How to Celebrate Valentine’s Day on a Budget

If you’re looking for how to celebrate Valentine’s Day on a tight budget, there are many more things to do than you might think. With many retailers and restaurants inflating their prices, organising a date on February 14 can be stressful. But you don’t have to spend a small fortune to enjoy a romantic evening with your partner.

This article introduces some cheap Valentine’s Day ideas and gifts to celebrate without breaking the bank. After all, Valentine’s Day is for everyone, and you don’t need to add financial stress to the day just to show your partner how much you love and appreciate them.

So, without further ado, allow us to introduce you to the following cheap Valentine’s Day ideas to ensure you and your partner have a day to remember this year.

Cheap Valentine’s Day Budget Ideas

The key thing to remember is that Valentine’s Day is a celebration of your love for your partner and spending quality time with each other is more important than what you do together.

So, instead of buying an expensive gift online, consider the following cheap Valentine’s Day ideas this year:

Create the cinema experience at home

While going to the cinema is a fun and traditional way of celebrating Valentine’s Day, a night at the movies is expensive when you add up the cost of the tickets, refreshments, and parking.

But the good news is that you can create an incredible cinema experience at home for you and your partner this Valentine’s Day.

Spend some time browsing a streaming service library for a movie you and your partner like. Then, grab some popcorn and rustle up some delicious snacks (nachos and cheese!).

You can also turn your living room into a comfortable home cinema by dimming the lights and grabbing some pillows and duvets from your bedroom. A home cinema date is the perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day at home this year.

Get competitive with a board game night

Playing board games is a fun and cheap way of spending Valentine’s Day at home, and is a great excuse to turn off your devices and spend quality time with one another. Agree to put your phones on Airplane mode and set up for a board game marathon around the dining room table, with some drinks and snacks on hand.

You can stick to one board game or opt for several classics to enjoy throughout the evening. Games like Risk, Monopoly, and Cluedo are great marathon options and will keep you and your partner hooked throughout the evening.

Go for a romantic walk

If you don’t want to stay at home on Valentine’s Day, you can plan for a romantic countryside walk. Go online, look for public footpaths in your area, and plan a route for you and your partner.

If you’re walking through the countryside, make sure you have the right footwear and be sure to wrap up, as it can be cold out at this time of the year.

It’s a good idea to plan a route that passes one or two countryside pubs so you can stop for a refreshing drink. Alternatively, and if the weather is good, you might pack a small picnic to take into the countryside or local park this Valentine’s Day.

Go to a gallery/exhibition

If you live in a city, visiting a gallery or exhibition is a great cheap Valentine’s Day activity. Many galleries and exhibitions are free to enter, ensuring you don’t have to worry about buying expensive tickets. You can then spend the evening walking around the exhibition and embracing the culture of your city.

You can find a list of galleries and exhibitions online by searching for art galleries and museum exhibitions in your city. You could grab a few drinks at the bar before or after experiencing the exhibition to add a new dimension to the evening, providing you with the perfect Valentine’s Day experience on a budget.

Cheap Valentine’s Day Gifts

As well as experiences, there are a number of cheap Valentine’s Day gift ideas that you can turn to this year. The best cheap Valentine’s gifts are those you put a great deal of thought into, and the additional effort you make compensates for the fact that the gift wasn’t expensive to buy. Some inventive cheap Valentine’s Day gifts to consider this year include the following:

Make a scrapbook of happy memories

Making a scrapbook is a wonderful way to reminisce about great times with your partner, and it’s a fun and creative gift idea you can put together for Valentine’s Day.

There are a couple of ways to make a scrapbook, depending on how you wish to approach it. One idea is to put together a scrapbook of memories of your experiences – movie tickets, plane tickets, and receipts from memorable meals out, for example.

Another option is to put together a photo scrapbook showing some of your most memorable experiences. You can do this yourself by ordering prints online and buying a scrapbook from Hobby Craft.

Alternatively, you can head to a site like Photo Box to create a professionally-designed photo book for your partner. However you go about it, gifting a scrapbook of happy memories is one of the best cheap Valentine’s Day gifts you can give!

Make your own bouquet or buy from a local florist

Flowers always make for a wonderful gift for that special someone, but the problem is that most bouquets are prohibitively expensive, particularly those that you can order online.

A great way around this is to create your own bouquet of flowers. You can head out into the countryside to pick wildflowers or snip some beautiful flowers from your garden.

Alternatively, you can head to a local florist in your area to help you. While bouquets from a local florist are still relatively costly, you can say to them that you have a specific amount of money to spend (perhaps £20) and ask them to create a special Valentine’s Day bundle for you. This is a much better option than ordering a super expensive bouquet of flowers online and also means that you can support a local business in the process.

Make a personalised hamper

If you search for Valentine’s Day hampers online, you will find that they cost a pretty penny! However, putting together a personalised hamper for your partner is a wonderful cheap Valentine’s gift idea and doesn’t need to cost a fortune.

You can grab a basket from a store like Home Bargains and set about filling it with your partner’s favourite things.

Consider adding their favourite chocolate and sweets, drinks, health and beauty products, and maybe even inexpensive gifts that they can put to good use.

Set yourself a budget and walk around the supermarket putting together a personalised hamper for your partner for a fraction of the cost of online hampers. Your loved one will be so impressed by your effort, and you can help them work through the goodies you have gifted them!

Conclusion

Some people dread the arrival of Valentine’s Day so soon after Christmas, as it’s typically seen as an expensive day on the calendar. However, as we’ve explained here, it doesn’t need to be expensive, as there are so many cheap Valentine’s Day gift ideas that you can turn to.

Remember, on Valentine’s Day, it’s the thought that counts and spending quality time with your partner is more important than the amount of money you spend on a gift or experience.

Still, in the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, it’s important to stick to a budget so you can breeze through the day without worrying about your finances.

Our HyperJar savings pots and pre-paid debit card are perfect for helping you plan ahead and will help you to stay in control of your expenditure throughout the calendar year.