To some of us, associating Valentine’s Day with lavish gifts, romantic trips away or expensive meals just isn’t realistic or doable. Unfortunately, we’re not all in a position to be splashing that sort of money out on one day. If you are, then that’s great and I hope you find an amazing way to celebrate the day but for everyone else, I’ve compiled a list of either cheap or free and generally easy and low-key ways you can celebrate Valentine’s Day this year if you’re a bit stuck for ideas. I’m not a huge lover of Valentine’s Day (maybe if I was being whisked off to Monaco, I would be!) but it’s always nice to do something nice, right?
Make dinner at home: Instead of going out, why not just cook dinner at home instead? There are tons of recipes you can find which require easy and cheap ingredients. You could try a South-Western Seafood dish, which is full of colourful vegetables, a hearty beef chilli full of super cheap, Tesco value ingredients which taste just as nice or my personal favourite Thai fish cakes! And for afters, something like these no-bake Oreo truffles which are so easy, they don’t even need baking!
Exchange a personal gift: If expensive jewellery is out of the question, you could opt for a personal-only gift exchange. Something which has a lot of meaning but won’t break the bank and is also personalised, to make it that little extra bit special. I love a personalised gift, they’re my absolute favourite and I recently blogged about one from Gifts Online 4 U which I absolutely loved!
Make a ‘day of nice’ list: Okay, so you don’t need to call it that but that’s what I call it. Sometimes, if my boyfriend has had a particularly stressful or busy week at work, I’ll do him a ‘Day of Nice’ on his day off. Which is basically a check-list of nice things all day such as; a massage, cooking dinner, making a cup of tea, breakfast in bed, his choice of movie – that sorta thing! It can be really nice and it’s totally free!
Have a movie or games night: Or both! Pick a few movies each and then round off the night with some silly games. Card games, Twister, Monopoly or Cluedo are always fun. A low-key but cosy and fun way to celebrate the day with your loved one which doesn’t even require putting on make-up or getting out of your pjyamas if you don’t want to.
Have a picnic or lay on a spread: Get all the bits and bobs left over in your fridge and make good use out of them! If the day is nice, take it over a park (or even in your garden – at least then if it gets too cold, you’ve not got far to go to warm up) or just lay on a nice big yummy spread of food. If you’re going to buy some extra, Iceland do amazing party food.