How to Buy the Perfect Valentine’s Gift in College
Valentine’s Day comes with pressure. If you’re dating, talking, or whatever other label you want to put on it, you feel pressure to express your care and affection with a gift. If you’re single and want to surprise a friend or family member with a gift, you also feel pressure to give a good gift.
Before you find yourself low-key panicking in a store, consider using these four steps to help you in the sometimes stressful process of buying a Valentine’s gift.
Consider your budget.
Before you can even start the gift-buying process, you need to get a handle on your finances. There is no need to overspend, even if it’s for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day. What kind of money can you afford to spend on this gift?
You likely have set aside a specific amount of money for spending each month. Even if this amount is small, you may be able to find some extra money in your budget by spending less on personal items.
For example, instead of grabbing a coffee a few days this week, set aside this money for Valentine’s Day gifts. Even if this amount only comes to $15, that’s $15 more than you had beforehand.
**If you’ve never taken the time to set up a student budget, take some time to form one now. This post may help! (It includes an example student budget too.)
Remember hints.
Most special people in your life intentionally or unintentionally drop hints about things they enjoy or would like. You can easily miss these hints, however, if you’re not listening for them.
These hints usually happen in everyday conversations about food, shopping, etc. The key to catching these hints is truly listening to people and making mental (or maybe even literal) notes about things they mention in passing.
If you find yourself stuck and unsure of what to get, you can always ask a mutual friend or acquaintance. Two heads are better than one, even when it comes to giving Valentine’s Day gifts.
Focus on being thoughtful.
The most important fact to remember in this gift-buying process is that being thoughtful always works. A gift is just an expression of your care for someone. No matter the cost or size of the gift if it shows you listened and cared for the person, the recipient will like it.
Don’t get caught up in the pressure that often comes with day. Because realistically, your gift cannot be as big as you would like due to your financial limitations.
Be creative. Think outside of the box. Your gift is about the gesture or the thought, not the price tag.
Have realistic expectations.
Don’t cause yourself problems by overhyping your gift, and also don’t cause yourself problems by having too high of expectations for the recipient’s reaction.
There is not much worse than talking up a gift only to find out that you’ve overhyped it and the recipient is disappointed. There is also not much worse than receiving a not-so-great gift from someone and feeling pressure to react with extreme excitement.
Remember that this gift is a gesture of care. Even if you do a great job buying a good gift, the person will rarely respond exactly the way you hoped. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself or the recipient(s)!
Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to cause you anxiety or heavily strain your budget. By considering your budget, remembering hints, placing the focus on being thoughtful, and having realistic expectations, you can help take the stress out of Valentine’s Day.
