Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are 17 ideas for cheap or totally free ways to spend February 14th. And they are guaranteed to be more romantic and personal than splashing your cash at an overpriced restaurant. Enjoy!
- Balloon surprise: Fill deflated balloons with love notes, poems or activities. Inflate them with helium or air (card shops will usually do this for you for a small charge) and fill a room ready for your lover to pop.
- IOU vouchers: Make IOU vouchers for future use, including everything from the mundane (cooking dinner a night of their choosing) to the X-rated.
- Memory lane: Visit an old date spot (keep it cheap by avoiding restaurants and going to parks or museums), or reminisce with past holiday or wedding photos.
- Massage: Give each other a massage- all you need is a bottle of massage oil, some candles and relaxing music.
- Romantic walk: It might be February and COLD, but sometimes there’s nothing better than wrapping up and going for a stroll. Bring a flask of whiskey for extra warmth.
- Breakfast in bed: Prepare each other a breakfast tray with all their favourite treats, whether that’s a full English breakfast or croissants. Don’t forget about presentation!
- Build a fort: Turn into big kids and build a fort for the day, with snacks, blankets and a torch.
- Play strip poker: This one is self-explanatory. If you can’t play poker, strip snap would work just as well.
- Scavenger hunt: Gone Girl may have ruined this idea for a lot of people, but a scavenger hunt at home with small gifts is still a nice way to spend Valentine’s Day.
- Lock yourself in: Spend all day in bed with all electronic devices turned off and the door firmly locked (or a do not disturb sign if you have flatmates).
- Run a bath: Light the candles, pour in some bubbles and start getting soapy.
- Fakeaway: Make a fakeaway at home. Ricky Willis, AKA Skint Dad, has some amazing ideas on his blog like this one for Katsu chicken curry.
- Cocktail making: Club together your spirits and spend the night making as many cocktails as you can drink- naming creations along the way.
- Movie marathon: Don’t waste a fortune going to the cinema when you can have a film marathon for the price of a Netflix subscription.
- Dance: Blast out your favourite tunes and have a night dancing in your living room (maybe after the cocktail making?)
- Go old school: Have an old school games night with Twister, Jenga or even Monopoly.
- Strip PlayStation: Play videogames with a twist- every time one of you loses you have to remove an item of clothing.
What are your ideas for spending Valentine’s Day on a budget?
