You don’t need to flatter your sweetheart with expensive gifts on Valentine’s Day.

While those who are financially strapped may want to keep up appearances among casual acquaintances, anyone who knows you well enough to be your sweetheart knows when you are on a budget and why.

Here are 15 frugal, but romantic, Valentine’s Day ideas:

• 1. Be selective on the candy. A prettier tin or better-quality chocolate will make a better impression than the biggest box of no-name chocolate on the shelf.
• 2. Buy someone a bag or two of favorite “candy bar” chocolates in Valentine packaging and put them in a glass jar or bowl that you found at the thrift shop.
• 3. Handmade cards and hand-written love letters are impressive. The cards don’t have to be as crafty as the ones I create with my array of papercrafting supplies. Go find a piece of red construction paper, a piece of white computer paper, a red or metallic color marker, a pair of scissors and some glue. Then make a paper heart card just like a first-grader would. It will be just fine.
• 4. Look beyond the holiday merchandise aisles for inspiration. Would she like a bottle of wine and two pretty red wine glasses? Would he like a warm fuzzy throw for his recliner? I usually get a Barbie doll for a Valentine’s Day gift. (Trust me, I love it.)
• 5. Ask your cake-making and candy-making friends and relatives if you can borrow their heart-shaped muffin pans, cookie cutters or cake pans. Use them to make heart-shaped pancakes, omelets, cookies, pizza or cake for the occasion. Baked goods can be made and frozen ahead of time if you are sharing pans and stencils. And instead of buying heart-shaped candies to decorate those treats, use red food coloring or sprinkle red sugar on top.
• 6. Do you have any restaurant gift cards that were Christmas gifts? Use them. Do not feel guilty about that gift card being your “Valentine date night” if you could not otherwise afford to go out.
• 7. Make a date for breakfast, lunch, appetizer or dessert instead of a dinner date. Because Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend this year, you might find smaller crowds when you stay away from Saturday night anyway.
• 8. Take advantage of the combo deals at your favorite restaurants. You can, for example, share an appetizer and dessert and then each pick from a selection of entrees at several restaurants. (We do those combo deals a lot in my family!)
• 9. Get out your pretty china, glassware, table linens and candles and serve a romantic dinner at home.
• 10. Limit the number of paper plates, paper cups and paper napkins you buy with a specific theme. Go for the solid color items instead. If you buy solid red paper plates now for a Valentine’s Day party, you can what is left of those plates at a Memorial Day picnic.
• 11. Set your mp3 player or iTunes to the romantic songs you’ve enjoyed as a couple over the year.
• 12. Get a favorite photograph made into a keepsake item such as a shirt or wall plaque. Many on-line photo labs can do this for you, but pay attention to the order and delivery times.
• 13. Mini scrapbook kits can be found at the craft stores. A stack of about 10 photos can be arranged into a small book in a couple of hours. Use the expensive stickers and paper diecuts sparingly – a colorful array of paper mats can dress up most pages.
• 14. Use your rewards points or rebate checks to buy gifts such as a romantic book or DVD.
• 15. If there is a NASCAR fan in the family, don’t try to compete with the Daytona 500. Yes, one the biggest car races of the season starts at 1 p.m. Feb. 14. You can, however, have some fun with this quirk of a date because I have seen NASCAR Valentine cards in the stores.

This post was featured on the Festival of Frugality.