How to live a soft life on a budget

When I think of a soft life, I think of a life of luxury, little stresses, the ability to just float around doing what you want, slow mornings and evenings, enjoying the small things in life, and having freedom.

Basically my dream life!!

I am not a fan of the hustle culture and working my life away, I want to enjoy my life, especially whilst I am young, because life is so short!

But I know that a lot of components of a soft life require money, so I have complied tips that you can do, that don’t require money (or require little money), so we can all live a soft life together!

Here’s all the tips you need to live a soft life on a budget (best believe I will be following them!)

1. Wake up earlier

I know you might be thinking ‘but surely you’d think that having a soft life means waking up when you want’… yes, I agree, but right now, I have things to do, places to be.

Waking up earlier will give me the ability to have a slow morning filled with the things I love, before I have to go to work or uni or wherever.

For example, if I know I have to be somewhere at 9am, and it takes me 30 minutes to get there, I will be waking up around 6:30-7am because then I have minimum of 1hr 30mins to have a slow morning for myself.

Things I can do in the morning from waking up earlier:

• Read my book
• Make and eat my breakfast
• Drink my cup of tea
• Workout
• Shower
• Slowly do my makeup
• Pick an outfit
• Leave feeling no stress

2. Schedule time for yourself

This carries on from my previous tip, but actually planning time to do what you want is vital.

Relaxing is only relaxing when you actually let yourself relax (say relax one more time lol). I don’t know about you, but whenever I have a lazy morning when I know I should be doing work, I feel really guilty.

But when I schedule rest into my day and week, then I can actually enjoy it and use that time wisely to recharge.

Whether it’s scheduling time to go on solo dates, pamper evenings, or just bingeing your favourite show on Netflix, you don’t have to feel guilty about it.

I think one of the main things about living a soft life is relaxation, and the ability to live your life, and not spend every minute worrying about working (especially for someone else)!

3. It’s all about planning

Ultimately, the goal is to never need a calendar, and just frolic around doing what feels natural.

But since most of us actually have schedules to follow, things to pay for, and deadlines to meet, planning is amazing to be able to lower your stress and stay on top of your life.

I am at uni, and if I’m being honest, I have rarely felt stressed about deadlines.

That’s because I plan months and months in advance. If I know my deadline is in 10 weeks, I plan to get my work done in 8-9 weeks, so that if anything happens, I have at least an extra week to make sure all of the work is done.

Yes some of the work can be stressful, but planning months ahead and giving myself small tasks to do everyday, softens the impact of how stressful it is.

I talk about how to lower stress and anxiety at uni in this post, and I go more in depth on planning! http://bigsisterera.com/how-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety-at-uni/

4. Live in align with your cycle

Living in align with your cycle as a woman is an amazing tool with so many benefits, to name a few:

• Avoid burnout
• Increase productivity
• Better mental and physical health
• More energy
• Happier

So how can I live in align with my cycle?

Nutrition

(I want to preface that this is not a diet, think of it as what things you can add during your different phases, rather than what you can take away).

Menstrual phase:

During your menstrual phase focus on rich, comforting and soothing foods, like soups and stews

• Iron and zinc (beans, nuts, oily fish, red meat)
• Vitamin c (dark berries, broccoli, bell pepper)
• Water rich fruits (cucumber, watermelon, grapes)

Follicular phase:

During your follicular phase, your estrogen will start to rise, (you will also experience a lower appetite) so focus on foods that metabolise your estrogen levels.

• Probiotics (yogurt, pickles miso)
• Prebiotics (garlic, onions, bananas, asparagus, leek)
• High protein (chicken, eggs)

Ovulatory phase:

During your Ovulatory phase, your estrogen will be at its peak! High estrogen can cause PMS and heavy period cramps, so during this time you want to focus on anti-inflammatory foods.

• Raw veggies (peppers, spinach, tomatoes)
• Fruits (pineapple, strawberries, mango)
• Lighter carbs (lentils, quinoa, brown rice)
• Magnesium (pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, dark chocolate)

Luteal phase:

During your Luteal phase estrogen and progesterone both rise. If your ratio of progesterone to estrogen is off you may experience cramps! Eliminate excess estrogen with fibre rich foods and liver supporting nutrients.

• Complex carbs (oats, sweet potato, chickpeas)
• Healthy fats (nut butters, seeds)
• Fibre rich fruits (apples, pears, raisins)
• I’d also try to reduce alcohol and caffeine during this time. (You could replace your coffee with a matcha for a slow release energy boost!)

Exercising

Menstrual phase:

During your menstrual phase you want restoring and soothing movement.

• Walking
• Yoga
• Gentle pilates
• Gentle swimming
• Rest and pamper yourself

Follicular phase:

During your follicular phase you have more energy and your body responds well to cardio based workouts.

• Hiit
• Spinning
• Boxing
• Bike rides
• Fun upbeat classes
• Dance classes

Ovulatory phase:

During your Ovulatory phase you are at your peak energy levels.

• Spinning
• Weight training
• Hiit
• Circuit training
• Power vinyasa

Luteal phase:

During your Luteal phase your energy levels are dropping and it’s best to do low impact workouts to keep your cortisol levels at bay!

• Pilates
• Strength training
• Yoga
• Walking
• Barre
• Resistance training

5. Speak only kind words to yourself

This should be done whether you’re trying to live a soft life or not.

Speaking kindly to yourself not only keeps you positive and happy, but it trains your brain to think that that is your reality.

For example, if you are constantly saying ‘I am ugly’ then your brain will eventually believe that, just like how we believe that 1 + 1 = 2, because we have been told that our whole lives.

So choose the words you speak about yourself carefully because they have huge effects.

6. Learn new hobbies

When I think of a soft life, I think of learning new hobbies that I’ve always wanted to do.

Whenever I think of wanting to learn something new, I always think of learning how to play the piano.

I can just imagine me sitting in my peaceful living room, with a massive grand piano, playing lovely music, living my best soft life.

It’s going to happen just you wait.

Other hobbies you could try that scream soft life:

• Painting / drawing https://amzn.to/3m7nYxC
• Sewing https://amzn.to/3KHIn5u
• Learning an instrument https://amzn.to/3ZPLj4k
• Baking https://amzn.to/43bulk2
• Cooking https://amzn.to/3Mqeng2
• Pottery / pottery painting https://amzn.to/438702J
• Yoga
• Makeup

I feel like whenever I think about any of these hobbies / activities, I think about being in the school holidays or being off from work, and the peace I feel knowing I have the day off / so much time to do whatever I want is unmatched.

Honestly these activities make me feel so at peace. (Although whenever I try to bake something ends up going wrong and that’s definitely not peaceful, but it’s the thought that counts lol).

But I think the key here is, whatever activities or hobbies you do try, you just have to romanticise them and be present in the moment.

It happens all the time when I’m thinking about any of these activities, I get so exited thinking about it, and then when they’re happening, I tend to not be present in the moment and before I know it, it’s over and I feel like I’ve not enjoyed it as much as I think I should.

But really we just need to throw all pressure and expectations out of the window, and only think about enjoying the present moment.

7. Set boundaries and prioritise yourself

This is probably the hardest one of them all, but one that is very important.

Lets say for example, you work really hard at your job, so people then start to take advantage of you, by piling more work on you, expecting you to start early and stay late, because that’s what will ‘get you a higher position and more respect in your job’ (it won’t by the way).

What you need to do in this position, is set boundaries for yourself. Make sure people know, this is when you start work, this is when you finish, this is your workload and the jobs you’re getting paid to do, so you’re not going to do anything else.

Not only will this make you feel good, because you’re setting boundaries and prioritising yourself, allowing for you to have more time and joy. But it will earn you more respect in your job, because the main reason you were given more and more work is because you didn’t respect yourself, therefore they didn’t respect you.

I think this is really hard. Especially being younger and finding your feet in the workplace, putting yourself first can be hard, because you feel like setting a boundary will get you fired, and being in your 20s, you already feel generally lost anyways.

But you know what, if it does get you fired, then you don’t want to be working for a company that doesn’t respect their employees anyway.

Everything that happens to you, is meant to happen to you.

Nothing that is meant for you will pass by you.

Just keep that in mind. Prioritise yourself, your happiness and your self respect, and whatever happens after that, you know it was meant to happen for your greater good.

Story time

I know someone who has worked in a really great finance job for many years, up until her 40s, until one day her daughter said to her ‘mam you are like a different person outside of work’, and she just burst out crying, because she realised she was so unhappy in her job that even her daughter was noticing that something was bothering her.

From that moment, she quit her well paying amazing finance job, and is now pursuing a career, working for herself, in the beauty industry, something she really enjoys and is passionate about.

Also, it’s just a nicer life to live when you’re prioritising your happiness, because that’s really what life is about.

Prioritising yourself could also include:

• Self care
• Rest days
• Extra sleep
• Asking for help

So now we know everything we need to do to adapt a soft life into our day to day lives.

Just a gentle reminder to live and enjoy your life as stress free as it can possibly be, and remember that you deserve to be happy.

Thank you for reading this far, I hope you all have a good day <3