I am preparing for Valentine’s Day with Top Ender (My daughter) and Baby Boy (My son) in the afternoons after school. We are making decorations and cards and gathering gift ideas for those we love.
This year, of course, we’ll be making gluten-free gingerbread to decorate like we did last year, but what happens when you have little to no money to spend?
Well come here of course and get some ideas!
The following ideas are things that will make even the most cynical among us (about Valentine’s Day and the commercialization of the day, not just those who are cynical, I haven’t found a cure for that yet) celebrate or at the same time think less which one would you like
1.) Breakfast in bed.
It is a known fact that any food that has not been cooked by the person eating it tastes better. What is a not so well known fact is that any food eaten in bed also tastes better. Especially if there is a tray, a little flower in a vase, and the person has had a break.
2.) Breakfast outside.
It’s not frugal! I hear you cry. Well, you’re not going to the right places. Go to Ikea, go to the local supermarket, go to the local Farmers Market! There is always a place you can go that will do something cheap and delicious! Heck, even McDonald’s makes bagels and porridge if you don’t fancy a “cooked” breakfast!
3.) Lunch.
Is it breakfast or is it lunch? Who knows, but there is something good about brunch and being lazy eating a selection of the best of breakfast and lunch foods!
4.) Walk to the pub.
A walk to the pub together, with a crisp breeze in the air, will give you some exercise to burn off your pint or G&T or whatever your drink is! It’s a casual, relaxed drink and spend time together. win win!
5.) A walk in the country
You know in magazines how you always see an embracing couple with rosy cheeks, wool jumpers, gloves and scarves (but no coats or umbrellas or toddlers or dog poo in sight) and you think it might be me. Well, you do it today.
6.) Go shopping or people watch.
Go to the local mall (or arcade or high street) and walk around looking at what you could buy, or who you would buy the things on display for. Just don’t take a debit or credit card. Alternatively, sit back and people watch. You could try playing a form of bingo and have to find a kissing couple, an elderly couple, a married couple… I’m sure you get the idea!
7.) Bargain Hunting at a £1 Store
Set a price limit and then go to the £1 shop and try to buy the best gift for each other, or the tackiest, or the most amazing. I can’t believe they sell this, so I brought. gift to prove it. The winner can get a chocolate bar or a kiss…
8.) Picnic Lunch
Picnics make any meal taste better (it’s one of those things everyone knows, like eating in bed and having someone else do the cooking, as mentioned in idea number one!) and no matter where they are, on your bed, on the living room floor, in the car, in a park, in the woods… the ideas are as endless as your imagination!
9.) Cook food together
When my husband and I first went out, we ate a meal that we loved to prepare together. We would each chop, mix and prepare side by side and our food would taste wonderful (because we both cooked it) or maybe it was just because we were too busy looking into each other’s eyes we didn’t taste the food!
10.) Do a puzzle together
It doesn’t have to be a puzzle, it could be a word search puzzle or a crossword puzzle or whatever project you like. As long as you do it together and don’t start arguing (which is why I haven’t suggested a board game!), then it’s something you’ll enjoy and look back on fondly.
11.) Read to each other.
My husband usually reads to me every night. He has a voice for radio (and commercials on TV) and it’s nice to be able to listen to your loved one read a book (or poem, or newspaper) to share a few moments together. Also, he always helped me fall asleep.
12.) Write a poem to each other
I’m lousy at poetry, my old English teachers will tell you. Give me a piece to criticize and I’m fine, but ask me to write something and it’s terrible… BUT writing a poem to your loved one should be from the heart and anything written from the heart is beautiful.
13.) Eat at home
Instead of going to a restaurant to eat, cook it at home. You can plan your favorite meal, you know it will cook wonderfully and if you combine it with number nine it will not cost you much effort. Of course this also works if you want to order a Take Away. Just don’t expect Chinese food, as this Valentine’s is also Chinese New Year, so most (if not all) Chinese take-outs will be closed.
14.) Watch a movie together
Rent a video or DVD, buy a cheap one from the £1 shop (not *that* kind though they do sell them at our local £1 shop) or Supermarket, borrow one from the Library or choose one from your own collection (no, not *those*!) and sit snuggled up on the couch, bed, or floor and share a bowl of popcorn or chips and salsa.
15.) Spend time together without distractions
Turn off the TV, the mobile, the computer, the pager, the fax or whatever you can and talk to your better half. If you run out of things to talk about, then talk about a shared memory or something you have planned. Oh, and don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be all day, it could just be half an hour!
16.) Learn to say I love you in a different language or write them down
I gave my husband a jar of paper for Christmas last year. On each strip of paper it said I love you, but written in a different language. Either you learn to say it or you write it, it is something simple but effective.
17.) Take a picture
There are two ways to do this, you could go out and buy a cheap disposable camera and take silly pictures of both of them. Since it’s disposable, you’ll have to develop them, but that adds to the excitement and also means you can’t remove them like you would with a digital camera. Of course, if you trust yourself, you can do it on a digital camera. The other thing you could do is take some more intimate photos. They all seem to have the old passport style photos of them and a loved one kissing, you could do the same or be more of an adult…
18.) Make a mixtape
“How original!” I hear you cry, but think about it, a CD, tape, or iPod music playlist that means something to both of you is always nice to have and listen to.
19.) Write a love letter
Write how much you love them, how you want to share your life with them… the things you would like to hear and the things you know they would like to hear.
20.) Do your partner’s least favorite chore
I hate ironing and putting away clean clothes, I would know how much my husband loves me if he did it for me.
21.) love checks
You know how this works, right? He owes you a back massage, foot massage, cuddles, kisses…
22.) Go to the bookstore and have a coffee and read books
It’s fun to go to bookstores and browse books, especially if you have a bookstore that also has a coffee shop. Pick a book for each other or have to find a book that has something to do with romance or another topic!
23.) Give them something they need, a notepad, a pen, new socks, new underwear…
This will allow them to remember you when they wear something that isn’t messy!
24.) Buy some flower seeds
Cheaper than a bunch of flowers, lasts longer, and is more fun as you watch things grow!
25.) Make Paper Flowers
Again, they’re cheaper than a bunch of flowers and they look great… try searching on Bing or Google for ways to make them!
26.) Frame your favorite photograph
Maybe it’s a photo of the number 17, or maybe it’s a photo from your wedding day, or maybe even one that would have been used in a Photo Meme… frame it and you’ll be a hit!
27.) Make a scrapbook
This can be done quickly and easily. If you need ideas again, search Bing or Google or create one for free using http://www.Picnik.com
28.) Treasure Map
A little local knowledge, a tea bag and a lighter and you can make a little treasure map… or a place to have a picnic, a walk in the park or even a place to eat a cookie.
29.) Keepsake Box
Create a memory box together, place photos, letters, cards, old movie tickets… you get the idea.
30.) Things I love about you
This was one of my favorite things that I did with my husband. We wrote down ten things we liked about each other and ten things we liked or that made us happy (like reading a book, eating chocolate) and then we put them in a frame and gave them to each other. If we wanted to make ourselves happy, we could read a reason why the other person loved us and if we wanted to make him happy, we could read a thing to do. We still have them now!
