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Valentine’s Day has a habit of carrying a hefty price tag.  The worst part of Valentine’s Day is the debt that is accrued in the name of love!

A debt-free Valentine’s Day can be fun and cost effective.  Don’t fall for the sales pitches that every kiss begins with debt, or that you need to bring home a Range Rover with a 10 foot ribbon on top.  Seriously, who brings home a new vehicle as a gift??

That type of Valentine’s Day was created to break your bank account and ensure you rack up soul crushing debt.  That’s not what the day is about.

Valentine’s Day is supposed to get it’s name from St. Valentine.  He’s supposed to have been a priest in Rome.  Back then, Emperor Claudius II thought that marriage created weak men and worse soldiers.

So, Emperor Claudius II banned marriage.  St. Valentine wasn’t a fan of this idea and started marrying people in secret (awwww my heart).

St. Valentine was arrested, and sentenced to death (totally reasonable).  He was executed on February 14^th, but before he was killed he sent a letter to his lover titled “From your Valentine”.

Who knows if that’s true… maybe it is… maybe it isn’t (shrug).  The point is, nowhere in that story did St. Valentine lease a Lexus for his lover.

Here are some pretty amazing ideas to ensure you enjoy a debt-free Valentine’s Day!

A Love Note

I can hear the cheese ball alarm going off now, but seriously… a sincere, well written love note is a thing of beauty.

Get creative with this one too.  Get yourself a deck of cards and create a 52 reasons why I love you gift.  Write a reason on each card.

My wife did this for me years ago, and I still have the deck in my desk.  She doesn’t know it but, I look at it often and it still makes me smile.

It was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received and it didn’t cost more than a pack of playing cards… literally.

Don’t worry if you’re not a direct descendant of Shakespeare.  Just get your feelings and thoughts out on paper.  Create a rough draft and then go back in and fine tune it.

I promise you that your grammatical errors will be irrelevant.  The message is what’s important!!

Homemade Meal For Two

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I literally had no idea how much I enjoyed cooking with my wife, that was until we started creating some of our favorite restaurant meals at home.

You can avoid racking up credit card debt if you learn to cook your favorite dinner out meals at home.  Don’t let cooking intimidate you.  It’s actually fun, and surprisingly easy with the help of the inter-webs.

We learned to make sushi and some pretty kick ass pizzas at home.  Meals that used to cost us $20-$60, are now incredibly affordable when we make them at home.

Plan ahead a bit, and make sure you’ve got all the necessary ingredients.  The last thing you want to do is have to make a trip to the store in a hangry stupor looking for wasabi.

Homemade Valentine’s Gifts

There are a million homemade gift ideas and you can probably think of a specific item that your loved one enjoys.

Depending on your crafting and DIY abilities, the possibilities are endless.  Homemade gifts mean more than anything made in China and bought on Amazon…

Create a hand painted mug for your coffee lover, a vase for someone who loves to have flowers in the house, or maybe you want to paint them a picture that represents your love.

Get over the cheesy feeling that accompanies some of these ideas.  Sometimes a cheesy idea makes the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.

Pottery Painting Date Night

These pottery painting shops are popping up all over the place.  For under $30 you can have a pretty amazing Valentine’s date night.

If you’re unfamiliar with these pottery painting shops, they are small stores full of different types of white, unfinished pottery.

The items range from small coffee cups to huge vases.  They have all of the paint, brushes, and equipment that you’ll need.

You simply walk in, pick out your pottery and paint, and start working on your masterpiece.  After you finish painting, they fire it and you can come pick it up in a few days.

Most shops allow you to bring in your own food and beverages.  Order a pizza, grab a bottle of wine, and enjoy some quality time with your loved one.

Just Some Quality Time Together

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We spend a lot of time getting ready for, going to, and being at work…  Actually, we spend the majority of our lives with people we really don’t like.

We carve out small increments of time for the ones who mean the most.  It’s incredibly backwards, and some quality time with your loved one is probably the best debt free Valentine’s Day gift you can give.

Get a sitter and just plan an evening out with your spouse.  Maybe you go visit a museum, walk around town, or have a picnic (assuming you don’t live in the North).

The gift or event is almost irrelevant.  The time you’re choosing to spend together is the real Valentine’s Day gift.  Don’t get caught up planning an expensive, extravagant date night.

Debt Free Valentine’s Day Final Word

Much like the average American, we spent the majority of our marriage in debt.  We were on this hamster wheel of paying off debt and then creating new credit card debt around the holiday season.

Whether it was Christmas gifts or Valentine’s Day gifts, we busted out the credit card and ignored rational thinking…

We didn’t start to make progress with our debt payoff plan until we understood that holidays weren’t opportunities for overspending.

Don’t let peer pressure or targeted advertisements cause you to accrue new debt and bills.  You don’t need that, no one does!

Remember what Valentine’s Day is about.  It’s about showing your partner how much you care about them, not how much you can spend on them.

Use Valentine’s Day as the kick off for your debt free life!

Let us know what other debt free Valentine’s Day ideas you have!!  We’d love to hear them.