Frugal Gifts for Girls Who Hate Valentine’s Day

I have a confession to share. I think I am a glass half full kind of girl. I do my best to turn negatives into positives. I love puppies, children, and old people. However, with February 14 fast approaching, it’s time I let my true colors show. I HATE Valentine’s Day. Now, I do have a wonderful husband who will get me some sort of gift. Who wants to be the guy who doesn’t get his sweetie a Valentine? I know I make it hard, because I don’t like the day, and I don’t want him to spend money. If you have a girlfriend or wife like me, I’ll make my peace with the big, fat, red heart day and give you some ideas for finding frugal gifts for girls who hate Valentine’s Day.

Background

My hatred of Valentine’s Day developed during high school. I don’t know if it was the decade or the small town where I grew up, but Valentine’s day at school meant one thing, flowers and balloons. Local florists probably paid their bills for months from the deliveries to the high school. It seemed like every girl who had parents or a boyfriend got some sort of delivery on Valentine’s Day. It was so bad that the office staff recruited students and pulled them out of class to run the deliveries from the office to the designated classrooms. You’d see the girls walking down the hallway between classes trailing bouquets of roses, mylar, and latex almost as big as their hair in 1992. The bigger your stash, the more popular it made you on that day.

I wasn’t an outcast in high school. I had friends. I participated in sports and activities, but I did not run with the popular crowd. I had the same boyfriend throughout most of high school and college. I was a good girl. He was a bad boy and was way above the trivialness of buying flowers or balloons. Actually, in hindsight, I think he was just cheap. Regardless, he didn’t send deliveries to school, and being the mature person that I was, I agreed with his philosophy. Otherwise he might see me as shallow. My parents were too practical to spend money on flowers and balloons. I had plenty of gifts throughout my youth, but not ones that would wither away within a week’s time.

Basically, that always left me without any flowers or balloons on Valentine’s Day. I know in the whole scheme of world events, my lack of floral arrangements made no impact. I realize how pointless it is to declare your undying love and spend a month’s allowance or part time paycheck on flowers for the girl you probably won’t be dating next month. As irrational as it was, I hated being the girl with no flowers on Valentine’s Day. It didn’t get any better throughout college or optometry school. I don’t think I ever had a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. I even had ones who broke up right before, probably to avoid the cost of a dozen roses. I grew to loathe the holiday, and when I met my husband almost 14 years ago, it wasn’t a feeling I could turn off. Even though I’m happily married and have a permanent Valentine, it would be sacrilege to embrace the holiday and forget all the single girls out there with practical parents.

My husband can be very sweet, but he learned a long time ago that if you buy me something that is red, pink, floral, or mushy on Valentine’s Day, I will say thanks, but pay no more attention than if you gave me a set of coasters. You have to work a bit harder when your girlfriend or wife hates Valentine’s Day. I won’t give you all the secrets, but here are some ideas that I’ve enjoyed over the years.

• A Good Book-I love to read. A pretty book or a book about a topic of interest is a wonderful Valentine. Don’t buy the $1.99 paperback. Make it a decoration.  If you met in a popular city, you could give a travel book from that area. If your wife admires someone famous, a biography about that person is a great idea. I also like sets of books in a series that I have read, like the Hunger Games Trilogy.
• Tickets-If your wife hates Valentine’s Day, she isn’t going to want to go out and see all the couples making out over dinner, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go out on another day. Get her tickets to a play, concert, or even a movie you have been wanting to see. The promise of a future date night is a great gift.
• Detail Her Car– This is an amazing gift. I am pretty good at keeping the house and laundry cleaned and neat, but my car becomes a dumping ground. Not to be sexist, but men just seem to do a better job of keeping cars clean. My husband could trip over a pair of shoes for a week and never think to put them away, but if a crumb gets in his floor board, he’s out there with the vacuum. Go wash, vacuum, or even wax and Armour All her car. Every girl wants a clean car, it just usually isn’t at the top of the priority list for us.
• Rice Krispee Treats– For you guys that are great gourmet cooks, skip this one. If you can’t cook to save your life, this is an easy sweet treat that isn’t traditional chocolate for Valentine’s Day. All  you need is a stick of butter, a bag of marshmallows, and a box of Rice Krispees or generic equivalent. Read the directions. My five year old could make them, and who doesn’t love a warm Rice Krispee treat? 
• Be Her For a Day– No, don’t dress in your wife’s clothes! If you have kids, you know that Mom is the organizer. Dad can usually do one job at a time with good instructions, but Mom does all the ground work. Make a list of what Mom does and repeat it. You might try on a weekend so Jr. doesn’t get to school with one mitten and no lunch, but give Mom the day off. No snacks to fix, no baths to give, no clothes to wash. Let her take a bath, do her nails, all the things she never has time for. However, if you have to ask her for a list of things she needs you to do, just skip this one and pick one of the others from the list.

I hope my sarcasm doesn’t ruin Valentine’s Day if you truly are a sucker love February 14th. Show the girl in your life love every day, but don’t forget to remember her with a unique gift on her most hated day.

Do you love or hate Valentine’s Day? Do you have a horrible high school experience that still haunts you?

Written By

Sydney White

Sydney White is a Texas-born stay at home mom who enjoys spending time with her family, bargain hunting and, hiking.