Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and we’re no strangers to celebrating this ridiculous, cheesy holiday. It’s hard to let it slip by without at least acknowledging it. What isn’t necessary, though, is spending a ton of cash. Mr. MMM and I celebrate without expensive restaurant tabs, over-priced flowers, and unnecessary gifts. We choose to be creative. We might not have a no-spend Valentine’s Day, but we do frugalize it up quite a bit! Let me start by saying that I celebrated Valentine’s Day solo for the better part of a decade and never shed a tear. In my opinion, it’s kind of a silly holiday invented by card companies (there are other historical origins that we’re not going to mention here) for the sole purpose of separating people from their hard-earned cash. However, it can still be cute and doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Childhood Memories
Some of my fondest memories as a child are filling out the cheap-o cards my mom would buy me from the dollar store to hand out to my friends. Remember making mailboxes for your classmates to deliver your Valentine’s cards? Wasn’t that the best? Unfortunately, adulthood brings whole new expectations in relation to Valentine’s Day. These expectations usually revolve around MONEY. In essence, our modern-day culture says you better spend money to prove your love to your Valentine. Period. How ridiculous.
Our Frugal Approach To The Heart-Shaped Holiday
Painting I made for Mr. MMM
Mr. MMM and I met way back at the end of 2013. Obviously, one of the first holidays (and I use that term loosely) we spent together was Valentine’s Day. This was perfect for our “new love” status – but even during this first Valentine’s Day, we resisted the urge to blow money unnecessarily. Instead, we made a pact to make each other something for the special day. And we stuck to it!
What did I make for Mr. MMM, you ask? Since we were just getting to know each other, I didn’t know him too well and didn’t have much to go on. What I did know was that he had a childhood fondness of Godzilla that last into adulthood – but not in a creepy kind of way 😉 So, naturally, I painted him a picture of the radioactive beast. The back story is that I painted it on the only night I had free without Mini at home. Coincidentally, that night I had a high fever and felt terrible. Nonetheless, I broke out the paints and pushed through, because I knew there would not be another opportunity to do so before we were together to exchange our homemade gifts.
What did Mr. MMM make me, you ask? He also didn’t know me too well at that point, so he did his best to bake two personal cakes for each of us. He went ahead and assumed I would enjoy a tasty, chocolatey treat. He’s so intuitive. He stressed and checked his directions obsessively. He watched the oven and even consulted his neighbor. In the end, they were not only beautiful, they were delicious.
Delicious!
That first Valentine’s Day we were living two hours apart from one another. It started to snow heavily on the day we planned to celebrate. Mr. MMM couldn’t leave before the snow started because his buns cakes were in the oven 🙂 Fearing Mr. MMM wouldn’t make the drive at all, I was suddenly regretting staying up to paint Godzilla with that 102 degree fever. Not to fear, love makes you do stupid things. Mr. MMM hurriedly pulled the cakes out of the oven, applied the fondanticing – oh yes he did – and hopped in his truck to drive the two hours in treacherous weather.
And there you have it, our first Valentine’s Day encompassed Chinese take-out and homemade gifts. And it was one of the best memories I have of this ridiculous, cheesy holiday with Mr. MMM.
Last year we tried to switch it up by embarking on our own little pub crawl. No tickets required. No reservations needed. Just us with a little bit of cash, stopping at a few local pubs to enjoy a drink. Although, we were super proud of our frugal idea, it was not meant to be. I suddenly fell ill and we had to call the whole thing off. Read all about that Valentine fail here. Fortunately, there’s always this year to try our super frugal pub crawl!
Without further ado, I’d like to share with you 5 frugal ideas for an awesome Valentine’s Day with your sweetheart…
Stay in with your sweetheart, cook a meal together, and reminisce about your childhoods and relationship together.
Plan a hike to get some exercise and make a memory. While you’re at it, have a picture challenge. Compare pictures later that evening and see who snapped the best shot. Winner gets a massage!
Pick a cheap dinner out. Think Chinese food or fast food. Go ahead and indulge, it’s only once a year.
Go bowling or shoot some pool. C’mon, when was the last time you did something like that?
Eat lunch at home and then go enjoy a matinee in the theater. Going to the movies doesn’t have to cost $50!
Keep in mind that love is priceless. We do not show our loved ones how much we love them by spending money on them. We show them how much we love and appreciate them by spending time with them. Stuff comes and goes, but time can never be replaced. From our frugal house to yours, enjoy your Valentine’s Day!
What you do you all do? Are you celebrating with a significant other? Or are you treating yourself this year? Do you drop hundreds on a fancy dinner? Or do you head out to your favorite fast food joint? Do you spend it at home or outdoors? We’d love to hear what you all have planned for this unnecessary consumerism-driven holiday!
MMC doesn’t do Valentine’s Day
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18 Comments
We don’t normally celebrate Valentine’s Day explicitly as it’s near my wife’s birthday and neither of us are big fans of the holiday. That being said we often go on a winter vacation in February or early March so I guess you could consider this our celebration though not typically for that sole purpose.
My plan for this year is to write my Valentine a sappy love note, and maybe a poem if I’m feeling extra creative. I’ll type it first but write it out in pen later. I think there is something deeply meaningful behind having a hand written note. We will cook at home too, but that’s how every night goes. I still have a week to plan, so I’ll probably come up with some other fun tasks too, thanks for the inspiration.
That sounds awesome! There is definitely something special about a hand-written letter. Maybe you could do something different with dinner? Make everything in heart shapes? Bake a cake? Make sure you use candles! The easiest way to make a meal an event is to light some candles! Hope you guys enjoy 🙂
My wife and I really don’t celebrate Valentine’s day. When we first started to date we did dinner but when we got married we decided it wasn’t worth the cost.
BTW…I am really lucky because my wife doesn’t like flowers so I don’t normally spend any money at that.
That’s awesome! Congrats on her not liking flowers. I’m kind of in that camp, too. I never did see the big deal over flowers. And they’re so expensive. Ridiculous. 🙂
I have always maintained that the most sincere form of “I Love You” is that he gathers up the house trash once a week without prodding or eye-rolling, because he loves me… The flip side is that I keep his laundry attended to, hide luv-notes in strange places, and verify he has toilet paper handy in the appropriate location. LOL!
It’s the little, day-to-day things. One day, you’ll look back and realize that the little things, were truly the biggest things!
So nice! Happy Valentine’s to you guys, as well! We do little hidden notes from time to time, but it’s been a few months now. Thanks for reminding me of that great little gesture!
I have always maintained that the most sincere form of “I Love You” is that he gathers up the house trash once a week without prodding or eye-rolling, because he loves me… The flip side is that I keep his laundry attended to, hide luv-notes in strange places, and verify he has toilet paper handy in the appropriate location. LOL!
It’s the little, day-to-day things. One day, you’ll look back and realize that the little things, were truly the biggest things!
So nice! Happy Valentine’s to you guys, as well! We do little hidden notes from time to time, but it’s been a few months now. Thanks for reminding me of that great little gesture!
My husband is away on a business trip for Valentine’s Day this year, but we celebrated over the weekend. We didn’t intentionally try to be frugal, but we decided that our treat was to try a nearby wine bar. We are both on New Year’s diets, so the treat was a flight of champagne and we ate in, to save on calories. We had debated a fondue dinner at the melting pot, but it’s too early in the year for that big of a calorie splurge! I like your idea about the movie thing. I’m a frequent movie goer and I’d also recommend applying for membership at the movie theater. I go to the local Regal theater and club is free to join and quickly adds up to free movie tickets and other goodies.
That sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Day celebration to me! And the melting pot sounds wonderful, too. But I do agree, that’s an intense calorie splurge that might be better saved for later in the year 🙂
Awesome tip about the movie theater membership. I haven’t thought of that one!
My husband is away on a business trip for Valentine’s Day this year, but we celebrated over the weekend. We didn’t intentionally try to be frugal, but we decided that our treat was to try a nearby wine bar. We are both on New Year’s diets, so the treat was a flight of champagne and we ate in, to save on calories. We had debated a fondue dinner at the melting pot, but it’s too early in the year for that big of a calorie splurge! I like your idea about the movie thing. I’m a frequent movie goer and I’d also recommend applying for membership at the movie theater. I go to the local Regal theater and club is free to join and quickly adds up to free movie tickets and other goodies.
That sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Day celebration to me! And the melting pot sounds wonderful, too. But I do agree, that’s an intense calorie splurge that might be better saved for later in the year 🙂
Awesome tip about the movie theater membership. I haven’t thought of that one!
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18 Comments
We don’t normally celebrate Valentine’s Day explicitly as it’s near my wife’s birthday and neither of us are big fans of the holiday. That being said we often go on a winter vacation in February or early March so I guess you could consider this our celebration though not typically for that sole purpose.
Ahhh…sounds like it gets lost in the shuffle, and you’re okay with that 😉 I hope this year’s vacation is awesome!
My plan for this year is to write my Valentine a sappy love note, and maybe a poem if I’m feeling extra creative. I’ll type it first but write it out in pen later. I think there is something deeply meaningful behind having a hand written note. We will cook at home too, but that’s how every night goes. I still have a week to plan, so I’ll probably come up with some other fun tasks too, thanks for the inspiration.
That sounds awesome! There is definitely something special about a hand-written letter. Maybe you could do something different with dinner? Make everything in heart shapes? Bake a cake? Make sure you use candles! The easiest way to make a meal an event is to light some candles! Hope you guys enjoy 🙂
My wife and I really don’t celebrate Valentine’s day. When we first started to date we did dinner but when we got married we decided it wasn’t worth the cost.
BTW…I am really lucky because my wife doesn’t like flowers so I don’t normally spend any money at that.
That’s awesome! Congrats on her not liking flowers. I’m kind of in that camp, too. I never did see the big deal over flowers. And they’re so expensive. Ridiculous. 🙂
My plan for Valentine’s day is to do a hike, make a home-cooked meal, and then watch some TV shows at night in the bed.
I shouldn’t incur any expenses and it should be a relatively fun and exciting day.
Ahhh…You just effectively described my ideal day. Enjoy!
My plan for Valentine’s day is to do a hike, make a home-cooked meal, and then watch some TV shows at night in the bed.
I shouldn’t incur any expenses and it should be a relatively fun and exciting day.
Ahhh…You just effectively described my ideal day. Enjoy!
I have always maintained that the most sincere form of “I Love You” is that he gathers up the house trash once a week without prodding or eye-rolling, because he loves me… The flip side is that I keep his laundry attended to, hide luv-notes in strange places, and verify he has toilet paper handy in the appropriate location. LOL!
It’s the little, day-to-day things. One day, you’ll look back and realize that the little things, were truly the biggest things!
Happy VD to you and yours!
So nice! Happy Valentine’s to you guys, as well! We do little hidden notes from time to time, but it’s been a few months now. Thanks for reminding me of that great little gesture!
I have always maintained that the most sincere form of “I Love You” is that he gathers up the house trash once a week without prodding or eye-rolling, because he loves me… The flip side is that I keep his laundry attended to, hide luv-notes in strange places, and verify he has toilet paper handy in the appropriate location. LOL!
It’s the little, day-to-day things. One day, you’ll look back and realize that the little things, were truly the biggest things!
Happy VD to you and yours!
So nice! Happy Valentine’s to you guys, as well! We do little hidden notes from time to time, but it’s been a few months now. Thanks for reminding me of that great little gesture!
My husband is away on a business trip for Valentine’s Day this year, but we celebrated over the weekend. We didn’t intentionally try to be frugal, but we decided that our treat was to try a nearby wine bar. We are both on New Year’s diets, so the treat was a flight of champagne and we ate in, to save on calories. We had debated a fondue dinner at the melting pot, but it’s too early in the year for that big of a calorie splurge! I like your idea about the movie thing. I’m a frequent movie goer and I’d also recommend applying for membership at the movie theater. I go to the local Regal theater and club is free to join and quickly adds up to free movie tickets and other goodies.
That sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Day celebration to me! And the melting pot sounds wonderful, too. But I do agree, that’s an intense calorie splurge that might be better saved for later in the year 🙂
Awesome tip about the movie theater membership. I haven’t thought of that one!
My husband is away on a business trip for Valentine’s Day this year, but we celebrated over the weekend. We didn’t intentionally try to be frugal, but we decided that our treat was to try a nearby wine bar. We are both on New Year’s diets, so the treat was a flight of champagne and we ate in, to save on calories. We had debated a fondue dinner at the melting pot, but it’s too early in the year for that big of a calorie splurge! I like your idea about the movie thing. I’m a frequent movie goer and I’d also recommend applying for membership at the movie theater. I go to the local Regal theater and club is free to join and quickly adds up to free movie tickets and other goodies.
That sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Day celebration to me! And the melting pot sounds wonderful, too. But I do agree, that’s an intense calorie splurge that might be better saved for later in the year 🙂
Awesome tip about the movie theater membership. I haven’t thought of that one!