The most romantic time of the year can also be an expensive one, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money to show your partner how much they mean to you. Here are some free and low cost ideas to help you celebrate with thrifty Valentine’s Day ideas.
Movie night at home
Visiting the cinema and getting drinks and popcorn for two can easily reach almost £40. A movie night together is a great way to spend some quality time curled up together for a fraction of the cost To keep it low cost you can use a DVD you already own, or take out a free trial with Netflix or Amazon Prime. Make sure you set a reminder to cancel the free trial before you are charged, unless you are enjoying the service you have signed up for and want to continue to pay for it. Pick up your popcorn and drinks from a supermarket beforehand to save even more money.
Cook together
Cooking a meal together is another great way to spend quality time together. You can make an evening of it by selecting a recipe together, shopping for the ingredients and then cooking together. You can set a limit for how much you will spend beforehand, and it costs around a quarter of going out for a restaurant meal.
Frame a photo
Photo frames can be picked up very cheaply from pound shops and charity shops, making a framed photo of the two of you together a great budget gift. There are plenty of photo printing apps and websites where you just need to pay the postage cost for your first set of prints.
Go for a walk
Walking together is a totally free date idea for Valentine’s Day. Wrap up warm and go exploring your local area together. It gives you a great chance to talk and spend quality time with each other without spending any money.
Jar of reasons you love them
Find a nice looking jar and use pieces of paper to write all the different things you love about your partner. It could be anything at all – from a meal they cook well to their personality. Giving them this jar full of reasons why you love them gives them a very inexpensive gift that means such a lot to them. You could look for jars in your own home, charity shops and supermarkets.
Game night
Board games aren’t just for Christmas, and they are a great way to spend time together on Valentine’s Day. Put your phones down and spend quality time with each other whilst playing board games. If you don’t have any games to hand then you can borrow them from someone or you could get them second hand from charity shops and eBay.
Gift coupons
A great gift for your loved one is coupons for things they love to do or would love to get from you. These could include offering to cook them a meal, run them a bath, give them a massage or anything else you think they would enjoy. You can design them for free using a website and app called Canva (www.canva.com) or write them out by hand.
A year of dates
Grab a calendar and some envelopes for this gift, and plan an activity for every month of the year. The activities can be free like going to the beach together, or you could plan something more extravagant around special dates, like your anniversary. Write an activity in each envelope and mark a date on the calendar to do the activity together.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day later
Some restaurants and shops hike up the prices for Valentine’s Day, so if you can celebrate a little later then you can make some great savings. Shops will also discount their Valentine’s Day chocolates and gifts so you can bag a bargain after the event.
Draw a portrait
If you are artistic then this is a great thrifty gift. Draw a portrait using a photo from a well loved trip or event you attended together. This also gives you the chance to remove anything you don’t like from the photo – for example if it is raining or there are people in the background. For an added touch you can frame the drawing to gift to your loved one.
Write a poem
You don’t have to be a great poet to be able to write something from the heart. They don’t have to rhyme, but they are a great way to share your feelings using words. If you really cannot write something new then you can still find a poem on the internet that reflects your relationship and write it out to give to your loved one – remember not to take credit for writing it though.
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