Valentine’s Day on a budget 🌹

Roses, chocolates, panic.

Each year as Valentine’s Day arrives, we are met with yet another excuse to present our significant others with grease for the wheels of the train called Love. Whether it’s a partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or secret crush, it can be overwhelming trying to come up with the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. For some of us, it can be overwhelming just coming up with a Valentine.

Valentine’s Day preparation becomes even harder if you’re behind the curve. Restaurants are booked out well in advance, florists have run out of roses, and you may even end up frantically flipping through generic holidays card racks in your closest office stationery store.

Not to worry!

Valentine’s Day can be done on a budget. If you are short on money, check out our tried-and-tested alternatives to the cliché norms. So, for the hopeless romantic in all of us, here are our top selections from cupid’s quiver…

1. Violets are Blue

A dozen red roses are the bread and butter of Valentine’s Day. While not the most imaginative of gifts, they are a favourite and perennial best seller at local florists. This kind of love hurts, though; a dozen red roses on Valentine’s Day might cost around $150, and that’s before delivery.

So what to do instead? Simple. Embrace the green thumbs you were given and dive into some flower patches. Ideally, you’ve got some flowers tucked away in a corner of your back yard, begging to be cut and bunched ready for someone special.

For the last minute romantics, however, there are always the botanical gardens. Home to exotics, crowd pleasers and classics alike, a fine selection awaits anyone brave enough to take on the caretakers in executing a heist in the name of love. (We’re just kidding, of course! A fair alternative might be to take your loved one to the botanical gardens so you can enjoy the flowers and each others’ company alongside the other lovers.)

Flowers fresh from the garden: $0

2. That’s Amore

Everybody needs to eat. The issue on Valentine’s is that every nice restaurant has been booked or is going to cost a fortune for your meal. While it’s lovely to sit down with someone you care about, having to do so crammed in next to other couples doesn’t exactly scream romance.

A Valentine’s Day dinner can be a little more exciting than acting like a sardine at the local Italian chain. What better way to gather brownie points than an Italian picnic? Order up that pasta fazool to-go and park yourselves on a patch of grass beside that pizza pie moon! Better yet, bring along a bottle of wine and some candles and you’ve got all the ingredients for the perfect meal.

Bottle of Wine: $13
Takeout Italian: $30
Tealight Candles: $2
Thoughtful picnic: $45

3. Love Thy Self

The roses, chocolates and public displays of affection can be a little much for some. Especially those struggling with one of the hardest parts of Valentine’s Day — finding a Valentine.

The solution? Go ahead and love yourself! Spend the night doing something you love. Grab a rom-com (hey it’s still Valentine’s Day after all) paired with your favourite takeout and put those feet up 🍾

Tasty treats: $15
Rom-com: Probably free on tv
Loving yourself: Priceless