Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be expensive to be meaningful. These affordable Valentine ideas show easy, thoughtful ways to celebrate love without spending a lot of money.
So, I have to agree. Are you ready for this?
I’m just not a big fan of what my husband and I call “Hallmark holidays.” Sure, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, but making a big deal about Valentine’s Day isn’t my thing.
This is not because I don’t like to show my husband and family how much they mean to me. Truth be told, it’s quite the opposite: I think it’s silly to only reserve roses and hearts and love notes for one day of the year. Instead, I think we should celebrate Valentine’s Day every day of the year because every day is a day to show love to the beautiful people in our life.
With this in mind, instead of sharing fun and cute ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share some frugal but very meaningful ways to celebrate your Valentine — maybe on Valentine’s Day or any day of the year! If you are single or in a relationship, you can adapt these ideas to apply to your children, a friend, or another relative.
Affordable Ways to Celebrate Your Valentine
1. Write a Love Letter
When was the last time you wrote your Valentine a note telling them how much you appreciate, admire, and love them? It may be one of the easiest ideas in the book, but writing a love note can also be one of the most enduring and appreciated.
The note doesn’t have to be long – and it doesn’t even have to be handwritten! You can send a text, spell it out with Scrabble letters, type a note, write an email, or use a dry erase marker to write on your bathroom mirror. The way you write it doesn’t matter if it comes from your heart. To make things extra sweet, consider hiding a note somewhere out of the blue or leaving a trail of little love notes around the house.
2. Express Words of Gratitude
We all need to hear how much we are appreciated more often. May I encourage you to look each day for something to be thankful for on your Valentine?
Whether they’ve done a chore for you, picked up their socks, helped you with a project, or simply stood by your side faithfully through slavery and evil. You never know how much a word of thanks can make someone’s day.
Want to take this a step further? Praise the character you appreciate instead of just saying thank you for what you have done. Tell your Valentine how much you admire their patience, their hard work, or their amazing talent.
Don’t flatter and don’t lie, but you can come up with something to recommend to almost everyone. Look for it and let them know. It will probably mean the world to them!
3. Make a Love-Themed Meal
Celebrate your Valentine by coming up with Valentine-themed twists on their favorite foods. For example, cut the strawberries in a fruit salad into hearts, shape the pepperoni on a homemade pizza into hearts (or make a heart-shaped pizza), make heart-shaped cookies or cinnamon rolls, or Valentine-themed bacon.
Reader Abby who blogs at Winstead Wanderings suggests that you can recreate the foods you enjoyed when you were dating or married. This is a fun idea!
4. Give Them a “Pick Your Own Fun” Date
Last year for Jesse’s 45th birthday, I gave him a Choose Your Own Adventure Day and it was so much fun!
I came up with many different options of where to go and things to do and he chose from them. It included lots of delicious food and time together, and I loved it too!
Especially if you tend to enjoy different things, your Valentine will find it very special to pick out favorite foods and activities – and you might be surprised how much you enjoy them too!
5. Help Them Have Alone Time
As busy parents, time alone to recharge is precious. Giving your Valentine the gift of a little walk, time when they’re not needed, or a chance to sit quietly with a cup of coffee and a good book communicates, “I see how much you give. You’re important, and you deserve a little rest.”
6. Talk about a Memory Walk Down Path
This idea comes from Abby of Winstead Wanderings. He says, “If your relationship is like mine, it has changed over the years. The new and exciting love of the early years has been replaced by a deep, stable love born from facing the raw realities of living together. That change is natural and necessary.
“I wouldn’t trade the lessons we’ve learned or the way we’ve grown together for anything, but it’s easy to get caught up in the details of everyday life. Sometimes it’s good to remember the people we were when we were dating… On February 14th, dig through those old photo albums and love notes. Remind yourself of the reasons you fell in love.”
Once you’ve lived in your area for a while, you can also drive past previous homes or visit special places you used to visit early in your relationship, all the while remembering what it was like when you first started dating and how far you’ve come together.
7. Speak Their Love Language
Although I don’t like to categorize people into specific categories, everyone has a different love language. This is how they feel most loved.
If you don’t know the five languages of love, they are: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Accepting Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. In most cases, you’ll be a mix of these, but you’ll almost always have one that stands out. If you’re not sure what your love language is, you can take this quiz here (and make sure your Valentine does, too!).
Once you know what the other person’s love language is, it really helps you to be able to show love to them in a more meaningful way. For example, my top love language is Words of Affirmation. It meant the world to me when Jesse told me how much he appreciates me and how proud he is of me. This speaks love to me more than buying something to me.
Jesse’s love language is quality time. It’s very important to him that we spend time together and just be together — without me acting impulsively or like I’m busy. As a Type A person who doesn’t have the right time love language, it was a learning experience for me to find out that just being with him is very important to him.
So when I want to bless Jesse, I express my desire to just spend time with him without an agenda in mind. Then I follow through with it. This means more to him than any gifts or acts of service could ever mean.
8. Plan a Save the Date
Going on a date with your Valentine doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, many of our most special and memorable days over the years have been the simplest ones — especially during our early marriage and law school days, when our budget was tight. We learned how to enjoy time together without spending too much time.
Coffee dates, library visits, walks, quick chats, or laughing together at home can strengthen your marriage just as much as an expensive dinner—and often more memorable!
That’s why I created this FREE printable — 65+ Budget-Friendly Night Out Ideas for Couples! Download it for easy, fun, and frugal date ideas that you can incorporate into real life — whether you’re having a full night or just a few minutes after the kids go to bed.
However you choose to celebrate your Valentine, remember that a little intention and a lot of love goes a long way than an expensive price tag. With love and creativity, you can have a budget-friendly Valentine’s Day that is truly unforgettable!
Inexpensive Valentine’s Day Inspiration:
What are your favorite affordable Valentine ideas?
Looking for Valentine’s Day Plans Without the Price Tag?
Grab these FREE printables for 65 inexpensive and free date ideas – fun, easy ways to enjoy time together all year long.
