Romance doesn’t have to be expensive.

Alison and I have a series of financial goals for ourselves. We first want to be debt free, then we want to buy our first home with cash, and finally we want to invest in her career. These are massive goals which require focus. They also require every financial resource available to us. So how can we sustain our marriage without spending lots of money on dates, gifts, and flowers?

There are certainly an unlimited number of romantic gestures that cost money. I’m interested in doing many of them. At one time or another, we all find ourselves in a position similar to Alison and I. We want to show our wife that we love her, we want to spend time with her, but we don’t want it to cost money.

It was this very quandary that led me to writing the “101 Days of Love.” In it, I lay out 101 ways to show your wife that you love her, with the majority of them costing no money at all. I knew that in the days while Alison and I are becoming debt free I would want to show her that she means the world to me, and I would want to do it in unique and creative ways. I also knew that our budget wouldn’t give me the financial resources for anything too grand.

But that’s the great thing about marriage. It doesn’t survive on grand gestures. It thrives when each day we make smaller gestures. These small gestures are just big enough to make a big impact in her day. They’re tiny surprises that she will love.

We all have the resources around us to show her that she’s special. It just takes a little bit of imagination.

Tags: Money