10 Inexpensive Valentine’s Date Ideas that will truly spoil your significant other!

Well Valentines Day is exactly a week away now! So that means it’s time to get planning. Figuring out how you going to treat your significant other and remind them how much you love them and appreciate them. It can be so easy to just run out and grab a mushy card, a box of those mystery chocolates and a teddy bear and then take them out for a nice dinner. And while that’s very sweet and thoughtful – it’s also typical and can get expensive. Why not get unique and keep things affordable! I don’t know about you guys but money is tight right now, so we need to save anywhere and everywhere we can but we still love date night. So to combat the problem of desiring a date with the hubby and wanting to keep things affordable I came up with this list of 10 inexpensive Valentine’s Date Ideas. I compiled the list from past dates and also by hunting around on Pinterest. Pinterest is such a great resource for these types of things so if you ever get stuck – head on over there!

At Home Spa Day!

Seriously – who doesn’t love the spa! Especially that lady in your life, I promise you, she will love this! Get a warm & fuzzy rob, some plush slippers. Grab some nail polish(from the cabinet-she’s sure to have some) & some bath bombs & a face mask from Lush. Put some on relaxing music, light some lavender candles, and turn off the lights. Offer some champagne or some fruit infused water and just tell her to relax. Climb into the tub together while enjoying the bath bomb and face mask, sipping on your choice drink. Relax. Make sure to have dinner already planned (ready to go into the oven or number on speed dial- you don’t want to ruin the relaxation with the need to cook dinner.) After the bath, grab some baby oil or some massage oil and take turns giving each other massages(back, foot, hands) and make sure once all finished you give her an extra treat and paint her toe nails.

Goodful just posted a video teaching you how to give a neck massage. You can find that here.

Make Homemade Chocolates together!

Everyone loves chocolate on Valentine’s Day. We’re conditioned too. But it can get so expensive. So why not spend a few hours creating your own chocolate treats together. Head to the grocery store and grab some chocolate chips – dark chocolate, white chocolate, mint chocolate, milk chocolate. Then grab some nuts – peanuts, almonds. How about some fruit – strawberries and raspberries. And of course a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine. Once home, melt down the chocolate and start building different chocolate treats together – your possibilities are endless! Dark chocolate covered strawberries, white chocolate drizzled raspberries, milk chocolate dipped peanut butter balls, mint chocolate dipped pretzels…the list goes on and on. And of course, as your dipping and setting – you’re eating and drinking.

Dinner & a movie!

A typical option but always a very good and honestly one of my favorite options! Whether it’s just ordering in and watching a Netflix or Redbox…or change it up! Dress up, wear a nice jacket and pants, have her wear a fancy dress, cook up a classy and fancy dinner (Food Network is full of some scrumptious and fancy dinner ideas) amaze her with your cooking abilities. Set the table and light some candles. Then curl up on the couch and relax.

Drive-In Movie Theatre!

Another variation of the dinner & movie option and honestly, I think it’s the best option out there! This is actually something a boyfriend in high school did for me and it’s a memory I hold very dear to my heart. So he worked it, that he filled the bed of his truck with sleeping bags and pillows, then grabbed a big plank of wood(long enough to stretch across the bed of the truck but wide enough to hold a small tv & dvd player on it. He pulled the truck up into the backyard and we watched the movie while relaxing in the back of the truck underneath the stars. It was so sweet and romantic! To take it up a notch, I suggest grabbing some of your favorite movie theater candy(Target offers these in the candy section!) and some popcorn. I also found this other blog about an outdoor movie with some free cute printables. Granted its a little cold out there right now…so this might not be the best idea for a week from today, so take an indoor spin on it and set up the basement with a fort and maybe some christmas lights and candles.

Wine & Dessert Night!

No one has ever said that you have to eat dinner, ok maybe someone has (all the moms and grandmas out there) BUT a night of dessert for dinner every once and while is good for the soul! So why not have the on Valentines Day – when I lived in Italy – my roommates and I one night went to a local bakery and grabbed a full selection of desserts, all different kinds. Then we grabbed some wine and put on our PJs and we sat in the living room, nibbling at the desserts, drinking wine and just discussing life. It was one of the best nights ever! So head to Whole Foods, Wegmans, or even better Vaccaro’s and grab up a sampling of their best dessert options, grab a bottle or two of some of your favorite wine, slip on some pjs and enjoy some decadence in the living room. Reconnect with each other and chat about the workings of the world!

Breakfast in Bed!

I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory…get up early, slip outta bed without him noticing, sneak down to the kitchen and whip up his favorite breakfast. This is something the hubby does quite often actually and it makes me fall in love with him over and over again – unfortunately though I usually ruin it and wake up early and head out to the kitchen before he can bring it to me in bed but that doesn’t matter to me. It’s the thought and action that counts here! So whip up some eggs & bacon, some pancakes or waffles, some french toast – don’t forget that coffee!

Game Night!

Head out to the store (or rummage through the house) to find some two person games. Some examples would be card games, Battleship, Guess Who, Chess, Checkers, Dominos, Scrabble, Yahtzee, video games…heres a whole blog post with 20 different options. But grab a couple different game options, after dinner pull them out and spend a few hours playing. Get competitive in a friendly playful way, let her win, make things interesting with risqué endings. Just have fun with it!

Picnic!

This is something my brother did for an old girlfriend – he can be very romantic. A few years ago for Christmas we did the white elephant thing with some extended family (in addition to real gifts) and he got a Picnic basket with all the trimmings (forks, knives, plates, cups, serving utensils, blanket). So for Valentine’s Day he wanted to treat her to a picnic, except it’s hard to enjoy a picnic in the middle of February. So he got creative. They headed to the basement, he used his phone to play the “sounds of the outdoors”, laid a blanket down on the floor, and turned on a fan to create a breeze. Seriously, I don’t know where he gets this stuff but he’s good. They of course he had the full picnic spread – sandwiches, snacks, fruit and veggies, drinks.

Ice Skating!

How sweet is it of an activity! You get all bundled up and hold hands skating around. Take breaks with hot cocoa and spend a few hours giving each other your undivided attention – can’t really be on your phone while skating (you’ll run into someone). To go ice skating in Columbia is about $8 a person! Get some details.

Top of the World Observatory!

What’s better than seeing Baltimore from the Top of the World – seeing Baltimore from the Top of the World at a discounted rate! There’s this awesome Groupon right now for a ticket for two to the Observatory for $7! Tickets are normally $12/person! You can’t get any better than that! Click here to get the Groupon! But how romantic would that be. Once you’re done at the Observatory, spend the rest of the afternoon being a tourist. Wander around the Inner Harbor, explore the stores, watch the street performers, grab dinner at PotBelly’s or Chipotle. Just cause your at the Harbor, doesn’t mean you need to spend a ton of money being a tourist! Being a tourist in your own city for next to nothing!

Whatever it is that you decide to do on Valentine’s Day, inexpensive or not. Just make sure that you’re truly devoting time to each other. Put the phones away & just connect. Be in the moment and enjoy the time!