Cheap Love

So many times when people hear the word “cheap” they think of something that has little to no value. Sometimes that is truly the case. Sometimes it's just that the very valuable item didn't cost very much financially speaking.

I have to admit that it probably didn't cost much for Ed to win my love. I mean, he is a HOTTIE. That's not to say that *I* am cheap, just that I don't require lots of money to be spent on me. He likes it that way.

I thought that I'd join in Shalee's fun and share a few of the ways that Ed won my heart without breaking his bank. I'll even throw in a few cheap dates that we've had AFTER he stole my heart.

1. One of the easiest things in the world for a person to do is to cook a meal for someone else. Well, that's true unless you are my husband. He HATES being in the kitchen or even going to the grocery store. However, there have been a few times when he donned an apron and prepared some sort of meal for us. They weren't always the tastiest, bless his heart, but I ate them anyway because the sentiment was there.

See, I cook all the time, so it's not a sacrifice or much of a gift for me to cook for him. But when Ed gets up early to make flower-shaped pancakes for me for my birthday like he did 2 birthdays ago, my heart melts. And the only money he spent was the money for the pancake batter and the syrup.

2. I am an outdoors-y kinda gal. Ed is too so we lucked out there as well. I am a little more goofy than Ed though, so that can get interesting. Back in NC, one of my favorite places to visit was the Greensboro Arboretum. Absolutely beautiful. Ed and I would go there and walk and talk and hold hands amidst the flowering crepe myrtles. We'd sit on the benches and cuddle while we watched little kids and butterflies go by. Once in a while, I'd even convince Ed to chase me barefooted through the park. Ahhh... Those were the days.

It cost us absolutley nothing except the gas to get there, but those were the best times.

3. Since Eddie was born money has been fairly tight. Between the money being tight and us being natural tightwads, we've still managed to have a nice meal at Red Lobster without breaking the bank. The trick... share. We will find something on the menu that we both would enjoy and order that with an extra plate. Perfect. And nothing says love better than you offering your special someone those “extra” shrimp that you know you'd love to devour.

4. One of my favorite all time dates though is the picnic. Not just a regular old picnic though -- a picnic in the livingroom.

When we were still dating Ed showed up at my apartment and made me go to my roo until he told me I could come out. While I was sequestered he cleared the livingroom floor, put down a blanket, set some potted flowers and candles and readied the subs that he had picked up for us. Nice, quiet and cuddly. And no nosey people watching you either. All simply for the cost of the subs.

I did a variation on that after we were married. It was our first *married* Valentine's Day. I prepared his favorite meal while he was at work, put on a slinky dress (under my bathrobe) tied my hair up, lit candles and made strawberry shortcake for dessert. This only cost me the time to prepare it, since we would have had to eat that night anyway.

(A word of caution regarding the slinky dress idea: 1. make sure your unmarried brother-in-law lives far, far away or 2. make sure he knows it's Valentine's Day and that he is banned from visiting that day. Trust me on that one.)
So... those are my ideas. Nothing earth-shattering. Just fun and cheap.