5 Frugal but Fabulous Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Your Husband

Special occasions like Valentine’s Day call for meaningful moments shared with the people we love the most. Married people with kids, like my husband and I, usually take this opportunity to take a break from their usual routine, leave the kids with a trusted babysitter or relative, and spend some well-deserved quality time together. This need not entail spending thousands of pesos though. What is most important is the quality of time that we spend together with our dearest better halves.

Here are five suggested ways to celebrate the “Day of Hearts” with your spouse, without going over budget. All you need is some imagination, creativity and a bit of effort – mix in a whole bucket of love – and voila! You get a Valentine’s Day to remember, lots of perfect moments to treasure, and savings in the bank!

1.    Gift your spouse with your creativity.
Write a love letter. Or a poem. Or a song. It depends on how you want to express your devotion to your spouse. Don’t give up just because you consider yourself not to be artistically-inclined. There are lots of ways to show your spouse how creatively you love him or her. You could even make a special video dedicated to your honey, or a mix tape of his or her favorite songs. If you’re a good dancer, you could make up a special dance number that is for his or her eyes only. The more creative among you may want to consider making a photo collage or scrapbook of your favourite memories together as a couple. You could even come up with a blog dedicated to your love, complete with pictures of you two even before you got married. If you’re stuck for ideas that “fit” your talents, the Internet is a great place to find free stuff.  


2.    Plan a home-cooked meal, served up with a lot of romance.  
Valentine’s Day meals need not be at expensive high-end restaurants. You can make up your own Valentine meal at home with easy-to-cook recipes taken from the Internet or your own favorite cookbooks. If you’re not a good cook, order in (or  take out) some good, affordable food and serve it in the most romantic way you can think of. Lay out one of your nice tablecloths, get some fresh flowers from the garden (if you don’t have a garden, ask your neighbour, friends or family members for some) and put them in a vase; light up some candles and set out your nicest plates and cutlery. If dining in is not so appealing to you and your spouse, you could opt to go on a picnic at a nearby park, or even just outside in your garden. For condo and apartment dwellers, try your neighbourhood clubhouse or park area. Leave the kids at home and have a romantic outdoor meal with the love of your life.

Click here to see more frugal but fabulous ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your husband.

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Read on to see more frugal but fabulous ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your husband.

3.    Give the gift of service – a “labor of love” for your loved one.
Many times, the mere gift of doing something for your better half will speak volumes of your love. It could be a simple thing like throwing out the trash without being asked to, taking the baby for a walk so Mommy can go for a whole afternoon of pampering and primping at her favorite salon, or giving Hubby a nice long back rub. What will make this labor of love more special is if you’re doing something that you would not normally do - perhaps even loathe doing - for your spouse, because it is something that you know he or she would like or appreciate. For example, he may want you to play video games with him but you get bored. Or she likes chatting over a cup of iced coffee, but you prefer watching a movie with your favorite soft drinks. Do it anyway. What you do in itself doesn’t have to seem romantic – it’s your willingness to do it and to try to enjoy it anyway that will make this Valentine’s Day extra-special.


4.    Make a “naughty and nice” gift basket.
Put your imagination and creativity to the test by coming up with a “naughty and nice” gift basket for your spouse. It could contain gift certificates for a “shower of kisses,” “neck nibbles”, “bubbly baths”, and so on. You could incorporate some “nice” gifts such as a secondhand book of love quotes, with your own personal dedication; your sweetheart’s favourite selection of sweets and treats; or a handmade bookmark or bracelet. Make sure that your spouse will enjoy all your “naughty and nice” tokens of love by taking into account his or her likes, needs and wants. This will be a great excuse for getting to know more about your better half, which should not stop even after you get married.


5.    Celebrate with the Source of Love.
As a firm believer that God is the one and only true Source of Love (no matter what religion you may be part of), I would also highly recommend celebrating Valentine’s Day by spending time with your hubby at a special, sacred place. You could go to Mass together (if you are Catholic) or a prayer meeting or Bible study group. If this is not feasible, spending some time together in prayer in the quiet confines of your bedroom to thank the Lord for your union serves just the same purpose. What is most important is to connect to and celebrate with the Source of your love for each other. After all, most, if not all, marriages last because of that lovely glue that holds husbands and wives together – the binding, beautiful love that comes from up above!

These are just a few of the ways husbands and wives can celebrate Valentine’s Day (or any other special day for that matter!) In fact, one need not wait for Valentine’s Day to tell your spouse how much you love him or her – it should be something we do every day of our lives!


Photo from sxc.hu