Negotiate Debts, Frugal Living, Save Money | Frugal Valentines: A Price Tag on Love?

I was listening to the local radio station the other day and they were talking about how much you should spend on your valentines day gift. The general advice was that if you have been dating for at least two months, you should spend $60. If you have been dating for more than six months you should spend over $300. I was aghast.

And it really made me think about why we as a culture have to put a price tag on everything for it to have value. Does love have a price tag? When I think back over the gifts I have gotten through the years, I remember the Valentine’s Day when I was 16 and my boyfriend picked me up in the morning and took me to the park. He had brought a picnic lunch and a single rose. It was a dreary, cold, rainy day, too cold to even get out of the car for more than just a short walk but we parked overlooking the lake and had the picnic lunch. We spent the entire day together just enjoying each other’s company.

More recently, my all time favorite gift was an entire weekend alone with my significant other. We didn’t and still don’t get to spend a lot of time together so it is always a special occasion. If you think back over your Valentine’s Day gifts, what do you remember through the years?

Here are some ideas for showing your Valentine how much you care

• Turn one room in your house into a Sultan’s tent. Close the curtains, throw some pillows on the floor, light some scented candles and have a feast of fresh fruit, wine and maybe even some chocolate. Or turn one room into a park and spread a sheet or table cloth on the floor. Use your imagination.

• Spend the day or evening together, go for a drive, a walk or lock the doors, put the phones on silent, turn off the tv and just enjoy each other’s company. Devote as much time as you can to each other.

• Breakfast in bed. This is always the height of luxury and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Fix a tray, add a flower and surprise your loved one.

• Give them a massage. Whether you are good at it or not, there is just something about the total concentration on making someone feel good and relax that makes it special. Add some scented oil or lotion and your loved one won’t care that you aren’t a massage therapist.

• Leave small notes telling them how you feel or what you love about them where they will find them at different times during the day. A postit on the bathroom mirror, a note tucked into their wallet or purse, an email during the day, another postit on the steering wheel of their car.

• Write a poem or a love letter. You don’t have to be Lord Byron to make it special, no matter how wacky or corny it is, it will means something special to your loved ones.

• Write a blog post and dedicate it to your valentine. Make a huge list of the 25, 50 or 100 things that you love about them. Or pick one thing and write about it in detail.

• Make a scrapbook or notebook and fill it with things that you have done, pictures, memorabilia, little things that you love about them. My teenage daughter’s boyfriend, yup, boyfriend, did this for her and I know it will be something she will keep forever.

• Make a homemade Valentine. Tell your valentine how important they are to you.

These are just a few ways to show your care. What are some of your favorite Valentine memories or creative gift ideas? Were they expensive?