Valentine's Day or Dooms Day?

By Kelly McCool

Valentine's Day is great for couples, awful for singles and not so hot for those out of work. But there are alternatives to giving the gift of love without loading a lot of loot from your wallet. A story we are working on for this week's edition of the Power to Save is about one day care that is using old stuff laying around their facility and making something worthwhile from it. Now, you may be thinking: What could a pre-school kid make that anyone would want? or How can you not dish out the dough but still make it look nice?
The answer is simple: be creative. As cliche as it may sound, memorable gifts are the ones that last the longest maybe phsyically or just in our memory. One year I got a chocolate rose wrapped in red tinfoil from my father. To this day, it still sits atop my dresser. The card that came alongside a dozen roses from a boyfriend is still hanging on my bedroom wall. The message is always more important than the tangible gift.
Making memories is the cheapest alternative to spending a lot of dough. Make a dinner for your sweetheart that includes his or her favorite dish, like a banana split or heart shaped cookies or even a piece of jewelry made from something of yours. Gift giving is all about what goes on behind the scenes. Proof in a job well done? Well that is literally in the eyes of the beholder.