It is so important to take care of yourself. There are many ways to give yourself some love and treating yourself regularly is a good way to do that. In fact, being able to treat yourself for free is even better!
Treating yourself helps to make you feel energized and feel cared for and contented. The more you love and give to yourself, the more you can do so to others.
This isn’t something to feel guilty about doing. It’s a gift you give to yourself and ultimately makes you a better person.
Giving yourself a treat doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money. There are plenty of simple ways that you can pamper yourself for free.
Here’s my list of 27 simple ways to treat yourself for free.
Pamper yourself for free
Simple and free ways to treat yourself
Simple ways to treat yourself for free
1. HAVE AN AT HOME SPA DAY
Having an at home spa day can be just as relaxing as going out to an expensive salon.
Pop on a face mask, turn the heater lights on in your bathroom, light a beautiful smelling candle and have a long relaxing bath.
Once you’re done there, give yourself a self-massage (it is still relaxing if you do it yourself, I promise!) using your favourite oil such as sesame oil or coconut oil. Really take your time.
Get out your favorite nail color and paint your finger and toe nails. Not only will you feel great, you’ll look and smell so good too!
2. TAKE A NAP OR MEDITATE
Taking a nap is proven to be great for improving your mood and increasing alertness and performance. Whether you feel like you didn’t get a great night’s sleep or not, take 20-30 minutes and have a short nap.
If you are someone who just doesn’t like napping have a meditation session instead. Find somewhere quiet and comfortable to sit and just concentrate on your breathing. Take slow, mindful breaths.
Don’t get frustrated if you find your mind wandering, that’s all part of meditation. The trick is to just be aware of your thoughts, your feelings and what’s going on around and let it all pass you by without any reaction.
When you do see your mind wandering, just come back and focus on your breathing.
3. SIGN UP FOR FREE TRIALS OF STREAMING SERVICES
The majority of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, DirecTV, HBO Now and Sling TV offer free trials of their services before paying to continue using them.
Sign up and find a new series, movie or documentary to watch.
If you don’t want to continue with the service make sure you set a reminder to cancel the subscription before it ends so you don’t get charged anything.
4. VISIT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY AND CHECK OUT A BOOK OR DVD
When was the last time you visited the library? Sit down and read a good book without having to go out and buy one or rent your favorite movie from your local library totally free.
Most library’s these days are up to date with digital books and will also have a library of e-books that you can rent and read on your e-book device. This is a great option if you prefer a digital e-book reader over a traditional paper book.
5. BAKE SOMETHING
And actually eat it! No regrets! Do you have a favorite cake or dessert recipe that you only save for special occasions?
Or is there a recipe you’ve been dying to try out for ages but have felt guilty to?
Make it, eat it, enjoy it and don’t feel guilty about it. You deserve it!
6. COLOR IN
Studies have shown that coloring in has similar benefits to meditating and can help reduce stress levels and increase creativity.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a creative person it’s a great way to be in the moment, be mindful and give your mind a rest from the daily grind.
You can download and print over 50 Mandala designs coloring pages for free here. Guaranteed to help calm your mind!
7. HAVE A RELAXING BATH
Run a nice warm bath, pop in some epsom salts and your favorite essential oil. Personally, my favorites are lavender or lemongrass.
Turn the lights down low or light a candle and just soak in the tub. If it helps to relax you more, read a book but if not, just close your eyes and do nothing but relax.
8. WATCH THE SUNSET
Sunsets are beautiful and we just never take the time to sit and appreciate the beauty of this world and its nature.
Taking the time to sit and watch a beautiful sunset will allow you to practice mindfulness and not only that, there are actually heath benefits from doing so.
Bathing in the sun boosts the production of melatonin and serotonin. Melatonin helps you sleep better and serotonin helps to improve your mood.
9. FIND FREE THINGS TO DO IN YOUR CITY
All you need to do is google “Free Things In <enter you city name>” and you’ll get a list of all the awesome things you can do in your city, totally free.
When I did this for my town, the first website that came up in the search results gave me 20 things to do for free including:
- Go on a free city walking tour
- Watch a free outdoor movie on the big TV
- Take a free Tai Chi class
- Visit the museum
- Go fishing in the river
- Get a free Digeridoo lesson
- Check out the planes at the airport public viewing platform
- Head out to the valley and visit wineries and food producers for free samples
What does your City offer for free that you didn’t know about – leave a comment and let me know!
20. VOLUNTEER
If you’ve never volunteered before, you might be wondering how volunteering to help other people is a treat for you.
There is no better feeling than helping people who really need it. Denzel Washington was quoted as saying “helping others is one of the most selfish things you can do”.
And this is because of the benefits it gives you is as much as it is benefiting the people you are helping.
Head down to your local animal rescue shelter, homeless shelter, food pantry, art museum, library or national park and see what you can do to help.
21. VISIT AN ART GALLERY
Every city has an art gallery and it’s free to wander in and browse the collections and exhibitions. Some will even offer a free guided tour where you can learn more about the art exhibitions.
There will be new exhibitions to see all the time and even if you think you’re not an art lover, why not try something new and different.
22. GET A COMPLIMENTARY MAKE UP LESSON AT THE MALL
Head to your local mall where the majority of major beauty and cosmetic brands will give you a complimentary consultation where they will help you with finding a foundation to match your skin tone, color matching products or sampling and using their products.
As much as they’d love you to leave with a bag full of their products, if you are on a budget it’s a nice way to give some great products a try without any obligation to buy.
23. DO AN AT HOME YOGA CLASS
Don’t know how to do yoga? No problems! There are many free yoga classes online for all levels of experience.
Yoga is great for your body, mind and soul. Treat your body by getting up off the couch, moving and getting fit in the process.
Just grab your laptop, tablet or phone and check out some of these free yoga classes:
24. PICK UP BEAUTY AND PERFUME SAMPLES
All department stores have multiple beauty and perfume counters and pretty much every brand provides samples that can be provided to their customers.
Sometimes the samples are fairly substantial and can actually last you quite a while before running out.
Picking up some samples is great way to treat yourself for free and add to your beauty kit at the same time.
25. DRESS UP
We all have those outfits sitting in our wardrobe waiting for the perfect day or the perfect event to wear them to, right?
And a lot of the time, we never end up getting them out and wearing them! Stop saving them for a special occasion that might never come.
Make yourself feel fancy and beautiful by dressing up, even if you have nowhere to go.
26. WRITE A GRATITUDE LIST
Sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind of working for the weekend, always striving for more, to have more and to be more that we easily forget all the things we actually have to be grateful for.
Sit down and make a list of everything in your life that you are grateful for. They can be little things like being grateful that someone held the door open for you or that your favorite song came on the radio on your way to work to the big things like having a roof over your head and a warm bed to sleep in at night.
Making a gratitude list is THE best way to make you feel good and put you in a happy mood. There is always something to be grateful for – treat yourself by reminding yourself of that now and then.
27. BE A TOURIST IN YOUR OWN CITY
I think it’s so fun to be a tourist in your own town. When you live somewhere, you forget to actually go out and explore where you live – I bet there’s a heap of awesome free tourist attractions in your city.
If you live in New York have you heard of Big Apple Greeters? NYC locals volunteer their time to be your own personal tour guide in the city and show you how they experience New York City. All totally free.
All cities have something unique for tourists that are free to do. Pretend you’re a tourist and head off on a holiday around your town!
This is a really great list of things that you can do to treat yourself without spending any money. Giving yourself a treat doesn’t always have to cost a lot and sometimes it even feels better knowing you can make your day brighter without spending a cent.