Experience Valentine’s Day on a Budget
Celebrate your significant other without breaking your budget by using these simple, thoughtful dating hacks:
Dine In
Restaurants frequently up their prices when the whole world is trying to go out to eat at the exact same time, so you’ll likely be paying a premium just because it’s February 14. Instead of shelling out big bucks for a crowded dining room, cook up a gourmet meal together at home. Dim the lights, put on some soft music, and set a romantic ambiance with candlelight!
Explore the Great Outdoors
It may be crisp out, but you can still spend some uninterrupted, shared quality time together outdoors. Bundle up, fill a travel mug with hot cocoa, and take a refreshing walk under the West Texas stars.
Laugh It Out
Laughter is an incredible way to bond. You can stream a comedy special or a funny movie right from your couch for a lighthearted, cozy night in.
Hit the Gym
Gym memberships and day passes usually see promotional pricing in February when the initial rush of New Year’s resolutions begins to cool down. If you both love staying active, a shared workout or a partner yoga session can be a great bonding experience that’s good for your health and your wallet, too.
Get Cultured Locally
Give your dating life a refreshing twist by exploring a local museum! Abilene has an incredible lineup of unique cultural attractions right in our backyard:
- Frontier Texas! (Perfect for a fully interactive step back into old Western history)
- The Grace Museum
- The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL)
- The Center for Contemporary Arts
- The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum
If you don’t mind a beautiful short drive out of town, you can also head down to Cross Plains to check out Woody’s Classic Cars & Baseball Museum. Studying unique works of art or historical artifacts makes for fabulous, meaningful conversation.
Gift a Thoughtful Gesture
Everyone has a guilty pleasure they can’t get enough of. Give your partner a personalized indulgence fest for a truly thoughtful gift. If your significant other loves waking up to a huge stack of pancakes, surprise them with their dream breakfast-in-bed. If they love a specific sweet treat, fill a funky, decorative glass jar with their favorite candies.
You can also offer to take over a household chore you know your partner absolutely loathes. Decorate a small piece of cardstock and write up a custom “coupon” that gifts them with four loads of laundry—completely washed, dried, and folded away. It won’t cost you a dime, and it’s a genuine act of service that is sure to put a smile on their face.
Save on the Flowers
We know you found an amazing-looking deal online for a bouquet of fresh roses, but think twice before clicking buy. Mail-order flowers rarely look like the pictures after sitting in a delivery truck, and the shipping fees around February 14 are astronomical. Instead, look for incredible deals on fresh, long-lasting flowers right here in town by checking out the floral departments at Sam’s Club, HEB, or Market Street. You’ll get better quality for a fraction of the price!
Relive Your Favorite Memories
Instead of expensive jewelry or gadgets, take a walk down memory lane by making a personalized memory box. Find a neat container and fill it with physical mementos you have saved up over your months or years of dating—concert tickets, old photos, or notes. Grab a tub of ice cream, open the box, and spend a wonderful evening reliving some of your favorite shared milestones.
Catch a Movie Matinee
Instead of paying peak evening prices for movie tickets, see a feature film during a daytime matinee to save a bundle on admission. Theaters are also significantly less crowded during the afternoon, making for a much more relaxed experience all around.
For a truly classic movie date night, be sure to check the schedule at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Abilene. They frequently feature classic romantic comedies on the big screen around mid-February!
Beat the Restaurant Menu Tricks
If you and your partner do decide on a special night out on the town, you can outsmart the psychological tricks hidden in modern menu designs to keep your bill in check:
- Look to the left: Restaurant layouts often place their highest-markup items in the top right-hand corner because that is where the human eye naturally glances first. Force yourself to scan the left side of the page for hidden, budget-friendly gems.
- Say the price out loud: Notice how upscale menus completely remove the dollar signs ($) next to the items? It’s a proven psychological trick designed to distance you from the feeling of spending real cash. Make the price real by saying it out loud to your partner: “The salmon is twenty-eight dollars.”
- Ignore the decoys: Restaurants often place an incredibly overpriced item right at the top of a section. They don’t actually expect many people to buy it; it’s a “decoy” meant to make the slightly less expensive items around it look like an amazing bargain.
