Love On a Budget

     As it is for many, money is tight for the Couch's, but holidays will not go un-celebrated in this household. One of Marty's love languages is gift giving so there are presents to be distributed on days like these. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these Arbor Day's she gives me a shrub of some kind. Over the years, I've learned to speak her language, and when we're pinching pennies, I've learned to be creative. This was Marty's first Valentine's Day gift for 2011...

  
      ... a cheap box of chocolates.  When I was a pre-teen, I used to walk the Valentine's Day aisle at Payless Drugstore and admire the biggest heart-shaped box of chocolates they displayed. I thought to myself, "If I had a girlfriend (and the cash), I would buy her the fanciest heart-shaped box of chocolates this store had." Of course, in the early 80's, chocolate came in large, gaudy packages. So, to show my love to my bride this year, I bought her the largest, gaudiest heart-shaped box of chocolates I could find.

     Gift number 2...

  
     ... two weeks worth of laundry washed, folded and completely put away in dressers and closets. Not a stitch laying around, all done. Of course, laundry is my job every Monday, but when expressing your love on a budget, two weeks worth qualifies as a Valentine's Day gift.

     And finally...

     ...one dozen roses. I don't have a picture of said flowers because they're dead. I bought them last month, under the guise of an "early Valentine's Day present," when roses still cost $9.99. When love is being expressed on a budget, one would not think of making such a purchase in February.

     To be honest, I could have saved even more money. When I picked up that box of chocolate, I was tempted to wait for the day after the holiday when it would be marked down 50%, but I didn't want to be sleeping on the couch the night of February 14.