If you are one of the people that celebrate Valentine’s Day, plan your activities ahead of time to avoid overspending. Photographer: Armand Hough, Independent Newspapers.
By: Pearl Cele
Valentine’s Day is around the corner and it’s a special day to celebrate and show love to our loved ones. As rewarding spoiling your loved ones may be, it doesn’t mean you should break the bank, more so if you didn’t budget and plan for it.
There is nothing wrong with spoiling our loved ones. However, we should not spend money we did not budget for or use credit to buy gifts. You can still enjoy this special day with your loved ones by keeping it simple.
Here are five creative ways to spoil your loves ones:
Plan - Valentine’s Day comes around each year, one of the great things you could do from a budgeting perspective is to plan ahead of time. Planning will help you not to over-extend yourself financially when celebrating or purchasing gifts.
Use your loyalty programmes - If you are a member of a loyalty programme and have points that can be used to purchase gifts or vouchers, rather use them, than using credit to buy gifts.
Look for specials – Do your homework and look for ways to reduce costs, generally different companies are offering discounts for their in-demand products and services around this time.
Consider doing a cook-off - Instead of going to a restaurant, why not spoil your loved ones with a home cooked meal, or getting the family involved by doing a cook-off. This is more fun and cost effective.
Use your imagination and creativity – Challenge yourself to make something creatively or find a less costly activity that you can do with your loved ones. For example, a picnic. Avoid buying presents you can’t afford.
If you are one of the people that celebrate Valentine’s Day, plan your activities ahead of time to avoid overspending on the day, also remember it is the thought that counts, celebrate love in ways that align with your financial situation.
* Cele is the operations manager at FNB Consumer Education.
PERSONAL FINANCE