07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Creative (and Cheap) Valentine's Day Ideas
Valentine's Day is next Friday. I'm looking forward to the annual pandemonium in my local Stop & Shop, where people race in to snatch up any flowers they can find.
Even if money is tight, you can probably do better than the last droopy, blue-dyed supermarket carnations. But for some people, the urge to find the right gift or to book the perfect reservation can be fraught, said Vivian Tu, the author of 'Rich AF' and host of the podcast 'Networth and Chill.'
Social media has magnified the pressure, Tu said. 'It's not enough to love your partner in private,' she said. 'You have to do it in this grand display.'
It doesn't have to be that way. I asked experts for advice on affordable ways to show your loved one you care.
You don't need to spend a lot of cash to get a quirky present that reflects your partner's personality, said Chris A. Matthews, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Charlotte, N.C. Instead, he said, your gift should 'show that you are paying attention to what they like, and what they are like.'
Think about presents that can be personalized, Tu said. She once gave her husband a custom Lego kit from Etsy (like this one) with two figurines based on the two of them. If your loved one likes to cook, Tu added, you can get a cutting board engraved with the place where you had your first kiss, a romantic reminder they will see every time they use it.
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