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I was flopping around on the floor like a Magikarp. King Bacon gaped at me, panicking, as I thrashed around. “What is happening?” he said, confused.
“I th-think I’m having an anxiety attack,” I said, continuing to do my best impression of a fish. King Bacon’s eyes started to bulge out of his head.
What had brought this on? About 30 seconds prior, I had walked out of my office and over to King Bacon’s command station and said, “I need help. I think I’m overwhelmed.”
King Bacon spun in his chair to look at me. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“The wedding,” I said. “It’s too much and I’m getting overwhelmed.”
“What is there to be overwhelmed about?” King Bacon asked. “I don’t know why you’re so stressed over this.”
“Of course you don’t! I’ve been doing everything!” I shrieked, and that’s when it happened. Between the stress of getting married, buying a house, moving, changing careers, and trying to plan the actual wedding, my poor body had enough and finally called it quits. I collapsed on the floor and thrashed around.
“Christ,” said King Bacon, his eyes bugging out.
It wasn’t all his fault, of course. He didn’t even know I needed help. I’m a classic Type A personality. I’m the oldest child and the only daughter of my parents’ four children. I’m a perfectionist and a worry-wart, raised on the idiom, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” King Bacon, on the other hand, is classic Type B – mellow, never worries, goes with the flow. Everything’s cool in King Bacon’s world. Except me and my panicky self on the floor.
It was obvious I needed to de-stress. But, since we’re on a budget, I couldn’t do anything that you usually see when you Google “how to stress less.” I refer, of course, to helpful hints such as “Take a vacation!” or “Treat yourself to a day at the spa!”
Thinking creatively, I was able to come up with a few ideas that are fairly simple but have gone a long way toward helping me de-stress.
10 Easy and Inexpensive Ways to Reduce Stress When You’re Broke AF
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Take a Bath
Baths are time that you specifically take for yourself. Make it as hot as you can possibly stand and let yourself just soak. Your pores will open and help release toxins from your body, as well as relaxing your muscles. Baths essentially force you to calm down. Even better if you splurge with some bath bombs or bubble bath! Don’t have a tub? Take a long hot shower with an indulgent bathing product. I have an organic body scrub that I adore that I get on Etsy from my favorite bath store, BubbleBloomCo.
When I relax in the bath, I personally prefer bath bombs. It’s a pricey preference, since a Lush bath bomb starts around $4.50 and only goes up. That’s too expensive for me, but I found some pretty affordable ones that I really enjoy using. These bath bombs are about the size of a large tennis ball and come with an assorted selection that makes it a little surprise. The reason I like these is that I can actually feel the oils when I use them, they smell heavenly, and they’re particularly great if you’re on a budget. You pay $19.99 for 10, which means each bath bomb is only $1.99 – that’s a great bargain for good quality. My favorite so far has been the lemongrass scent, though Mr. Hubs commented that it looked like I peed in the bath! If that’s still a little too pricey for your taste, try using some bubble bath, or even just Epsom salts. You need much less of it and get the added fun of pretending you have a bubble beard.
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Coloring
Adult coloring has really taken off in recent years, and for good reason. It forces your mind to focus on smaller details while helping develop creativity through artwork. I’ve found that when I’m really stressed, coloring for at least 30 minutes helps completely relax me. Most adult coloring pages are so complex that you can also feel proud of yourself once you’ve finished them.
I personally like getting coloring wall calendars that are quite complex and working on them throughout the month. I have a few favorites that I always add to my Amazon wishlist. Note – I like the really complex calendars, so if you’re like me, you might enjoy my favorite calendar, Color Your Year, which is crazy complicated. I like using Sharpies to avoid any additional stress on my carpal tunnel since the intense pigmentation they have means I don’t have to use any pressure on the paper like I would if I used colored pencils.
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Exercise
I know, I know, everyone knows this one and no one wants to hear it. Heck, I don’t want to hear it. But it’s true that exercise produces endorphins and releases tension, with the added benefit that as you get increasingly fit from working out, you’ll have more confidence in your own strength and capabilities. Do some yoga. Do some Fitness Marshall. Lift weights at home. Can’t afford weights? Use your own body weight. Do some kickboxing and pretend you’re beating the pulp out of whatever or whoever it is that is stressing you out. Take advantage of the thousands of free videos on YouTube. There’s something out there for everyone.
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Read
Find something to read. Not everyone enjoys reading, but I firmly believe that people who say they don’t like reading just haven’t found the genre or author that would change their mind. Perfect example is the Harry Potter series. How many kids “weren’t readers” until Harry Potter? Exactly. Reading uses different neural pathways than internet browsing and gaming. Re-routing your mind in this way exercises it differently and helps enhance memory, comprehension, and can provide a great escape from whatever is stressing you out. If this topic interests you, you can read more about it in this great article here about reading paper versus electronic screens, and in this article about the health benefits of reading.
If you’re not sure what to read, try asking someone for a recommendation or take a reading challenge that you can find using Google or Pinterest. One of my favorite sites is TasteDive; you put in TV shows, video games, music, movies, and books that you enjoy and then it recommends similar media that you might like.
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Have Some Tea
Don’t like tea? People tend to generalize tea as the black-tea-with-a-splash-of-milk-and-sugar-combo that they may have been introduced to by their grandparents. (No? Just me? Okay.) Try something else! Tea comes in many different delicious flavors (chai is a good starting point for coffee lovers trying tea) and chamomile in particular is wonderful for helping alleviate stress. There’s a reason that Sleepy Time works so well – chamomile helps relax you so much that people can unwind to go to bed. I personally love Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea; mint is another good variety that can help with stress, and lemon ginger herbal tea is another personal favorite. I try to have at least two cups per day. Just make sure you’re not drinking anything with caffeine later in the day! I always feel so relaxed when I have some soothing tea.
6. Create a Zen Environment for Yourself
Surround yourself with things that give you peace. This may sound kind of obvious, but hear me out. Your messy room? Every time you look at it and think, “I should clean,” that’s going to bother you. If you have a job where you’re at a desk all day and you’re staring at blank walls, it’s going to bother you on some level since isn’t tailored to you. That’s why your home is so relaxing – it’s an environment that you have created for yourself and you can feel at peace there. So whether it is putting up a funny cat picture on your office wall, playing with a rock garden, cleaning up that messy room, listening to nature sounds, or adding a cushy blanket to your chair, do what it takes to create a zen environment for yourself.
I do this with salt lamps. I have them everywhere in my home and I also have one at work. Salt lamps have a lot of purported benefits – they are ionizers, allegedly reduce the amount of dust/dirt in the air, and the orange color is recommended for color therapy. Whether or not these work or it’s all just hype, something about them is incredibly relaxing to me. When I look at my salt lamp, I feel like I’m in a spa and immediately feel less stressed. Amazon almost always has some kind of deal going for salt lamps, and they last just about forever. If you decide to invest in one (or two), pick a brand that is a genuine provider, since there are a lot of fake salt lamps out there. Mine are all made by Hemingweigh.
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Play a Video Game
Do I even need to explain this? 1. Blasting the heck out of something that isn’t real is deeply satisfying. Enough said. 2. Escapism. Video games are not just for children. Deeply interactive stories that are rich in character development can draw you out of your own world and make you forget about whatever you’re worrying over. My favorite games of all time are the Dragon Age series, Mass Effect (yes, Andromeda, too), and the Bioshock series.
To keep a video game habit more affordable, invest in a PC instead of a console. PCs stay compatible for newer games for far longer than consoles, which makes them a better investment in the long run, and you can even use controllers with them if you’re intimidated by keyboard and mouse gaming. PC games are also generally less expensive and yearly sales like those that Steam hosts mean that you can get amazing, new games for just a few dollars. For example, compare the prices for Bioware’s Dragon Age Inquisition (Game of the Year 2014). While not brand new, the game is still around $20 for console, but is half the price for PC at about $10. Still a little too expensive? Not a problem. Most people these days have a smartphone, so I’m going to assume you do, too. Download yourself one of the top free games from the app store that your phone uses and play away.
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Spend Time with Animals
Interaction with animals has proven time and again to help significantly reduce stress and lift peoples’ spirits. Ask yourself what the last time you truly played with your pet was. If it was not the same day, go spend some time with your pet. If you don’t have a pet, visit the local animal shelter or a friend who has a pet that you particularly love. Speaking of which, Miss Gingerbread Cookie just jumped out of my lap. D’awww.
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Watch or Listen to Something Funny
Nothing lifts my spirits or makes me forget about my stress like laughing, which is one reason I love stand-up comedy so much. Put on a stand-up comedy playlist from Amazon Stations or Pandora while you’re driving or doing chores. Find a funny show that makes you laugh that you can watch. Just smiling alone will help relieve tension. My favorite funny shows include The IT Crowd, Parks & Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Rick & Morty.
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Allow Yourself Little Joys
What do I mean by this? Let me tell you by providing an example. I’m a germaphobe and wash my hands very often, so consequently they are dry without constant application of hand lotion. I used to buy high volume, plain jugs of the stuff that gave me a lot of bang for my buck. Then one day a friend of mine gave me a gift of some Bath & Bodyworks “body cream.” I absolutely love getting nice hand lotion as gifts because they’re so deliciously scented and feel thicker and richer than the volume lotion I usually purchase.
I ran out of the gift and was depressed thinking about how I needed to buy more plain lotion, then thought, “Why on earth am I forcing myself to use a product I don’t really enjoy to save a few bucks?” I now buy myself the Bath & Bodyworks hand lotions I like. I mitigate the cost difference by purchasing in bulk during sales, using coupons wisely, and utilizing cash back programs like eBates (they’re legit! If you want to try it, feel free to use my referral code and get a bonus for signing up. They don’t spam you and they send you a check from your normal shopping habits online.)
In the grand scheme of things, hand lotion is not a big item. But every single time throughout the day that I apply my Rosé Champagne hand lotion, I smile. All of those little moments add up to a lot of happiness, and that in turn lowers stress. Allow yourself these small joys for a larger payoff in terms of life enjoyment.