Frugal (but appreciated) Valentines Day Gifts

Everyone lately is looking for ways to cut corners and save money where they can. Valentines Day is coming up soon and this is one area that you can save lots of $$$!

Flowers die with in days or a week if your lucky. Chocolate goes to the hips...or other places.  SO how can you stretch that dollar and still make your mother or wife feel loved?

1st STEP: LISTEN TO WHAT SHE IS SAYING... women usually give hints early! They will mention something they like or usually show you something. (This isn't fair to men, because men usually can't read the hints.) 

If you have to ask, then do it... It would better much better than her being disappointed. (hopefully, she won't get mad at you for reading her mind.) Or offer her this advice from another blog of mine:
Ladies,
Don't drop hints to your husbands, boyfriends, fiances about Valentines day. Tell them what you would like. If you want it to be a surprise...give him a list of things that you would be happy to have. I tell my husband all the time "don't buy me flowers, they die, I want something that is useful and lasts".

I'm not against flowers, but I don't want him to spend alot of money on them. I would much rather have a $10 bouquet from Wal-Mart for a "just because" than to have him spend $50-$150 to get me roses on Valentines day.

Don't make it hard on the men, then be disappointed when you didn't get what you wanted! He's my list of general items that I would like to have for special occasions:
-Housework Coupon Book
-Gift Certificate for a message
-A personal message by hubby
-New houseplant
-New attachments for KitchenAid
-Dark Chocolate
-Coupon for a free morning to sleep in past 0500
-Coupon for a free afternoon
-Homemade by him Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

These may not be expensive things but are things that I like and would rather have than flowers that die.

Here is a list of items that can be given to anyone. (the wording is towards women, but you can switch things around for men or children)

• Homemade coupons books: housework, favors, nights out
• Make Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries (or her preferred chocolate type)
• Make a homemade dinner WITHOUT her help!
• Personally written poem
• Handmade card
• Calendar with pictures through out the time married
• A day-off from housework and kids while everyone else does the work
• Homemade gift basket (see Gift Basket Blog)
• A Bubble Bath surrounded with candles
• Candles
• Her favorite drink and a new book
• If you have vacation time saved up, take the day off before or after Valentine's Day and spend extra time together.
• Make a cd or playlist on your MP3 player with just her favorite songs, spend the night dancing and serenading herr at home.
• Put together a shadow box of all the things that remind you of her or your special times together with a picture of you or both of you in the center.
• Make heart shaped cookies.
• Make your own candry wrappers with messages of love on them...use her favorite candy
• Give her gifts that pertain to her favorite hobby: scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, reading etc
• Lists! List why you love her, what you love about her, why you are glad you married
• Photo gifts...walmart and walgreens have inexpensive photo gifts that you can have made: posters, coffee mugs, throws, and more