Love on a shoestring… here’s eleven ways to say, “I love you” without blowing a king’s ransom on expensive treats!
- create a romantic dinner at home with candles and soft music – eating out is great but when you prepare food for someone, it’s so much more personal
- make an ‘I love you’ card yourself. Spending time and effort means just as much – if not more – than spending cash. Then post it to your lover, even if you live together. It’s so exciting getting real post through the door instead of the usual boring, scary bills
- serenade your loved one with a rose between your teeth like they do in the movies. If you can play an instrument, even better. If you have musical friends, get together in secret and practise a love song, then surprise the one you adore
- write a love poem, or find one you like online. Copy it out onto a sheet of luxury paper and fold it into a nice, thick envelope, adding a scattering of paper or metallic stars, hearts or flowers from your local craft shop
- if the weather’s playing nice, take your loved one for a romantic picnic somewhere beautiful. Get the bus there and back to save cash on petrol and parking, or the train, and make a hand-made adventure out of the occasion
- use our discount codes to pick up posh smellies at bargain prices. Print your own wrapping paper using plain brown parcel paper printed with scarlet hearts, carving a heart shaped stamp from half a potato
- track down your nearest rowing boat hire place and enjoy floating down a gorgeous river or rowing around a lake together, with a bottle of cheap bubbly
- learn to bake and make your lover a cake iced with their name, hearts, flowers or a special message
- check in to a hotel courtesy of our travel discount codes, in a tourist hot spot near you. Even if it’s in your home town or just a few miles away, it’s lovely to spend a night away together somewhere different
- make a home movie for the one you love, declaring your feelings bravely, clearly and creatively for posterity
- write “I love you” it in the sand on the beach, or create a heart shape on your front or back lawn out of random items – ladders, bit of wood, red clothing, branches and twigs, tins of beans… use your imagination. Or write it on yourself!
