Informer's World

Believe it or not Valentine’s Day is almost here again. This is a day that is tough for a lot of frugal people to contend with. Some people feel like this is an entirely commercial holiday and they don’t want to spend any money to participate in it. Other people see it as a way to celebrate their love for someone but they want to do it in a way that doesn’t cost a lot of money. Still others want to go on nice dates and are willing to work that into their budgets. And then there are the single people and families that may (or may not) celebrate in their own ways. It’s a tough holiday but it’s a holiday that is supposed to celebrate love and that’s certainly a good thing to celebrate.
In honor of the upcoming holiday, we have compiled a list of some of the best links out there for people who are interested in doing Valentine’s Day in a frugal manner. From the links below you will find ideas for free and cheap Valentine’s dates, reducing the cost of Valentine’s travel and doing nice things on a budget. Let us know what you think is the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day without spending too much money.
Frugal Valentine’s Ideas:

• 25 Frugal Valentine’s Ideas that Won’t Make you Look Cheap. We’re going to start off with one of our favorite posts from our own blog. It was really popular with a lot of our readers and we think that the Valentine’s ideas it offers are going to be just as relevant this year as they were when we published them. We also think you might want to learn our 100 tips for talking about money since discussing frugality at Valentine’s can be a tough thing for some people in their relationships.
• 9 Ideas for Spending Less than $40 on Valentine’s Day Activities. Most couples would really rather have a great date together on Valentine’s Day than spending their time and money on getting gifts for one another. This post has some terrific ideas for how to have such a date without spending more than $40.
• 9 Tactics for a Frugal Valentine’s Day. Here are another nine ideas for how you can cut back on the cost of Valentine’s Day without cutting back on the celebration. These tips focus on both the do’s and don’ts of a date or a gift.
• 4 Frugal Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas. One of the best frugal ideas from this article is the idea of making homemade coupons for Valentine’s Day. This is almost like the bartering system where instead of giving a gift you give your time. Great coupon ideas in this one.
• 8 Valentine Gift Basket Ideas for Frugal Romantics. The idea of giving someone a gift basket is a really popular one during all holidays. However it’s also usually an expensive gift. Luckily it doesn’t have to be. This article has some terrific ideas for frugal, sweet gift baskets for Valentine’s Day.
• Fun and Frugal Valentine’s Ideas. This is a great list that’s divided into ideas that are cute, wacky, cheap, frugal, yummy or family-oriented. One terrific reminder from this article is to wait until the day after Valentine’s Day to buy gifts and then celebrate late because it’s a lot cheaper to do it that way!
• Money Can’t Buy You Love. This article features nine different ideas for spending a lovely evening with someone that you adore and yet not spending a lot of money on your date. A spa-at-home is one of the best ideas from this particular article.
• 10 Frugal Valentine’s Ideas for Under $10. This is a unique list that has some really creative ideas such as hunting down cheap vintage jewelry to give to someone as a gift this Valentine’s Day. What a fun way to give a great material item without spending a lot of money.
• 10 Ideas for a Fun Yet Frugal Valentine’s. Everyone loves top ten lists and there are a lot of them about frugal Valentine’s Day stuff. It starts with devising a plan for your Valentine’s Day fun which makes it a lot more likely that you’re going to have a great time without spending a lot of money.
• 10 Frugal Valentine’s Ideas for Him and Her. This top ten list does a great job of suggesting affordable gifts for both men and women which is nice since a lot of the other articles out there on the topic tend to get a little bit one-sided.
• 6 Cheap Ways to Say I Love You. There are a lot of inexpensive things that you can buy or actions that you can take that will express your love in a profound way. Here are six of them to get you started.
• 17 Things to Write for Valentine’s Day. One of the best frugal gifts that you can give to your lover is the gift of your writing. Take the time to put your feelings into words. There are many different writing-based gifts that you can give to someone for Valentine’s Day and all of them are frugal.
• 15 Cheap Valentine’s Day Dates. One of the best ideas from this article is to get some free old romantic movies from the library and to spend the day watching them together. That’s a great date and a smart tip about saving money all year round by getting videos from libraries instead of video stores.
• Celebrate Valentine’s Day with your Kids. This article provides you with a lot of wonderful tips about how to celebrate the holiday with your whole family and yet not spend a lot of money. These are all simple things that any family can enjoy doing together.
• Valentine’s Day on a Dime. This is another article that has really great tips for frugal Valentine’s with the kids. However it also includes some ideas for adults only. Plus it has a whole section on affordable Valentine’s lunch ideas which is a cool thought.
• 3 Smart Valentine’s Ideas for the Single Crowd. Wisebread has a really great article about how to celebrate a frugal but wonderful Valentine’s Day even though you are single. This crowd tends to get forgotten during Valentine’s Day so it’s nice to see a money-saving writer think about them!
• Inexpensive Valentine’s Day Gifts from the Heart. Music, food, surprises … these are the gifts that really make Valentine’s Day special. They don’t have to cost a lot of money at all but they might take you some time to put them together.
• Frugal, Unique and Meaningful Valentine’s Day Gift and Date Ideas. Well the title of that article just about says it all, right? There truly are some unique tips in this one, too.
• 100+ Cheap Valentine’s Ideas. This is another roundup of links to some great ideas for frugal Valentine’s Day celebrations. A couple of these links are already posted here in this article but a few of them are new.
• 100 Romantic Ways to Show Your Love on Valentine’s Day. Not every single item on this list is frugal. For example, taking a hot air balloon ride together isn’t going to be cheap. However there are tons of ideas on this list that are affordable so it’s worth taking a look at. Staying in bed and snuggling is definitely a free favorite!
• 50 Ways to Be Cheap on Valentine’s Day without Looking Cheap. This is a really comprehensive article filled with creative ideas about how you can have an affordable but wonderful Valentine’s Day this year.
• Reasons to make Organic, Fair Trade Chocolate Body Paint for Valentine’s Day. Not only is it cheap; it’s good for the environment. What a cool, creative, frugal Valentine’s idea!