$AVING YOU MONEY: Valentine’s Day can be celebrated inexpensively

By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer

February 10, 2009 11:32 pm

—
Forget the big bouquet of roses and huge box of chocolates, Rita Terry says she finds love at her husband’s fingertips — when he gives her a back rub.
“If you tied it up in a big box, you couldn’t get a better gift,” she said.
However, with Valentine’s Day coming up Saturday, you can bet there’s plenty of box tying, chocolate stuffing and bouquet-bundling going on this week. Those 12 roses could cost between $30 and $63 over the Internet.
Fortunately, a person does not have to be rich to be romantic, whether on Valentine’s Day or any time of year.
As the old song goes, little things mean a lot.
Gary Horton, owner of Lakeland Florist, said that while people do go for big bouquets on Valentine’s Day, “We have a lot of people coming in just to get some flowers.”
Not just roses, either.
“We can sell three carnations in a bud vase for $10,” Horton said. “We have white, yellow or lavender daisies.”
He said people can buy the daisies loose and put them in a vase at home.
Still, Horton said, roses are by far the biggest sellers.
“They signify love, and red is the color of love,” he said.
He said a single long-stemmed rose could be only $4.
Candy also can be a bargain.
“We can fill boxes with different types of candy,” said Cathy Edwards, manager of Candy Craze at Arrowhead Mall.
Edwards pointed to all sorts of boxes, including traditional heart-shaped boxes, clear plastic containers, even Chinese food carry-out boxes.
The type of candy depends on the person, she said. “Adults like chocolate; teens and kids like gummy candy.”
Chocolates include chocolate turtles with chunky nuts, sugar-free chocolates and a variety of Lindt Lindor tortes.
There also can be more meaningful ways to show love or affection, said Lisa Deason, clinical director of Green Country Behavioral Services.
“We can look at love in two different ways,” she said. “There’s the immature love in which the things another person does pleases me, and there’s the mature love, in which a person is happy when the partner is happy.”
A mature expression of love asks “What can I do that makes the other person happy,” Deason said. “If the other person enjoys westerns or action movies, you can spend time going to a movie, even if you don’t like westerns.”
Deason also suggested “a lovely card or note put in the windshield or mirror.”
She said she appreciates little things her husband does, such as putting notes in her lunch.
“Those say he cares for and appreciates me,” she said. “He sent me a text message on a hard day saying ‘at least they can’t eat you.’”
Another sign of affection came when “he went out and washed my car,” she said.
“With the economy the way it is, it is important to be mindful of what the holiday is really all about,” Deason said. “We don’t have to have a holiday to go to someone we care about and tell them how much they mean to us.”
Terry, a receptionist at Green Country Behavioral Health Services, would agree.
“You can’t go to a store and buy what my husband gives,” she said. “He is giving of himself.”

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.