How to Celebrate Valentine's Day WhenYou're Broke

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a budget breaker. In this article, you will learn six smart tips to keep your holiday costs down and love remaining high.

By Following the tips and living a frugal lifestlye we paid off all our credit cards, student loans, car loans, and working on our mortgage all on one income. You can read about our debt free journey here.

Before Christmas has even passed aisles of red, white and hearts are filling up. Some of us roll our eyes at the thought, whether it’s because of the actual holiday itself or it’s out before we even got through Christmas who knows.

I mean I did this Tiktok video before New Years Eve! And we are looking at Spring already. ( If you want to follow my Frugal Farm Girl Tiktok account please do here– It’s alot of fun over there!)

@mywholesalelife
♬ Yummy – IFA

Remember to not spend money on things we don’t need if money is tight. Making an impression by the dollar amount usually doesn’t last as long as a more thoughtful gift.

Valentine’s day is one of those holidays I tend to enjoy celebrating to get through winter. I won’t break the bank to do it though. Over the years I have learned tips and tricks to keep our costs down and romance high.

Don’t Buy the Hype

There is a reason that Valentine’s day items are pushed out onto retail shelves before Christmas. Hype.

Retailers want consumers constantly snatching up new items so they don’t feel like they are missing out. In this case, miss out. Miss out on the silly Valentine’s day decor towels, soap dispensers, heart-shaped mixing spoons, etc.

Budget

Living in upstate New York it can be a challenge to not walk down the seasonal aisle at stores when it’s 10 degrees out and you feel stir crazy.

It puts me in a vulnerable space to think I should sprinkle my home with Valentine’s Day decor. It would be foolish to buy these things without having a budget.

If I don’t know how much I have to spend on Valentine’s day I’ll start grabbing whatever my heart says is cute. So make a budget for every holiday. You have to know how much money you have before you spend.

Related:

Tips To Stop Spending When You’re the Spender
Use a FREE Google Sheets Budget Spreadsheet here

List of Who You Are Buying For

Don’t get carried away with who you need to buy a gift for on Valentine’s day. In our house, my husband has always gotten the girls a small gift ( usually a stuffed animal and a little chocolate).

Sometimes we will give gifts to each other but as the years have passed I’ve completely stopped buying him gifts. Simply for the fact he was honest and said he doesn’t really want a gift on Valentine’s day.

When he first told me this years ago I felt shocked and hurt. I thought maybe he didn’t want a gift because he didn’t want something from me. Not the case at all.

Learning your spouse/partners love language is a must. Some people feel loved by gifts and others, they don’t think twice about a gift from someone. If you know your loved one doesn’t need a gift to make a plan to spend some quality time together.

Related:

7 Adorable DIY Valentine’s Day Crafts

Create an At-Home Date Night

I used this amazing website for the first couple of years when we had babies in the house and date nights seemed like years in between.

That is such a vulnerable time as a couple when you have a new baby in the house. When money is tight or just exhaustion is taking over I highly recommend planning an at-home date night.

This was something my husband adored, and heck I should probably do this again for us this year.

Unfortunately the site charges for more printables now then they did a few years back, but they still do have freebies. Pinterest is another great place to find at home date night ideas.

Even if it’s as simple as putting a movie basket together, filled with popcorn, a love note, and a sweet treat.

Here’s a date basket I did. I left the basket out in the morning so my husband could see it before he went to work.

Anticipation is quite effective ladies 😉 My total cost for the basket was $2. You can view the printable and idea I got from the dating divas here.

If you need to get out of the house, think of ways you can spend time with your loved one for free.

Walks, hikes, visiting a new city/town and spending the day walking around.

Dress up For Dinner

If you don’t want to eat out because it’s expensive and well Covid has changed everything, dress up and eat at home. Make it a candlelight dinner. Play music you don’t normally listen to.

Have the kids take a picture of you both dressed up. Or have the kids involved too. When it comes to celebrating a holiday try to think of things you don’t normally do, that you could give a try.

If you have children you could have them be the waiter/waitress. Serve whatever food you have on hand, or maybe the ones you scored on sale at your local grocery store.

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Here’s how I did my basket:

Tag 1- We are cuddled up together like birds of a feather would be– I used a blanket we already had! My husband said, is this a new blanket?!

Tag 2- The weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful– I put on a real log burning fire on the T.V. from a YouTube video. And lit a couple candles. This set the mood for the movie and gave him a chance to relax while I poured our drinks!

Tag 3- I don’t know if there’ll be snow but have a cup of cheer– I used two of our Christmas mugs and put Hot chocolate packets inside.

Tag 4- It doesn’t show signs of stopping and I bought some corn for popping- I wrapped up some popcorn we already had! I also added some Werther’s which I had from a coupon deal at Rite Aid a couple months ago!

Tag 5- We’ll Frolic and Play the Eskimo Way- I rented 2 movies because I couldn’t make a decision. Home Alone and A Christmas Story. These were $1 each at Family Video.

Tag 6- Oh ho the mistletoe hung where you can see somebody waits for you– I used a piece of crafting stuff I had from my wreath and grabbed a pack of gum.

Celebrate the day after Valentine’s Day

If you love gifts and really want to go all out, consider celebrating after Valentine’s day. Everything is marked down the day after and if you wait until two days after you’re bound to hit 70-90% off clearance.

If Valentine’s day falls on a weekday celebrate the weekend after.

Buy After Christmas Candy

Warehouse clubs are the best for buying fancy chocolate at an affordable price. I’m a member of BJ’s Wholesale club and I just spotted chocolate truffles for $3.98! They carry a bunch of cute chocolate packages for the holiday and mark them down immediately the day after.

Now is the time to buy those chocolates and store away for your loved ones. They’ll never know you got such a deal and were so smart about how you spend your money. It doesn’t have to be a warehouse club, any retailer will have marked down after Christmas candy.

Related:

How to Shop Target Clearance for the Best Deal

There you have it. I hope this has inspired you in some way to save a little more cash this Valentine’s day. Feel free to share with us ways you are saving for this holiday below.

For Gift Ideas Check out the ones below: