5 Simple Ways to Spend Valentine's Day (on the cheap)

Ready to spend February 14'th with those you love? Want to make it special without breaking your budget?  Check out these 5 simple ways to spend Valentine's day on the cheap! You'll be spending this Valentine's day like never before without the stress of an empty pocket book!

1. Spend Your Talent. 

This one is easy for some people like myself. I love making cards and doing paper crafts so I always make my husband a special card for Valentines day. This year I will be enlisting the Booper to help make decorations for our home. Hearts are easy to cut out and hang around with pretty ribbons! You might be a great cook so you could make your specialty for your family. My husband plays music, so I like to have him play our song every Valentine's day. Whatever talents you have spend them on your family in a special way.

2. Spend Careful Thought.

Think of the person you are giving to. What do they love? What do they value? Most of the best gifts have nothing to do with the money spent, but the thought put into the gift by the giver. My 10 year old niece never has much money to spend at Christmas time, but she goes shopping and plans her list by what each of us really like, and somehow she always thinks of a perfect gift within her budget. Giving great gifts is her talent!

3. Spend Energy Planning.

As a very busy mom this one made me sigh just thinking about it. Energy can be a rare commodity at times. The idea is to spend all your energy before the big day, so you are prepared. If you're rushing around trying to pull things together at the last minute you will be stressed out and your loved ones will feel it too. By planning in advance and being prepared you are showing your special someone you care enough to not make them an after thought. I've failed to plan in the past and then ran out to grab something quick. Not only did this cost me more money, but my loved ones knew I didn't have them at the top of my list and they felt forgotten. I've felt this way too, remember last minute gifts can sometimes feel like no gift at all.

4. Spend Time.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself.. is time with those you love. Make a plan to spend as much time as you can together, and make the most of it! Some may arrange for a babysitter to spend quality time with their spouse, or perhaps it will be a family day/night. However you plan to spend the time, be prepared so you aren't sitting around at the last minute saying what are we doing tonight?
Some ideas for how to spend your time together:

• Family Game Night-board games, card games, or make up some of your own!
• Movie Night-Popcorn makes for a cheap snack! The Booper loves popcorn and movies so this might be our plan.
• Take a walk down memory lane. Visit the place where you met your spouse. Relive your first date. Go through family scrapbooks or albums and talk about past fun times spent together. Plan fun things to do together the rest of this year.
• Family Makeovers! This would be lots of fun if you have a daughter but boys could have a blast getting a new look too. Being silly together is part of being a family, so make it fun or give it a theme. (Rock Star, Cowboy, Movie Star, Princess, Kings and Queens..etc.)  

5. Spend Resources.  

 Don't have money for a babysitter? Tap into those resources known as family and friends! If you have friends with children offer to do a trade. You offer to watch their kids one night, if they will watch yours on another, and if you're lucky you already have friends in mind! Looking for great places to go, restaurants you can afford, or fun things to do? Tap into your friends and family network and ask for suggestions! Facebook is a great place to ask for advice and suggestions, and you might learn about a great deal or something free to try. Even if you're planning to stay home try asking for family friendly movie suggestions from your friends you trust. Google it! I google everything, and have learned all kinds of new things that way. Be creative and think "outside the box" and you might be surprised to learn the value of the resources you have on hand for free.

We all spend on different things to make Valentine's day special but,

 everyone will agree spending time with those you love... is time well spent!  

Have a Special and Happy Valentine's Day! ~Becky