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Even after 13 years of marriage, we take special pleasure in Valentine's Day. My husband takes half a day off from work and we begin our festivities early. But this year our celebration budget is smaller than in previous years. Even so, we plan to be as festive as ever, with a gourmet meal, personalized gifts and memorable moments. Here's how we plan to celebrate a fantastic Valentine's Day on a $50 budget.
Gourmet Meal in Front of Our Fireplace
To enjoy the same quality food we would at an expensive restaurant, without the expense, we've decided to grill steaks on our deck and compliment them with our favorite sides (baked potato, mushrooms and spinach). We set a budget of $40 for the meal, including dessert. We plan to open a bottle of wine we received as a gift for Christmas. I'll bake my husband's favorite cake the day before. And we'll cook the meal together on Valentine's Day, then feast before our fireplace.
Romantic Sunset Stroll
After our Valentine's Day meal, we plan to go for a stroll in our neighborhood. If we head up the mountain around 4:45 pm, we'll reach the top in time to see the sunset over Seattle and Lake Washington. Although this is a built up area, we once saw a pair of deer coming down from the mountain. And we're sure to see squirrels accompanying us on our romantic walk.
Romantic Entertainment
We're each preparing a power point presentation filled with photos and memories of our life together. After our sunset stroll, we'll return home and connect our laptop to the TV and watch our presentations on the large screen. Afterwards we'll stream a romantic comedy. Since we'll be using our streaming subscription, there is no special cost we'll have to pay for our Valentine's Day feature film.
Free Romantic Gifts
We've challenged each other to make our gifts rather than buy them. I'm printing out romantic photos of the two of us and gluing them to Christmas ornaments. I'll hang the ornaments from fishing wire and dangle them on screw hooks from the ceiling over our Valentine festivities. In past years my husband wrote me a Valentine poem, and this year I intend to put my favorite one to music with my guitar. I have no idea what free gift my husband is planning for me this year.
Surprise Gift Cards
In addition to our free gifts, we've devised a way to give each other monitory gifts without spending a dime. Each of us has been saving up the points on his credit card. Now, we plan to cash the points in secret and surprise each other with gift cards. I have no idea what stores my husband will choose for me (or what the gift amounts will be). As for my surprise for him, I've decided to get a gift card for a large online retailer, because this will give my husband a wide variety of goods to choose from, be it electronics, clothing, games, books or music.
Valentine's Day Bouquet
The remaining $10 in our Valentine's Day budget is dedicated to flowers. Rather than spend the whole amount on a couple of roses at the supermarket or nearby florist, my husband intends to visit a floral farm. There, floral bouquets cost 70% less than elsewhere and the flowers are fresher and last longer. When he returns from work early, my husband will hand me my flowers. And so our Valentine's Day celebrations will commence.
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