How To Do Valentine's with the Right Perspective on Money
/
This Valentine’s Day, I know a lot of people who are newly married and finances are tight. It’s hard to see so many people who are madly in love, yet don’t feel they have the time to spare from work, or money to hire a babysitter, or whatever else to cultivate that love.
We all know Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be what the commercials say it does, but what CAN we do to make it great?
Here’s a couple ways to do Valentine’s Day with the right perspective on money:
1) Celebrate “us”.
At some point in life, we all realize THINGS aren’t as big of a deal as we once thought. Not that they don’t matter (especially if your significant other feels loved with gifts), but they don’t need to be the thing a happy Valentine’s Day rides on.
This year, sit down with your significant other and ask them (or if you’re planning all of it, ask yourself) what it would be like to celebrate “us”. It could be a simple as bowling, or taking dance lessons, or sitting on the top of a parking garage eating take out while watching the lights in a big city. What is something you two loved to do when you were dating that you don’t have time for now? Do you love to be adventurous? Then do something you’ve never done before. Whatever it is, make it something the two of you would love, because it’s doing “us” together.
2) Spare no expense.
This can seem impossible, and I certainly don’t mean buy a $200 meal if you’re on a tight budget, but think about it. On February 14th, you’re given a chance to remember your loved one and why you’re together, spend time on each other and put special attention on just that relationship. So hire a babysitter for a little longer than normal, or just for tonight, do dinner out when you normally wouldn’t. Whatever it is, remember, money is just a tool. If we let it get in the way of what we know we should do, it’s becoming too important to us.
3) Put work aside.
Around NVOWS we have a motto that goes, “don’t work for money, let your money work for you”. This means leveraging your money so you can earn while “hands off”. Imagine what this would do for your date nights! You could head off on a relaxing, romantic night while not worrying about staying at work to earn that much needed extra.
If you’re not “there” yet, pretend like you are, just for tomorrow. Forget about work and remember who is more important than making those extra pennies.
And on February 15th, start thinking about ways you start leveraging your money so you can be in a completely different place next year and then DO it!
