6 Low-Cost Ways To Make Your Valentine Feel Appreciated
As February approaches, so does the holiday to celebrate your most dear loved ones, be they romantic or platonic. Valentine’s Day, while charming, can also sometimes bring unwanted pressure to spend money or make grand gestures when you’re not in a position to do so.
Explore More: The Best $20 You Can Spend at Trader Joe’s This Winter
Check Out: 5 Subtly Genius Moves All Wealthy People Make With Their Money
As nice as gifts can be, often what matters more is that your valentine feels appreciated, seen or loved in some special way.
Here are some low-cost things to do that can have a big impact, making your valentine feel appreciated, without spending a lot of money.
A Customized Edible Valentine
While chocolates and candy are a common gift, consider having some custom cookies (or cupcakes) baked and iced with a bespoke message just for your valentine. Most local bakeries can pull this off with some advance notice somewhere in the range of $10 to $20 and it will have a much different vibe than something prepackaged.
DIY Memory Book
If you’ve collected letters, emails or meaningful texts and photos of and with your valentine over the years, you’ve got all you need to make a meaningful memory book. You don’t have to spend a lot, either. Use colorful paper and some thread to hand-stitch your own, or use a low-cost printing service like those offered through a local Walgreens to show your valentine how much they mean to you. (Hint: Pinterest abounds with ideas if you’re not sure where to start).
The Gift of Relaxation
While a professional massage can start at around $65 and go way up from there, you have a couple of options that don’t require a lot of money. If you’re feeling strong and capable, consider setting up a little massage station with soothing music, essential oils and offering your valentine the relief of relaxed muscles with your own hands. If you’re not quite up to that task, consider the gift of a massage tool like this Homedics rechargeable deep tissue massage gun, which you can get for around $25 at Walmart.
A Home-Prepared Meal
If you’re handy in the kitchen, surprise your valentine with a thoughtfully prepared meal at home featuring their favorite foods, perhaps something they don’t get to eat very often, and especially if they’re one who tends to make food more often. While grocery costs have gone up in the past couple of years, shop at places known for their lower costs, such as Grocery Outlet, Walmart, Aldi or Costco. Consider making it a big-batch meal you can then freeze a few portions for your valentine.
Pick Up the Slack
While some chocolates, cards and flowers can be meaningful, sometimes the best way to appreciate your valentine is to do something for them that they often have to do for themselves. Whether you live together or not, is there something your valentine is burdened with that you can relieve them of for a stretch of time? Create a fun little “coupon” booklet full of actions, tasks or chores that your loved one loathes doing and offer to let them redeem these whenever they need.
Curate an Experience
Valentine’s Day is just another opportunity to show your loved one that you see them, care about them and are thinking of them regularly. If you know what it is that lights your valentine up — from watching noir movies to a good hike — put together the pieces of an experience you know will tickle their delight and make a day or night of it. Most of the things people truly love can come cheaply such as a movie night, a beach date and so on.
More From GOBankingRates
4 Subtly Genius Moves All Wealthy People Make With Their Money
3 Signs You've 'Made It' Financially, According to Financial Influencer Genesis Hinckley
4 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money That Actually Work
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Low-Cost Ways To Make Your Valentine Feel Appreciated
