Valentine’s Day is swiftly approaching, and I know that it can be difficult to try to choose between two unpleasant choices.
You can drop a lot of money on gifts and a romantic night, or you can avoid adding to an already ridiculous amount of college debt while not doing anything fun or romantic.
Both choices seem rather unpleasant, and I am here to give you a third option: free/cheap ideas for gifts and dates!
Gift Ideas
Need a good idea for a cheap or even free gift? There are several college budget friendly gifts that you can get for Valentine’s Day.
The Xavierite is going to have a whole valentines section in the issue coming out on February 13th. Students can put their own specialized message for their friends and sweethearts, and it will be displayed in the issue.
There will be a table in the diner this week Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. where students can fill out their messages.
Students can also send their message to thexavierite@yahoo.com with “Valentine’s Message” in the subject or message The Xavierite on Facebook.
The message should include your first name, your friend/sweetheart’s first name and your message. The deadline is Sunday, February 10.
Do you have a bunch of pictures of you and your sweetheart lying around either in a shoebox under your bed or in a folder on your desktop? Turn them into a collage.
If you have digital pictures, there are plenty of free collage-making software programs that let you print out the collage.
If you have physical copies of pictures, cut and paste the best parts onto a piece of paper.
Then you can get a frame; the dollar store has some really cute ones. If you are really artistic, you could even draw your own pictures.
Another good idea for a gift is a do-it-yourself coupon book. Take some index cards or cut pieces of construction paper.
Write cute or romantic things on each one of them, such as “Good for one free back rub”, “Good for control of the remote for two hours”, “Redeem this to choose where we eat”, and “Get out of the doghouse free”.
Just make sure that you are willing and able to follow up on whatever you put on the coupons. Once you have filled all of them out, you can staple them or use a hole punch and some yarn.
Date Ideas
Have your own movie night. Instead of going out to see a movie, have a movie night in your own dorm or home. Pop a bag of popcorn and do not forget your favorite theater candy.
Pick out a few of your favorite DVDs from your collection. You can also check out the extensive DVD collection in the SXU library.
You can check them out without worrying about paying for a movie that may turn out to be not so great. Also, you do not have to worry about people telling you to be quiet if the two of you decide to add your own commentary.
Movie night is not your thing? You can have game night. Pick out a board game (or maybe a few depending on how long they take to play). If you want, you can even play for kisses (the chocolate or the romantic gesture).
Another date idea is to create your own date. Think of the cheesiest date you have ever seen in the most stereotypical romantic comedy you have ever seen.
It probably included dinner at a fancy restaurant and a night of dancing. Well, you can do this for yourself and your sweetheart at home.
Get all dressed up, make some fancy prepackaged food, light some candles, and laugh as you clink your glasses of sparkling grape juice together.
Then put on some dance music and shake your groove thing until neither of you can stand, either from dizziness or laughter.
Another option would be to pack a picnic, lay out a blanket and have a romantic evening.
Becki Brown
Senior Features Editor