How to spend Valentine in this harsh economy AUTHOR Ugodre

Valentine is here again and love is in the air. This year, valentine will be spent over the weekend and so making excuses for your partner is nearly impossible. However, the current state of the economy does provide a valid excuse not to celebrate valentine and spend money on your loved one. Whether that excuse resonates with your spouse or partner is left for you to find out afterwards – my guess is that it won’t. For some people, Valentine’s Day without a gift, dinner and some quality time will never be complete and no excuses can be tolerated. But how do you cope when you don’t have money? Here are some ideas:

Have dinner at home – Instead of going out on dinner date you can consider having the dinner at home. This should resonate well with couples who are hardly at home due to busy work schedules or even intending couples just getting to know each other. Dinner dates at home helps you both avoid distractions associated with restaurant settings. You guys simply spend quality time at a cheaper price. You just need to make the setting very special.Order dinner – If you are not the type who likes to cook or don’t know how to cook you can also consider ordering dinner outside. Loads of restaurants in Nigeria now provide such services in a very timely manner. Even though it might be slightly expensive it saves you a lot of stress, like having to drive out in traffic. You also save money spending on expensive drinks which fancy restaurants typically mark up at times like this.Go somewhere different – Valentine’s Day mustn’t be spent in exotic restaurants or locations only. Why not visit somewhere different and traditional like the movies, beach or spa. You could also visit memorable places such as where you first met or saw each other. Going to somewhere different more often than not takes you away from locations that might make you spend more on Valentine’s Day.Watch a movie and or play games at home – Just get some classic movies, popcorn, drinks and it feels like bliss. It is not something you do quite often so make sure you make this fun. You can even rearrange your living room or bedroom to give it a cinema feel. This can be fun!Invite parents –This works better if parents of spouses live in the same town. Though it requires some cooking or ordering of food, the memory typically last forever for everyone involved and is priceless. By the time you are done teasing about how you respectively met, I am sure you’d have had so much fun you’d hope to repeat it again.Shop before Val’s day – Doing things at the last minute is always costly especially on Valentine’s Day. Whilst some items are cheaper on Val’s day most are actually more expensive or even scarce to get. To avoid being in such a situation it is best you buy your valentine day gifts early enough. Two or three days to Valentine’s Day is fair, however waiting till that day even can be quite costly as signs of desperation starts to show.Discount deals – with the flurry of online shops in the country; it is now more possible to get many Valentine’s Day promos and deals. In fact, most advertisers have started pushing out valentine day promos to lure shoppers to buy. Why not take advantage of some of those deals provided they are cheaper and can be delivered to you on time.Get value for money restaurants – If you insist on going out on Valentine’s Day and do not want to spend heavily, it’s better you look for some of the cheapest classier restaurants in town that serve the best food. You should remember that what is most important at the end of the day is to eat a good food and spend a nice time together. A bad food in an expensive restaurant makes no sense. There are some restaurants in town that offer very delicious meals at affordable prices. Should you prefer an expensive restaurant then make sure the food is classy as that will amount to a waste of money.Make a sexy gift – For those who are absolutely broke and still want to show some love, you can still give your loved one a gift. Going online can reveal various ways of preparing homemade gifts that cost you next to nothing. Ironically, handmade or homemade gifts are sexy and more appreciated if they depict a memory of something special you both share. Whilst not many may be able to make a gift, there has to be someone out there, with an artistic touch that can pull this off.Make a huge sacrifice – A special sacrifice you can make on Valentine’s Day is dropping something you are used to doing every other day and devote full attention to each other. This might sound easy but trust me it isn’t. Imagine switching off your phones, shutting down laptops and tablets etc. for the whole day. These are strong addictions so sacrificing them just to give your spouse full attention is priceless.