Anyone on a budget (and who happens to have a Valentine) knows that Valentine’s Day can be just as spendy as any other holiday. When you consider the cost of a nice dinner, a movie, flowers, a gift, or all of these things together, you could be looking at hundreds of dollars. Does it cost that much to tell someone you love them? Not always.

So here are a few suggestions for Valentine’s Day that may be within your budget:

1. Make a Nice Meal at Home. Eating in is always cheaper, and frankly quite a bit cozier. If you feel up to it, decorate the food in heart shaped designs or red food coloring. I personally prefer eating food not decorated and transformed into Valentine shapes, but some people get a kick out of that. Find out what your Valentine’s favorite food or meal is and go from there. If you get a romantic bug pull out some candles.

2. Personal Coupons. With computers and printers, personal coupons can be created cheaply and quickly without looking like a Kindergarten craft project. Of course, I wouldn’t even attempt handmaking anything, but I would definitely consider printing some out with cutesy clip art. Coupons can be for everything of course, from kisses to massages.

3. Write a Love Letter. I write, so therefore I am a sucker for love letters. And I don’t mean a cute text or email. Take some time and handwrite a letter…yes people still use pens and paper, believe it or not. Handwritten letters are cherished and put away forever. I’m not quite sure how long a text message lasts.

4. Create a Picture Book of Love. The problem with digital cameras is that a lot of us don’t ever print out the pictures and just let them build up on the computer or camera. Print out some of those pictures that you have together and create a picture book. Even I could do this because all you need are the photos, and since my handwriting is pretty okay, I could even add comments and messages with a red Sharpie on each page.

5. CD of Love Songs. If that sounds too corny to you, just create a CD filled up with “our songs”. Every couple has songs that remind them of certain events, even if it’s Uncle Joe’s karaoke performance of Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time”. It doesn’t have to be a CD of mushy love songs, as long as you put relevant songs on it that will remind the person of you and the relationship.

There is always an alternative to spending gobs of cash on Valentine’s Day. Many couples agree to not buy each other anything. After all, love shouldn’t cost a bunch of money, nor should it put us in debt. Also make sure you know if your Valentine is going to be okay with a cheap Valentine’s Day, otherwise you could be in some trouble.

Either way, have a great one…

What’s your cheapest Valentine’s Day idea?