Worried that you won’t have the funds to give your partner a Valentine’s Day to remember? Well worry no more! Diamonds and a five-star meal are not a necessity for a meaningful Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is about love and expressing how much you care about your partner, so how should you express that? No matter how long you’ve been together, you don’t have to go all out and splurge on expensive, materialistic presents. The best and most appreciated gifts are cheap or even free — back massage, anyone? Plus, all that pressure to buy the “perfect” gift can be stressful, time-consuming, and take away from the enjoyment of the holiday. So this Valentine’s Day — and any other day really — check out these 10 romantic gestures and remind your significant other how much you care.

1. Make them a good breakfast. Nothing says “I love you” more than bacon and eggs. Or whatever your partner enjoys eating. So whip up their favourite breakfast and sit down and enjoy it together.

2. Have all of their laundry done the morning of Valentine’s. You can even go the extra mile to wash the dishes or take out the trash before they get home at the end of the day. It will show you were thinking about them and want to save them the trouble of doing it themselves.

3. Fill a jar with little notes, compliments, and things you love about your partner. Want to be extra romantic? Create a colour code for each and label them things such as, “Blue: when you’re feeling sad”; “Green: when you need a boost of confidence”; “Yellow: just because.” The options are endless.

4. Surprise them at work with their favourite lunch.

5. Make a blanket fort. Set up an air mattress or lay out some sleeping bags inside and have a picnic dinner on the floor before settling down with snacks and a movie in the fort. Adorable, right?

6. Cook dinner together using random ingredients. Instead of making a fancy dinner this Valentine’s Day, put your creative culinary skills to use instead. Grab whatever ingredients from the pantry and fridge that you think will suffice for a filling meal and turn them into something edible… Sorry… I mean delicious!

7. Have a board game night. Choose a shared favourite board game (or more!) and feel free to play the traditional way or with an extra romantic twist. The choice is yours.

8. Go star gazing. Drive out to a nice spot, wrap up in some blankets and just enjoy gazing at the stars. Blanket + hot chocolate + stars = bliss.

9. Have a karaoke night. Get out your favorite jams and have fun singing with each other. Don’t have a karaoke machine? Just search for instrumental lyric videos of your songs on YouTube!

10. Create a home spa. Treat your partner to movies in your pajamas or comfy clothes then offer a foot massage. Extra points if you go all out and include a basin of hot water, a bowl for scooping water up, sugar for exfoliating, bubble bath and moisturizer.

Graphics by Milo Knauer.