It's important not to get too hung up on the idea of "stuff" and what you're "supposed" to do.
We like to get each other the goofiest cards we can find--something totally ridiculous and cheesy. We often have friends over for dinner on Valentine's Day--last year we had our friend whose partner was out of town over, and we had my (divorced) mother over. We made a fancier-than-usual dinner and got to treat two of our favorite people to it, who would have been alone otherwise. That was one of my favorite Valentine's Days.
If we do go out to celebrate, it's usually on a different night around the 14th, not on it. Who wants to join in that big cattle call of people, when all the restaurants are too busy and rushed anyway?
Not sure if this was mentioned, but the most frugal V-day gift is winning an iPod Touch and loading it up with 10 free songs as a mix-tape for your honey. Of course if I won it, I would just let her listen to it through headphones while I keep the iPod :)
The power of words, when you can speak/act upon each others love language. My husbands is quality time and mine is acts of service and when either of us is triggered in these areas we affirm the other. Valentines day is nice, but its something we try to manifest on a regular basis.
When my Mom was still alive, she and my Dad would go to the
local CVS or card store and read all the different cards.
They'd laugh and share cards and pick their favorites.....
before they left they would always pick the one they would
buy for each other ..if they had the money. Living on a tight
budget on their social security, it wasn't often that they
splurged on cards but they still had fun together. This is one
of my favorite memories of them.
Instead of getting flower petals to sprinkle all over, I cut out flower petal shapes from construction paper, and wrote reasons I love my wife on them.
Buy her a ring, but wrap it in tin foil and use an index card instead of hallmark. You may not save on the ring, but you do on the other stuff. Plus it's a nice touch.
Newspaper roses.
Great for having the kids help too.
Can't remember where I found the idea- but I can't claim it as my own. Anyway:
Cut newspaper sheet into a circle.
Fold in half.
Roll into a cone shape.
Twist pointed end.
Open up wide end to look like a rose.
Twist a green 'pipe cleaner' for the stem, around the twisted end.
Go nuts with red or whatever paint...
Let dry, and surprise your valentine....
The kids and I make sugar cookies cut out with heart cookie cutters and ice them with pink icing. We also make homemade cards. I made my husband his favorite gingerbread cake but bake it in small heart shaped pans.
It is not the gift that counts, it is the thought.
"To get a postmark, simply enclose a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope and mail it in a large stamped envelope to:
Postmaster
(Town Name) Valentine Re-mailing
City, State ZIP Code
Here are some popular choices:
Bliss, NY 14024
Heart Butte, MT 59448
Juliette, GA 31046
Loveland, CO 80538
Loveville, MD 20656
Loving, NM 88256
Romance, AR 72136
Romeo, MI 48065
Sugar City, CO 81076
Valentine, NE 69201
Valentine, TX 79854
Valentines, VA 23887"
We don't really exchange gifts, although I always get my partner some of his favourite chocolate- I always wait till it's on sale though so he is getting a white chocolate reindeer (he had halloween truffles at Christmas and will get the Valentines chocolates for his birthday at the end of March)
Thankfully he doesn't care about the wrappings on his candy!
Aside from this we stay in and make one of our favourite meals together and watch a movie from our collection.
As it falls on a weekend this year we might get the bus out of the city and go for a hike as well. Mostly we view it as a reminder to squeeze a few extra cuddles and "we time" into our day.
I think the most important thing is to make whatever you do meaningful to that person. If you do that, you will get more bang for your buck no matter what.
V-day will be just another day for me. I intend to curl up on the sofa with some hot apple cider and watch a nice horror movie or two. Family and friends are welcome to join if they can stomach it.
My dear husband does this for me since I'm a frugalholic. He buys flowers for me at a discount florist and then brings them home and adds to them with different exotic things growing around the area. He uses one of the vases I find too pretty to discard.
For dinner: he buys some prime steaks, potatoes, salad and a veggie. He serves us drinks and we grill while the potatoes are cooking. The veggie is easy to grill right along side the steaks and the salad easy to prep ~ more together time. Makes for a very romantic evening.
My dad has sometimes forgotten to buy a card and has, on a few occasions, given my mom last year's valentine card that she saved. However, to make up for his mistake, every year he'll decorate the whole house with all of the v-day cards from their 30 years of marriage and add one new one. The stack of cards is pretty thick now, and it is a reminder of how love grows over time.
Go to the place you had your first date. Which was inexpensive even for college kids (and would seem that much more affordable now). (This is a tip for old married people like me.)
While on a tight budget, what I recommend for all those lads out there is to hit Krogers a bout 2 days before V-Day and look in their discounted flower section. You can pick up quite a few deals on a variety of different beauties. The last time I hit their discount buckets, I came away with 2 dozen spray roses for $2.99 a dozen; 12 long stem roses for 50 cents a piece, and a nice plethora of floral mixes for under $3.00. I took them home, properly cut them and arranged them in my fancy vases. However, I had so much leftover, I used my recycled glass jars and made beautiful mini bouquets to put all around the house. Talk about brighten a lass' day when she walks in and you have 5 to 6 different arrangements throughout the house! And all for under $20. Good luck lads!
My birthday is only 9 days away from Valentine's, so I'd like to skip it all together. My husband is opposed to that, he likes spoiling me too much. This year I have to work on Valentine's day (I work fast food), so all I want is for him to cook dinner, and a nice long bubble bath. A massage would be nice, too.
Other ideas would be to watch a DVD while sipping hot cocoa, playing board and or card games, or (one of my hubby's favorites) playing computer games together. As long as you are spending quality time together, doing something you both enjoy, and keeping the passion going, there will be no need for the fancy stuffs. You can't put a price tag on love.
My valentine plans a little trip to a special place- our favorite place to take walks, a trip to the zoo, a picnic in a local park, a play at the local community theater. The memories of these times together mean much more to me than some trinket would. Some times its free, some times it costs a little, but it's always very sweet and thoughtful. And I think it's even more romantic because it doesn't put us in debt!
My hubby LOVES anything I bake so this year I'll be making him some heart shaped cookies and his fav. banana bread to take in his lunches ;) i love that he's so easy to please!
It's important not to get too hung up on the idea of "stuff" and what you're "supposed" to do.
We like to get each other the goofiest cards we can find--something totally ridiculous and cheesy. We often have friends over for dinner on Valentine's Day--last year we had our friend whose partner was out of town over, and we had my (divorced) mother over. We made a fancier-than-usual dinner and got to treat two of our favorite people to it, who would have been alone otherwise. That was one of my favorite Valentine's Days.
If we do go out to celebrate, it's usually on a different night around the 14th, not on it. Who wants to join in that big cattle call of people, when all the restaurants are too busy and rushed anyway?
Not sure if this was mentioned, but the most frugal V-day gift is winning an iPod Touch and loading it up with 10 free songs as a mix-tape for your honey. Of course if I won it, I would just let her listen to it through headphones while I keep the iPod :)
The power of words, when you can speak/act upon each others love language. My husbands is quality time and mine is acts of service and when either of us is triggered in these areas we affirm the other. Valentines day is nice, but its something we try to manifest on a regular basis.
When my Mom was still alive, she and my Dad would go to the
local CVS or card store and read all the different cards.
They'd laugh and share cards and pick their favorites.....
before they left they would always pick the one they would
buy for each other ..if they had the money. Living on a tight
budget on their social security, it wasn't often that they
splurged on cards but they still had fun together. This is one
of my favorite memories of them.
Instead of getting flower petals to sprinkle all over, I cut out flower petal shapes from construction paper, and wrote reasons I love my wife on them.
Buy her a ring, but wrap it in tin foil and use an index card instead of hallmark. You may not save on the ring, but you do on the other stuff. Plus it's a nice touch.
mY FRUGAL IDEA
Newspaper roses.
Great for having the kids help too.
Can't remember where I found the idea- but I can't claim it as my own. Anyway:
Cut newspaper sheet into a circle.
Fold in half.
Roll into a cone shape.
Twist pointed end.
Open up wide end to look like a rose.
Twist a green 'pipe cleaner' for the stem, around the twisted end.
Go nuts with red or whatever paint...
Let dry, and surprise your valentine....
Very cheap, doesn't die, and recyclable...
Do I win?
My husband loves chocolate covered pretzels, but instead of buying them this year, I'm going to make some for him.
The kids and I make sugar cookies cut out with heart cookie cutters and ice them with pink icing. We also make homemade cards. I made my husband his favorite gingerbread cake but bake it in small heart shaped pans.
It is not the gift that counts, it is the thought.
Years ago I mailed letters and cards to Valentine, NE for a postmark. I think it gives the letter and card just that something extra special.
These days, there's a whole list of places. From http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Ed_Teach_Kids_Postmark/:
"To get a postmark, simply enclose a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope and mail it in a large stamped envelope to:
Postmaster
(Town Name) Valentine Re-mailing
City, State ZIP Code
Here are some popular choices:
Bliss, NY 14024
Heart Butte, MT 59448
Juliette, GA 31046
Loveland, CO 80538
Loveville, MD 20656
Loving, NM 88256
Romance, AR 72136
Romeo, MI 48065
Sugar City, CO 81076
Valentine, NE 69201
Valentine, TX 79854
Valentines, VA 23887"
We don't really exchange gifts, although I always get my partner some of his favourite chocolate- I always wait till it's on sale though so he is getting a white chocolate reindeer (he had halloween truffles at Christmas and will get the Valentines chocolates for his birthday at the end of March)
Thankfully he doesn't care about the wrappings on his candy!
Aside from this we stay in and make one of our favourite meals together and watch a movie from our collection.
As it falls on a weekend this year we might get the bus out of the city and go for a hike as well. Mostly we view it as a reminder to squeeze a few extra cuddles and "we time" into our day.
I think the most important thing is to make whatever you do meaningful to that person. If you do that, you will get more bang for your buck no matter what.
We don't really celebrate it all that much--we just send each other e-cards (free) and watch a netflix movie.
We keep costs down on V-day by not celebrating it! (My hubby usually sends me a card anyway, though. :)
V-day will be just another day for me. I intend to curl up on the sofa with some hot apple cider and watch a nice horror movie or two. Family and friends are welcome to join if they can stomach it.
Bwhahahaha!
My dear husband does this for me since I'm a frugalholic. He buys flowers for me at a discount florist and then brings them home and adds to them with different exotic things growing around the area. He uses one of the vases I find too pretty to discard.
For dinner: he buys some prime steaks, potatoes, salad and a veggie. He serves us drinks and we grill while the potatoes are cooking. The veggie is easy to grill right along side the steaks and the salad easy to prep ~ more together time. Makes for a very romantic evening.
Heart-shaped chocolate-chip cookies (nuttin' sez luv lahk chockolit), and lots of shaving cream hearts on the bathroom mirrors!
My dad has sometimes forgotten to buy a card and has, on a few occasions, given my mom last year's valentine card that she saved. However, to make up for his mistake, every year he'll decorate the whole house with all of the v-day cards from their 30 years of marriage and add one new one. The stack of cards is pretty thick now, and it is a reminder of how love grows over time.
Go to the place you had your first date. Which was inexpensive even for college kids (and would seem that much more affordable now). (This is a tip for old married people like me.)
While on a tight budget, what I recommend for all those lads out there is to hit Krogers a bout 2 days before V-Day and look in their discounted flower section. You can pick up quite a few deals on a variety of different beauties. The last time I hit their discount buckets, I came away with 2 dozen spray roses for $2.99 a dozen; 12 long stem roses for 50 cents a piece, and a nice plethora of floral mixes for under $3.00. I took them home, properly cut them and arranged them in my fancy vases. However, I had so much leftover, I used my recycled glass jars and made beautiful mini bouquets to put all around the house. Talk about brighten a lass' day when she walks in and you have 5 to 6 different arrangements throughout the house! And all for under $20. Good luck lads!
Newly married couple's car decorated w/toothpaste that stayed on for 3 days in freezing weather, will this damage car?
My birthday is only 9 days away from Valentine's, so I'd like to skip it all together. My husband is opposed to that, he likes spoiling me too much. This year I have to work on Valentine's day (I work fast food), so all I want is for him to cook dinner, and a nice long bubble bath. A massage would be nice, too.
Other ideas would be to watch a DVD while sipping hot cocoa, playing board and or card games, or (one of my hubby's favorites) playing computer games together. As long as you are spending quality time together, doing something you both enjoy, and keeping the passion going, there will be no need for the fancy stuffs. You can't put a price tag on love.
My valentine plans a little trip to a special place- our favorite place to take walks, a trip to the zoo, a picnic in a local park, a play at the local community theater. The memories of these times together mean much more to me than some trinket would. Some times its free, some times it costs a little, but it's always very sweet and thoughtful. And I think it's even more romantic because it doesn't put us in debt!
My hubby LOVES anything I bake so this year I'll be making him some heart shaped cookies and his fav. banana bread to take in his lunches ;) i love that he's so easy to please!
Maybe if you are only making $10.00 an hour, low to no benefits etc YOU SHOULDN'T BE MAKING BABIES YOU CAN'T AFFORD!
Give me a break, it is Econ 101 for God's sake.
Social Security is just Socialism with lipstick, take from one demographic and give to another and there are many in this SCHEME.