Small Splurges: DIY Spa Day

 

 

I’ve never been one to indulge in manicures, facials, or spa days.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of pampering myself.  But it seldom happens.  Either I run out of time or I just can’t bring myself to shell out the money.  Sometimes I run out of patience (you mean I have to wait for my nails to dry?). I can count on one unpolished hand the number of manicures I had last year.  How many?  Precisely three. Yep, three.  And each of those instances related to our wedding.  Given that we aren’t planning another wedding anytime soon, I guess three times was probably my “record high” for annual manicures.  Someone should notify the almanac.

 

This past weekend, Mr. W. was away and I had the apartment to myself.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity to indulge in some pampering.  Spa day!  What a treat!  But here’s the rub: I didn’t want to spend any money.  It was going to be a DIY spa day, using only ingredients and items we already had on hand. 

 

I sorted through the contents of our fridge and scrounged around in our bathroom cabinets to see what I could find.  We had a bag of eucalyptus-scented epsom soaking salts that were originally purchased for muscle relief.  When mixed with a little unscented soap, the soaking salts would make for an aromatic bubble bath.  The bag was perhaps $4-5 at our drugstore.  I attacked the bathtub with a sponge and cleanser so that it would be squeaky clean (well, as clean as a tub in an old apartment can be, anyway).  I Googled “DIY facial mask” and “DIY sugar scrub” to see what the internet would yield.  Lots of recipes called for various essential oils or extracts that we didn’t have.  Pass.  Essential oils can be expensive and I wasn’t certain I would use them frequently enough to warrant a purchase.  Plus, I didn’t want to run yet another errand.  Spa day was intended to be a relaxing endeavor, after all.  Finally, I came across two recipes (here and here) that seemed promising.  I tweaked them a little and was quite pleased with the results. 

 

I whipped up these simple concoctions early in the day and then stashed them in the fridge so that they would be ready to use in the evening.  And if you’re thinking that these recipes sound good enough to eat, you’re correct…not that I licked the spoon, or anything silly like that.   When I was finally ready for my spa day/evening, I just lit a candle, filled the tub with warm water, and poured myself a glass of wine. 

 

Creamy Chocolate Facial Mask

• 1 – 1 ½ tsp yogurt (thick yogurt such as Greek or Skyr works best)

• 1 tsp honey

• 1 tsp cocoa powder

 

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Chill at least 30 minutes, until ready to use.  Spread onto face with fingers, and leave on face for about 10 minutes.  Rinse off gently with warm water. 

 



This felt seriously indulgent to spread on the skin.  The texture was a bit like chocolate ganache and the taste was like chocolate pudding.  I almost felt guilty while applying this mask…like I was playing with my food.  Just be careful when you wash it off since the chocolate mixture has a tendency to splatter!

 

Citrus Sugar Scrub

•  ½ cup white sugar

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• 2 Tbs. citrus juice (I used key lime juice)

• 1 Tbs. olive oil

 

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Chill until ready to use.  Apply to areas of dry skin, such as elbows and heels, and rinse off with warm water.

 

 

 

I enjoyed the fresh, bright scent of this exfoliating scrub. The recipe made a large enough batch that I have plenty left over for another use. 

I also planned to give myself a mani/pedi at the end of the night.  But after soaking in the tub, I was so relaxed that I just felt like curling up in bed and reading a book.  Like I said, I’m not so great at nail care.

 

Nail polish, why do you elude me?!

 

I'd love to hear some of your DIY relaxation tips.  How do you treat yourself without spending a fortune?

Topics in Personal Finance: Budgeting is like Dieting

I think that many people (myself included) tend to feel the same way towards budgeting as we do towards dieting: we resent the need to restrict ourselves, but we know it’s good for us.  It's difficult, tedious, and unpleasant to exert the necessary willpower.  We wish we could achieve the desired result (financial stability, thinness) without the requisite effort.  But as much as we might hate budgeting and dieting, we feel badly when we stray from our intended plans. 

I’m no expert on either personal finance or nutrition.  There are times when I’ve made decisions that, in hindsight, I wouldn’t make again.  And you know what?  That’s just fine, so long as I don’t continue to make those same mistakes.  My approach to both personal finances and nutrition is about balance, prioritization, and making small changes.  Here are some of the tips I have found to be useful in my own experience.

•     Establish realistic goals with incremental benchmarks

 

Whether you want to pay off $10,000 of debt or lose 10 lbs., be realistic and specific with your goals.  If I set pie-in-the-sky goals, then I am likely to become discouraged and give up when I don’t see immediate progress.  However if I establish a set of smaller, more attainable goals (e.g., pay down $2,000 of debt by May, or exercise three times per week), then I take pride in progressing towards my goals.  This, in turn, motivates me to continue.

 

·         Set a reasonable timeframe

In this age of hyper-consumerism and instant gratification, we want to have it all.  And we want to have it all, right now.  When I first sketched out our five-year plan, I was discouraged to see that it would probably take us at least four years to purchase a rinky-dink starter home.  But then I realized that my parents waited just as long before buying their first home, and they saved much more aggressively than we do.  We're trying to learn to be patient and give ourselves time to reach our goals.  Nothing worth achieving will happen overnight.  As the saying goes, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

 

·         Keep your eye on the prize

With long-term plans, it can be easy to lose sight of the end goal.  When I find myself tempted to abandon my budget or diet, I remind myself of what I'm working towards.  When I was getting in shape for our wedding, I posted a picture of a leaner, trimmer me on my refrigerator as an incentive.  Now, when I feel like buying myself a new, unnecessary pair of shoes, I remind myself that every dollar I spend is less that can go towards our starter home.  Every $200 that I spend now means we have $1000 less to spend on a home ($200/20% down payment = $1000).  This equation has been a real source of motivation for me. 

·         Make room for fun

There have been times when I’ve drastically cut back in order to reach a goal.  This applies to both food and money.  This may work for some people, but it usually backfires on me.  If I restrict myself too much for too long, I end up going overboard with whatever behavior I was trying to improve.  To avoid this backlash, I incorporate a modest amount of “fun stuff” into both my budget and my diet.  For instance, Mr. W. and I each allow ourselves $100/month to spend on whatever we want.  When it comes to food, I allow myself 200-250 empty calories each day.  These are amounts that feel right to me, based on my personal situation and priorities.  Maybe you only need 100 calories/day of junk food (you bastion of self-control and restraint!).  The amounts don’t really matter; the point is that you’ve built “fun” into your plan so that you don’t feel deprived.  These "small splurges" can make the process of budgeting and dieting much more bearable. 

 

What are some steps that you take to help you stay on track with either budgeting or dieting?