Hi there! Happy Valentines Day! Happy Single Awareness Day!
If you’re anything like me, you make plans at the
last minute. And if you’re even more like me, your bank account or wallet may
be running on empty. Well, fear not! Here are some sweet ideas to satisfy the romantic
in you without having to spend any money!
Who said romance has a price tag?!
Explore your city on foot
If you live in a sprawling metropolis, you probably take a
car everywhere. Or maybe you’re a slave to public transport (If you are, so am
I! Join the club!). Your city probably has plenty of free sights you’ve yet to
experience like a museum, a park, or a quiet street. Maybe it’s the comfort of
being with your lover away from the trappings of spending? Hmmmm…
Ideas:
- Pick a place you haven’t visited yet and check it out for
the day. Take the trip on foot (unless it’s super far away) and relish the
experience more.
- Both you and your partner name a place you love, then check
the map and find a place in the middle you haven’t visited before or haven’t
visited in a long time. Go there!
- Go on TripAdvisor and check out the Things To Do in your
area. For romantic scenery, check out the Outdoor attractions!
Perfect for... the wanderluster on a budget, the relaxed
romantic and the recovering shopaholic (Keep away from shops)!
Game the night away
Are you both homebodies who dread leaving the house? I know
I’d much rather relax with my boyfriend then go out clubbing any day! Or maybe
you have a huge collection of video games and board games. Maybe you have a
free sporting area nearby. Oh, or maybe you’re crazy competitive, and nothing
excites you more than a challenge!
Ideas:
- Head to the nearest free basketball court or park or area
where you can engage in fun sports like, ya know, basketball, rugby, football
or childhood favourites like Hot Lava
- Play cooperative and competitive video games all night in a
quest for victory!
- Play card and board games with prizes for the winners and
consequences for the losers. It’s Valentines Day; I’ll let you figure out
appropriate rewards for yourselves (Wink wink)
Perfect for... people who LOVE to win, craft-happy gods and
goddesses (your houses are surely wonders to behold, why ever leave?) and the
always-plugged-in technolistas!
Read to each other in your local library
For centuries, men and women have wooed each other with the
power of words. Whether or not you have the oratorical prowess to rival
Shakespeare matters little when you have the nearly limitless arsenal of the
library at your disposal. Visit one for Valentines and whisper sweet nothings
to your lover... for free (for your pocket AND your mind)!
Ideas:
- For the truly romantic, try reading out a few Shakespearean
sonnets or some sweet poetry. You know you want to. And V-day is the perfect
day to be outrageously cheesy and get away with it!
- For those who roll their eyes at sentimentality, try reading
comics, graphic novels or good books out loud to each other. You can do it
seriously or read it in such a way that will leave you both guffawing at your
crazy reading. Warning: you could get kicked out.
- Each of you picks out a book you love that the other hasn’t
read. Swap books, cuddle together in a nook and sigh in bliss at the wonders of
the written word.
Perfect for... the hopeless romantic, the girl who loves the
sound of her own voice and cosy bookworms!
Celebrate with a quiet picnic
Picture a day out in the great outdoors. You’re sitting with
your loved one, nestled together on a picnic blanket, talking and eating
delicious food. Ah, bliss. After all, they do say the way to a man’s heart is
through his stomach, and who’s to say it doesn't work for women either?!
Ideas:
- If you’re averse to cooking, bring leftovers and snacks, or persuade a good friend to do some
cooking or baking for you. Maybe there’s a favour you can cash in...
- For the gourmet cook in training, wow your lover with all
the amazing creations you can concoct. And please send me a care package in the
mail!
- Try the local park for a picnic, OR if you want to do some
impromptu camping, pitch a blanket fort in the middle of your living room or
backyard and have a picnic there!
Perfect for... the ones with parents who want to keep an eye on
them (behave yourselves, okay!), the foodies at heart and the timid
adventurers!
Go nuts with a crazy photoshoot
You’re naturally a comedienne, or you
shine bright like a diamond. The spotlight has to be on you, babe!
Grab a camera, pick a place and go nuts with your significant other. Take turns
making funny faces, doing crazy poses, and rolling around on the ground. By the
end of it, you’ll either hate each other for taking ‘stupid photos’ of you, or
appreciate each other more for having a sense of humour and making you look
better
than you actually look great!
Ideas:
- If you have a Polaroid camera of some kind, go nuts with it!
Shake it like a Polaroid picture (the photo and maybe your butt too!), and be
the goofiest you can be with your sweetheart.
- Don’t have a camera of any kind? Do the crazy photoshoot
anyway, but instead of taking photos, you get to make funny caricatures of each
other! Artistic talent not needed!
- Have a friend trying to build a portfolio? Maybe you can
rope him/her into taking your photos! Or just use a tripod or any stable
surface for cheesy and hilarious couple photos!
Perfect for... people who shine bright like a diamond (Sorry,
not sorry), laughing hyenas and trigger-happy photographers!
What do you think of those FIVE free date ideas?
I had a blast thinking of them, and we're going with Game The Night Away with the Xbox! Plus watching TV shows because we're homebodies like that. ;)
Feel free to add expensive
elements to the dates (Like flowers? Diamonds? New camera?!), or to mix and
match them as you will!
I hope this helped you with your Valentines day!
And if
you’re single, grab a friend or two and go on a big date anyway!
Let me know what you think in the comments below, through
tweets or on Facebook!
Stay beautiful,
