Bring on The New Year with a Focus on Self-Care!

I’m a clinical psychologist with over seventeen years of experience and I have seven kids. Needless to say, I have a massive amount of experience dealing with stress, life changes, parenting, and various other life stressors!!

All of my education, training, and real-life experience make me the best person to help guide others on better ways to manage their stress. Oh, and what a crazy couple of years we have all had! No one could have predicted the craziness and chaos that presented itself in the last two years!

Updated for 2023

We have all experienced additional stress in one form or another these last couple of years. Whether stress was due to income troubles, parenting stress, or boredom from quarantine life, it has still been more stressful than any of us could have imagined!

With all of this additional stress, we need to focus on making 2023 the best year yet! One way to start 2023 off right is by taking care of yourself. Check out these great ideas for self-care while kicking 2022 out and kick-starting 2023!

1-Kick-Start Your Self-Care

Sadly, many of us often put self-care on the back burner, but 2023 is the year that we all need to put a little more effort into our own self-care. We have to find the balance between working and getting our physical needs met and making sure we have time to relax, refresh, and take care of ourselves.

Check out this amazing five-day Self-Care Challenge to start you off on the right foot! It offers five days of email reminders with feasible tips for making self-care part of your daily (or weekly) life!

Journaling is another great way to practice self-care! Here is my favorite journal!

This is the journal I created with self-care in mind! There are journal prompts, spaces for self-exploration, and more! Be sure to check it out!

2-Save Money like a pro

Next, who doesn’t like to save money?? One way to take care of yourself in this new year is to get a better handle on your finances. One of the best ways to do this is by figuring out how to save money on things we already use and need!

You can use Honey to automatically help you save money on anything your purchase online! This is a free program that tries various coupon codes before you make an online purchase!

Another way to save money on things you already do is by using Ibotta! I’ve made well over $350 in the time I have been using this app. And, I have never purchased anything that was not already on my shopping list! It’s quick and easy and you make real money with little to no effort! Check Ibotta out!

For other ideas, check out our frequently updated Amazing Good Deals post!

Saving money is one crucial area of self-care because it allows you to have the freedom to do more and the security to live your life without the worry about your financial situation.

3-Take care of your mental health needs

Many of us often forget to care for ourselves, much less our mental health needs. However, depression and anxiety are very common in this day and age, and have been exasperated by all of the changes and stress that these last couple of years brought us. They can be overwhelming at times and we all have days where the symptoms seem unmanageable. When those days hit, check out these tips and tricks for better managing depressive and anxious symptoms!

However, if you need a little more help to better manage your depressive and anxious symptoms, check with your health insurance company to see what practitioners are covered by your insurance. Make sure to read our post on what to expect for your first visit with a mental health professional. I promise it is not as uncomfortable as you might think!

4-Travel and Explore More

For me, travel is my favorite form of self-care. I enjoy planning our trips, both short and long, and being able to share my planning excitement with my family! Of course, I also enjoy being able to take those trips and enjoy whatever activities we have planned!

I have always loved to travel and have shared my love of travel with my children. However, due to having seven kids, I had to find ways to save money so we could still travel. I’ve done this by some of the methods discussed above (Ibotta and Honey), as well as finding discount tickets and travel deals!

Undercover Tourist is a great way to save on tickets and hotel costs to major destinations, such as those located in Florida and California!

I have also saved money through the years by using City Pass! If you are heading to large cities, such as Tampa, Boston, or Chicago, City Pass offers discounted admission to local attractions, such as zoos and aquariums, that you were likely to be visiting anyway! I know I love zoos and aquariums and have saved a ton of money for my family (and my daughter’s Girl Scout troop) by using City Pass to save!

Here are some of my favorite self-care trips!

• Our stay at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort. What an amazing and relaxing place! However, I think Animal Kingdom Lodge is even better (and I didn’t know that was possible)!
• Our visit to Tampa and one of my favorite aquariums in the US: The Florida Aquarium
• Our trip to Clearwater Beach Flordia for some much-need sun and sand! This is such a beautiful and relaxing place.
• Our next trip will be to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN! I can’t wait to go again in a few weeks!

5-Make Amazing Memories!

Last but not least, make amazing memories!

No matter what you do in 2023, you should make as many amazing memories as you can! Whether you are making memories by spending time doing things you enjoy, saving money so you can travel more, or just enjoying quiet times at home with your family, the memories you make are what life is all about!

The little things in life (tucking kids into bed, taking nightly walks, or spending time with family and friends) make life unique, special, and enjoyable. These are the things we look back on when we get older and are amazed by how much those small moments really meant.

One of my favorite little memories in my life was all the times we would make sandwiches for lunch in our 12-passenger van while driving 12 hours to Florida or South Carolina with the kids. This is a simple thing (and something that saved us a lot of money with seven kids), but one that has made great memories for me and for the children! The goal may have been Disney World or the beach, but the memories were made throughout the entire trip!

BONUS…

Here are two can’t-miss movies to start the year off right!

If you have not watched Soul on Disney+, you NEED to! It’s the perfect perspective for starting off 2023!

Encanto is another great movie that has a great perspective to head into 2023 with!

I knew nothing about either movie before I watched it, but they were both the perfect reminders to focus on what’s important in life!

Have a safe, happy, and fun 2023 and don’t forget to kick start 2023 with this amazing Self-Care Challenge!

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