5 Self-Care Practices That Don't Require Money

PUBLISHED Sep 10th, 2019 & UPDATED ON Feb 14th, 2023

You can’t read a blog or scroll through Instagram without someone talking about self care. When you look on social media, you’ll see sooo many different things to buy for self care that it can be kinda overwhelming! There’s epsom salts, face masks, essential oils, manicures, massages, and even subscription boxes that come with an assortment of self care items each and every month.

You can essentially buy millions of things that will help you take care of yourself!

It can be a lot, and honestly, quite disappointing. Plus, not everyone has that kind of disposable income!

Luckily, there are numerous ways you can take care of yourself that don’t require too much money! Taking care of yourself for the low, low price of free (or pretty cheap) just can’t be beat. Here are a handful of our faves:

1. Read Fiction

Whether you have been a lifelong fiction reader, or it’s never really been your thing, turning to fiction is a beautiful way to practice self-care.

Listen. Self-help books can be too much at times. Hearing from yet another source that you need to change something about yourself can get pretty exhausting! Fiction is a must needed break from alllll of that.

Not super into reading fiction? Have you tried Young Adult novels? Game. Changer. Or, if you feel you’ve grown out of the Young Adult section, the New Adult genre has so many great picks for the 20 to 30-somethings in all stages of life! Whatever you’re going through, there’s a book out there for you (btw, BookTok has some bomb recommendations).

Regardless of the genre of your fiction, reading can be a beautiful way to turn your mind off for a little while.

Best part? Reading is also an inexpensive way to take some time for self-care. While purchasing the books requires money, library cards in most places are free! And honestly, the library is so good. An underrated resource tbh. Go to your local library ASAP to see all the stuff they have to offer!

Bonus points… if Epsom salt baths are still your thing, try out reading your book as you soak! Just don’t drop it in the tub. Librarians tend to frown upon that sort of thing.

2. Journaling

Would we really be DiveThru if we didn’t mention journaling? As we talk about like alllll of the time, journaling is a simple and effective way to care for yourself.

While a lot of self-care practices are used as a way to distract ourselves, journaling helps you turn inward and see what the heck is up. We dig that.

Andddd it’s free! It costs $0 to get introspective with journaling, whether you use pen and paper, your iPhone notes or even the DiveThru app.

Need some ideas on what to journal about? We put together 5 journaling prompts for you here.

3. Admit That You’re Not Okay

Hello, unconventional self-care tip…

It’s hard to pretend that you’re fine all of the time. Life is tough, and it’s okay (and normal) to not be okay. A fantastic way to take care of yourself is by merely admitting you’re not okay. While it may sound simple, it takes a lot of courage to be able to recognize how you genuinely feel. Especially for those people who’ve been told that their feelings are a burden to others. You’re not a burden, your feelings are valid, and you deserve to get back to an okay place.

Whether you reach out to someone, turn to your journal, or look yourself in the mirror to simply say I’m not okay, it can be incredibly therapeutic.

4. Talk with Your Friends or Family About Your Emotions

As humans, we’re all just searching for connection – with ourselves and those around us. Talking to your friends and family about the way you feel can be a beautiful way to take care of yourself!

You may be in a place in your life where you’re out of touch with your family, and don’t have any close relationships. This can be a transformative period in your life for you to work on yourself! Because no matter what happens in life, you’ll always have you to rely on.

If you’re looking to make more connections, social media can be a tool to bring people together who are facing similar things. There are numerous support groups on Facebook or local meetups you can attend to connect with like-minded people.

We created our DiveThru Together Group on Facebook to create an online community of people who want to open up about their mental health in a safe space. Wanna come hang out? We’d love to see you in there. Add yourself here!

5. Take a Social Media Break

Remember the time where we weren’t always glued to our phones? When “doomscrolling” wasn’t even a term that existed? What did we do with our time??

While stresses and anxieties were a thing back then, we weren’t carrying around millions of people’s opinions in our pocket. Taking a break from social media can be a powerful way to take care of yourself. You don’t need to delete all your accounts, buy a cottage in the countryside, and live that dream cottagecore life (although that kinda sounds great). Even a break for a few days can be a good reset.

While these self-care practices are free, iwe’re not saying that taking a bath with rose petals and a diffuser going is wrong. Just remember that they’re just not the only ways you can care for yourself!