Ideas For A Great Valentine’s Day On A Budget

Some people may think that Valentine’s Day is just a marketing strategy, however legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. At that time, there was an Emperor by the name of Claudius II who had decided that single men made better soldiers than those who were married so he banned marriage in hopes of building a stronger military base. Valentine thought this was unjust and started secretly marrying young couples. When the Emperor found out, he sentenced Valentine to death. During his imprisonment, Valentine had fallen in love with his jailor’s daughter and before his death had written her his first letter signed “Your Valentine” which is the phrase still used today.

Valentine’s Day has become one of the most commercial holidays and it’s very easy to get caught up in the hype that you should spend money to show your love. Don’t fall into this trap. You should give gifts from the heart and not from the wallet and here are some great ideas to express your love to your loved one without breaking the bank:

Love Letters – Who can resist a love letter? Plan to send your loved one a letter a day starting February 1st. You can mail it to the office or home, hide the letters in a coat pocket, place the letter in his car prior to him/her leaving for work or just use imagination to find places to hide them. Make sure you place them in a spot that can be found otherwise it defeats the purpose and make sure that you describe how much you adore him/her and how much you appreciate them and their wonderful aspects.

Favourite things – You can put together a box of their favourite things. It can be anything from an old movie, popcorn, their favourite candy or a magazine. You know them best so you can choose whatever inexpensive item you know they’ll appreciate. Another great idea for this Valentine’s gift is to choose a theme and leave one gift each day leading up to Valentine’s so that they can use these gifts on that day. For example: You can do a spa theme so each day you leave a gift that can be used towards pampering themselves like bubble bath, champagne, chocolates, bath oil, rose petals, candles, moisturizing creams and on the 14th draw them up a bubble bath complete with all the gifts. This works great if you have children so that your loved one can have an hour of kid free solitary time that they may never get due to a busy lifestyle.

Fireplace picnic – If you have a fireplace, you can set up a picnic fireside. Move all furniture out of the way, have some soothing music that you may want to dance to a little later in the evening, bring out some chilled champagne with fruit or a platter of cheese, crackers and olives. You can also gather your favourite photos since they day you met and reminisce about the great times you’ve shared together. If possible, burn pictures onto a disc and turn them into a video complete with music and present it as a special gift to them during the picnic so you can watch the video together while sipping on some bubbly.

Always remember that it’s the thought that counts. The most important thing is that you are spending quality time together!

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