I received an email from a company I won't name with the subject line: 5 Valentine's Day Gifts Under $75.
My reaction was something like scorn.
Or a fart noise.
$75?
That's just stupid!
We are not a family of excess. I try to teach my children contentment and joy in simplicity. We don't need fancy gifts and crazy gestures to know that love blooms wild within our walls and it's blossom lasts longer than any expensive bouquet.
$75? Ha!
I challenged myself to a $25 Valentine's Day. Spend less. Love more.
This is what I got for Scott:
Not a new coffee maker. I prepped ours so he just had to push start when he woke up. That's it. Cost? $0.
This is what he got me:
We're super romantic!
I understand that there are people who speak love through gifts but it's a language I don't understand. February 14th doesn't mean money has to be frivolously spent. I don't need that to be complete.
I do speak love. I speak it every time I cook supper or clean a toilet or match up pairs of socks or read stories or kiss skinned knees or say 'I love you like a love song' or hit up the dollar store for special occasion dinner decorations...
- Heart napkins $1
- Heart ribbon $1
- Heart gift boxes $1
- Foam heart cutouts $1
- 6 white votive candles $1.25
- Fabric roses $1.25
- Chocolate $3
And because we didn't have a set of 5 matching dinner plates and I wanted to use mom's old red table cloth and our plates didn't match it (and I am a complete dork) I bought new white plates.
- Plates $7.50
And then I thought, hey, matching wine glasses would be totally fancy and fun!
- Wine glasses $5
And then I realized I had very little left for the food to put on those plates so we had spaghetti {which is a perfectly fitting 'romantic' meal - remember Lady and the Tramp?}
- Half a package of spaghetti 90¢
- Jar of Ragu $1
- 1 lb ground beef $3
- Caesar Salad $2
- Garlic Bread $1.50
{If you're doing the math, yes - I went over $25 BUT if you really think about it only about 10% of the dinnerware cost should count because it will obviously get used again and again...unlike the chocolate...AND I had the food on hand so I didn't actually have to spend money on it today...}
We want for nothing. Our love tanks are full. This is where we invest our hearts.
Take that $75!
{I'm participating in a Boost Your Blog in 100 Days Challenge beginning tomorrow. If you're a blogger and looking to connect and grow, come back tomorrow and I'll be posting all the information so you can get involved too!}
Please never stop writting this blog!! I love it. And as soon as I dedicate more time to writing then the scribbles in my notebooks maybe ill make one too :)
ReplyDeleteYou're so kind! And you totally should! The internet is a big place and there's room for everyone :)
DeleteLovely .... You opened a whole new world that we all can walk in ... All from the heart ... Simple love ... True and sweet.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's alot more than we did. I think Valentine's Day came and went without acknowledgement around here. Oh well, I didn't miss anything. Glad your participating in the boost challenge. It's a blast, huh?
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good! It's fun to find people I would have never discovered otherwise...like yourself :)
DeleteAhahahahaha "and if you're counting YES I did go over BUT..." killed me. I say the entire budget should've been spent on chocolate alone. No but really it seems like a great day :)
ReplyDelete:) Believe me - I would have eaten it all!!! And, for the record, we have used those plates every dinner since Valentine's so they pretty much shouldn't have counted AT ALL!!!!
ReplyDeletep.s. I love love loved your valentine's/anniversary disposable camera shots! It's so fun that you're playing with different cameras