Valentine's Day Budgeting

You think you have budgeting all figured out. You have your monthly budget all planned, you have a bill manager or some sort of budgeting tool set up, and you are on track with your purchases. Then, BAM-the holidays. More specifically, Valetine's Day, at this time of year, invades your life with flowers, chocolates, chocolate-dipped flowers, teddy-bears, chocolate-dipped teddy bears, and all the rest. How do you deal with Valetine's Day? More specifically, how do you deal with any interruptions in your regularly scheduled life?

The first thing to do is a reality check. Will your significant other really demand cheesy greeting cards, balloons, and jewelry, just in honor of Valentine's Day? Or is he or she really just looking for attention and an affirmation of your love? My guess would be the latter. If it's the former, along with your budget, you may want to reassess your relationships.

There are two ways to give a present: money, and time. The more time you spend, the chances are, the less money you will spend, and vice versa. In fact, this mental rule is studied as the fundamental concept of economics, "tradeoffs with comparative advantage." It all depends on how much money your time is worth. If you are willing to forgo several hours, you can plan a nice, cheap, thoughtful present for your other half, without Hallmark cards and expensive gold.

Here are some great suggestions for Valetine's Day that defy the stereotypes of sweets, flower arrangements, and fancy travel packages to Sandals.

1. Regarding cards: Make your own, out of things you have left-over in the house, and your boyfriend or girlfriend will think you are trendy rather than frugal. Use the backs of cereal boxes and paint them, compose collages out of old magazines or newspapers, and buy several colorful sheets of printer paper to make a paper heart. Cheesy, but not over the top, and cheaper and more meaningful than a pre-fabricated Hallmark message.
2. Cook for your significant other instead of going out. It has been proven over and over that cooking is cheaper than going out, and if you don't do it often, your boyfriend or girlfriend will be impressed, perhaps leading to non-monetary rewards for you.
3. Write them something. If you're not the poetic type, a simple letter saying how much they mean to you can do wonders. Many love letters between famous personalities, from Antony and Cleopatra, to Nancy and Ronald Reagan, have been popularized as a show of the dedication of love over the years. Of course, you might want to couple that with the cooking so that you don't look too cheap.
4. Hire college students to help you out. Having just graduated from college, you are most likely aware that college students will do anything for beer and pizza money for a week, or a note on their resume. Use them to hire a singing barbershop quartet telegram from the local choir, clean your loved one's house or apartment for the night so they don't have to, or hire a chef-in-training for the night. Not only will it be cheaper than any of these services on a professional level, you will be helping out others looking to have a cheap Valentine's Day!