50 Inexpensive Ways to Be Romantic
If you’ve got a significant other, I highly recommend you keep the spark of your relationship alive and find ways to show you appreciate each other, every week and every day, if possible.
Look for little, inexpensive ways to be romantic, and it will pay off for your relationship in innumerable ways.
Why inexpensive? Well, you could rent a limo and take your love to a snooty French restaurant, or whisk him or her off to a trip to the snow-capped Alps, or rent a stadium and have the Three Tenors sing love songs for you while the New York Philharmonic plays in the background. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to do that kind of stuff more than a few times a month. The rest of the time, I have to resort to cheaposity.
Before we get into the list, let’s look at a few notes on how to use the list:
- Weekly dates. I recommend you have a date at least once a week with your partner. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one, but at least find some way to spend a couple hours time together. If you’ve got kids, like I do, find a babysitter.
- Communicate. Romantic gestures don’t take the place of real communication. Take time to talk about your goals, your dreams, your plans for the future, your current lives, things you’re happy about, things you love about the other person, things you’d like to work on, things you’re grateful for.
- Inspiration. This list contains a lot of obvious stuff — you could probably come up with twice as many good ideas yourself. But the list doesn’t aim for originality — it aims to be an inspiration. Pick and choose some good ideas, or use it to spark some of your own. Sometimes we just need a little reminder.
- Forget Valentines. Boycott Valentine’s Day, as it makes people think they should be romantic on special occasions. Instead, pick one of these ideas and do it any day of the week — no need for a special occasion.
OK, enough talk. Let’s look at some ways to be romantic without breaking your budget (note to my mom: don’t read this, as there are a couple of sexy-time things later on):
- Write a poem.
- Cook a romantic dinner.
- Give a full-body massage.
- Pack a sunset picnic.
- Pick wildflowers on the way home.
- Burn a CD with love songs.
- Give dark chocolates.
- Read poetry together.
- Prepare strawberries with fondue chocolate.
- Snuggle together on a rainy day.
- Leave little love notes everywhere.
- Send a love email every day.
- Take a moonlit walk on the beach.
- Snuggle together while watching romantic movies (Casablanca, Audrey Hepburn are my favs).
- Get good wine, watch shooting stars.
- Take a bath together (use bubbles!).
- Bring home good coffee or a decadent sweet.
- Take a walk down memory lane — visit some of the special places from your early days of dating.
- Make warm chocolate cake for dessert.
- Make a scrapbook with photos, mementos, and little notes from you lives together.
- Kiss in the rain.
- Ride a ferris wheel.
- Sneak away from a party and make out.
- Bring home great take-out, and light some candles.
- Fix something or fix up the house just to make your partner happy.
- Slow dance to romantic music.
- Take a nap together.
- Kiss slowly, touching his or her back and neck and nape — slowly.
- Make a list of everything you love about him or her.
- Write a love letter.
- Clip or email things that make you think of him or her, every day.
- Go to a movie, ignore the movie, and make out like teen-agers.
- Groom yourself, and try to look good for your partner.
- Take some quiet time and talk about your day.
- Write little notes, one for each way he or she drives you crazy.
- Feed each other grapes.
- Recreate your partner’s favorite romantic movie scene.
- Pretend you’re going on a first date — show up at the door with flowers, all dressed up, with your car washed and cleaned, looking spiffy. Recreate the first time.
- Create a little box with a bunch of your partner’s favorite things inside.
- Paint each other with flavored body paint. Be creative!
- Try some sexy role-playing. Get dressed up, be daring, have fun.
- Give a little token to your partner to wear, and say it’s to remind him or her all day that you love them.
- Sing a favorite song to him or her. Only do this if you can sing fairly well.
- Have dinner on the roof, with some candles. This doesn’t work if your roof slopes sharply.
- Hold hands, and walk somewhere with lots of pretty lights.
- Say I love you. In a different way, every day.
- Blindfold your partner. Use a feather. Slowly.
- Declare your love, very publicly.
- Fruit or berries and freshly made whipped cream.
- Play Sade. Do what comes naturally. Slowly.
This article was written by Leo Babauta. If you find this article useful, please visit his website at ZenHabits.net.
September 10, 2008 @ 6:25 am
your write up is fine
September 10, 2008 @ 9:05 am
hi, thanks for the newsletter it came just in time and i guess that with this i ve got to be mindfully romantic.
but i still need your help, i have this guy like i am really inlove with him i not very sure he loves me as much as i do because he has a girlfriend but things are not actually going on well between them but he confessed he really used to love the girl but he is not sure if, sometimes i get scared of losing him and sometimes i like letting him go but he finds is way back one way or the other. i dont want to force my self on him i want the whole thing to happen naturally, HOW DO I GET THROUGH THIS. THANKS
September 10, 2008 @ 10:59 am
This is really nice. My wife and I have a 42yr, aniversary coming up the 15th of this month and this is really a cool idea,THANKS.
September 10, 2008 @ 11:58 am
This is a wonderful write up, published at the right time. My fiancee is very romantic and am sure he’s going to love it if i put all these into use.
Thumb up!
September 10, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
Most of those are a must!!!
September 10, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
This is very nice,,when you have someone to love,and share with,,but now since my husband has gone to god forever,I feel so lonely.
It’s true that I have my kids and grandkids,but still I have something special missing in my life.
September 10, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
This is really a good stuff will try when married
September 10, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
Not only are these great ideas for when you are married but any time during a well established relationship. One idea I would like to share is, while your significant other is at work, take a little time off from your busy day and take a rose to their car while they are still at work and leave it on the dash or seat of their car with a love note. Makes for a wonderful ride back home and sets the mood just right for when they get home. Works good for Birthdays or Special occassions too.
September 11, 2008 @ 3:37 am
thanks to you leo babauta. with this i think you have done really well.’cos this article is actually a bomb for me to work on. thanks for helping me to build my relationship.
September 11, 2008 @ 4:09 am
your deal about improving relationship is very nice, but for young guys like us who are not yet married, we will find it useful when we are married since we are not parmeted to do some of these things outside marriage as a Christian.Never the less i think everybody needs love and should practice some of this stuff to our love once. God bless u real good
September 11, 2008 @ 10:15 am
Nice one Leo Babauta
September 11, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
i sin cerely want to appreciate u 4 educating me on health matters. i am sure that icanlive healthy now. thanks
September 11, 2008 @ 2:39 pm
these are a nice variety of ideas.dark chocolate is a way to a woman’s heart.i also love when men wear cologne.
September 12, 2008 @ 4:48 am
it is really nice
September 12, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
its reali good to love somone that will do all these or that two of u will do all these contained in the write up.noting can be as sweet as this,i hope to find a real man that most of these things will be a necesity.
September 13, 2008 @ 11:44 am
One really forgets how much you love someone who has been with you for over 35 years.Excitement of marriage and the years go by trying to adjust with each other follwoed by hard times finding an easy way to live and survive. Then come the children , their uobringing and schooling. The inlaws and the out laws and the family politics take away all the romance.My wife for over 35 years has been a wonderful wife, taking care of not only me but also my family.She has taken real good care of the children. We have a son and three daughter who all are well educated and married. My son is a major in the army while daughters have taken over the teching profession. They all are doing well in life.I am glad I found this sight and read these simple tips to reinvent romance in our life. I thank you for making my life beautiful again. Small things make a lot of difference.
pak
September 16, 2008 @ 8:00 am
It gladdens my heart each time i read articles on myBro.com. it has really help build my relationship with my man.
September 16, 2008 @ 10:41 am
my boyfriend and i are having a bad time i think i’ll try ur tips
thanks i know i will help
September 26, 2008 @ 7:09 pm
Nice reading, I never though of any of this. I shall print this and keep it as a reminder of what to look for and how to respond. This is just like me learning my ABC,s again. Keep up the good print as I know others such as myself were glad to recieve it.
December 30, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THAT I CAN NEVER LIVE YOU AND THAT PERSON IS MY MOTHER .