silentleo
yup, exercise works for me that way too
@gusher
glad i could help 😀
@juler and dexter
pwede na ba maging model? hehe. 😉
i have a blog that only i can access, and i write ALL my rants there, including the majorly sinful cusswords, where all my anger gets poured out with imaginings of absolute violence directly bullseyed at the source of my wrath of the moment.
a few days later i reread my post, and it just makes me laugh so loud that i call myself all kinds of fool. i feel tons better, though.
the internet’s such a wonderful world. thanks for sharing your tips!
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[…] Villafuerte helps us relax frugally in 20 Cheap Ways To Relax and Manage Stress posted at Ready To Be Rich. I love his suggestions, especially sleep! When we were very broke, we […]
Good Post! Fitz.
In my opinion exercise is the best and cheapest well to relief stress. Fitz the pictures are killer man keep up the good work.
Great Article.
You have demonstrated that it doesn’t or shouldn’t cost a lot of money to have a good time. To me having a nice coffee with friends and discussing life is the best way to relax.
[…] 20 Cheap Ways to Relax and Manage Stress, by Fitz Villafuerte. I’ve been reading up on Fitz, and his blog has a strong voice that I thoroughly enjoy. I hope you will, too. […]
Hi,
I just can’t wait to work on all your suggestions. I was badly in need of some to come out of my stressful life . Thanks
-Nancy
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i love #20! he he. surely relaxing for me!
Great tips! Nice post. Thanks
Great article, adding it to my favourites!
Step 19 doesn’t help if the lack of a significant other is part of the cause of the stress in the first place.
love your site. i’ll visit this regularly from now on.
hahaha! Fitz, i am guilty for number 15. yeah you are right! it really feels good and so relaxing at the same time.
Everyone really wants some good way of stress management. Yoga and meditation are good.-“*
I practive both Tai-Chi and meditation on my spare time. It is really good for general health..’;
I think praying is one of the best ways to reduse stress.
call someone near to your heart..
go to church and pray appreciate the nature
Hi Fitz,
I will try nos. 5 and 15 tonight, and also #19 in near times.. 😉
Thanks for the tips, practical & impressive. (magkano talent fee sa model mo? hehe)
Excellent suggestions, each and every one! We especially like #12 reading a book because both my beautiful bride and I are avid readers and there is never enough time for this activity. Maria is an academic writer & researcher and gets to read learning new thing as part of her work. I read about possible stocks to trade with option contracts, still not enough reading for us. I would also add relaxing with a great cigar and perhaps a good Scotch whiskey. A large ring stogie can last 45 min to maybe 1 hour or more. A great short break for cigar aficionados! Maybe a bowl of shisha as a much healthier alternative to other tobacco products that are inhaled, one bowl will last a long time.