The moment your head hits the pillow is one of the most critical moments of your entire day. Does your brain immediately start shutting down for sleep or do you anticipate lying in bed for ten minutes or more hoping rest will find you? Not being able to fall asleep quickly is an epidemic of modern working professionals and even some children struggle with sleeping at right.

It's not unusual to find yourself browsing the web on your phone or home computer for quick remedies to get to sleep that doesn't require a prescription. And out there, you'll find all sorts of things, but many of the solutions come with a surprising price tag. That's because sleep remedies are often treated and sold as luxury items—custom white noise machines, aromatherapy diffusers, cooling gel face masks, and vitamins that may promote sleep.

However, if you need to solve your sleep problem without creating a new household budget category or altering your bedtime routine, Nest Bedding is here to help. There are some easy budget-friendly ways to improve your sleep environment and quality of sleep. Let's take a look at our top six ways to get better sleep on a budget.

1. DIY White Noise Machine

White noise machines are all the rage right now in the world of luxury sleep aids. These little devices can look like anything, but mainly they are speakers with a few specific white noise tracks. These tracks are then played all night on a smooth loop to block outside sounds and soothe your mind into sleep.

White noise is fantastic and can even be used to train your mind to sleep when you hear the soft whooshing sounds, but you don't have to break the bank on a one-use machine. It's easy to create your own white noise. All you need is speakers with some base capabilities and a device that can play soft whooshing sounds on a loop. A computer in your bedroom can do it, or even just a charging tablet connected to a reasonably large speaker is all you need for DIY white noise.

2. Replace Old Sheets

Many people don't realize that old sheets can significantly lower the quality of your sleep. There may be loose threads, pilling, and rough patches that mildly irritate your skin. Old sheets are more prone to bunching and wrinkling underneath you, and some are so old that body oil is permanently pressed into the fabric.

If your sheets are more than three years old, and especially if they're nearing a decade, do yourself a favor and pick up a couple of sets of new sheets. Good sheets don't have to be expensive, and you don't need Egyptian cotton to be happy. Look for organic bedding and long-staple cotton which will be soft without the cost of inflated thread counts. Even microfiber sheets are pretty comfy and better than old pilling sheets that bunch around you when you sleep.

3. Household Blanket Rotation

Your blanket also has a more significant impact on your sleep quality than you may realize. You need a quilt that is the right warmth for the temperature in your bedroom. Otherwise, you may wake up sweating or shivering. Your body also prefers the comforting feeling of a more massive blanket, which is why many people keep their winter-weight blankets when they should switch back to summer-weight for comfort.

One attractive solution that won't add to your budget is to rotate the blankets that are already in your household on beds and closets. Take a few different blankets for a test-drive and figure out what the right weight and temperature combination is for each person this time of year. If you find new preferences, everyone in the house may soon be sleeping better.

4. Window Air Conditioner

In warm regions and the summer, it can be challenging to get your home cold enough to enjoy a long refreshing sleep under the covers. And if you're watching your budget, you may be hesitant to crank the AC down for the entire house to cool your bedroom. An attractive solution to this is to invest in a window air conditioner unit. It is a great way to concentrate and blow that cold air right over your bed without paying the central air costs to cool the entire house.

A window AC unit is great in two different scenarios. The first is if there is only one occupied bedroom in the house. This way, you can benefit from a cool night sleep while the rest of the house stays at a practical temperature. The second situation is if you have children, sick, or elderly relatives in the other bedrooms who actually need the house to be warmer. You can cool just your room for sleep while everyone else enjoys warmer sleeping conditions.

5. Eye Mask and Earplugs

Good sleep for many people means blocking out every scrap of outside light, especially if you need to sleep past sunrise or even in the middle of the day. fortunately, you don't actually have to invest in expensive blackout curtains and draft stoppers. Instead, realize that you can address the problem more locally. Sleeping eye masks are very inexpensive and you can try several brands and designs for a fraction of the price of a single blackout curtain.

Invest in sleeping gear like eye masks and earplugs to make your sleep sensory inputs something you handle at the intake point, not the source. If the sun rises before your alarm clock goes off, an eye mask can be crucial for continuing to get deep, valuable sleep. If family members or noisy neighbors leave for work before you're scheduled to rise, earplugs can be a great way not to notice. And it's hard to get more affordable than that.

6. Mattress Topper

Or maybe the mattress is your problem instead. Old mattresses come with some challenges, from squeaking to lumps to the notorious valley that forms in the middle. You may have a bed that is too soft, too firm, or somehow distorted over the years. You may also not currently have a budget for a new mattress.

One creative solution is to pop a high-quality topper under your fitted sheet until you can afford a whole new mattress in the future. A topper can change the landscape of a mattress significantly, adding both support and cushioning depending on the kind of mattress topper you get. And the best part is that when you do get a new mattress, the topper can add to the stack or you can pass the mattress topper off to a family member who is still sleeping on an old bed.