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...of Creative
Frugality
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Creatively
Frugal
Wedding Anniversary Celebrations
Tell us about some of the
creatively frugal ways you and your spouse have celebrated
wedding anniversaries.
"My husband and
I were married at the end of January - not exactly
the time of year that's nice to be outside!
One year we celebrated our anniversary by having a
'picnic' on a flowered comforter (pretending we
were in a field of flowers - minus the ants!) and
had sandwiches for dinner!
Another year money
was NON-existent since my husband had been out of
work for almost a year. I wrote him a love letter
telling how much I love him, how our relationship
has changed me for the better, etc. He loved it
and it definitely improved our relationship!
Just open up your
heart and share your love for your spouse. You
don't need a fancy restaurant or a dozen roses to
do that AND you don't have to wait for your
anniversary!" ~ Karen
"I just
wanted to mention something that has always come
our way for an anniversary outing. Last year
it was a free Christmas party hosted by my
husband's work. That was our night out for our
12th anniversary. It was free. We got
pictures and everything. You have to be creative
and think wisely when offered things. I won
tickets on the radio station for two to see the
Gaithers. Viola -- our 13th anniversary
outing! Every year we usually get free tickets to
see A Christmas Carol, or something. Our
anniversary is December 6th, and it is always nice
to walk around downtown streets and see the
lights.
For my in-laws' 25th anniversary, we threw a
party. We had it at our church which didn't
charge for the fellowship room. Then each person
that came brought a dish! We made the cake, and
friends helped to make the drinks, etc. It didn't
cost us a lot of out of pocket expenses, just our
time, which was well worth it. They were so
surprised and loved it all! Also many people
keep decorations from their parties, so they all
brought them for ours. They all were still
able to take back if they wanted, or let my
in-laws keep something. Didn't have to pay for
food, room, or decorations!" ~ Kim in
Michigan
"For our ten year anniversary, we
retraced our honeymoon route. We didn't
have much money for our honeymoon as we paid for
a lot of wedding expenditures ourselves.
We made our anniversary even more frugal than
our honeymoon. Our destination was San
Francisco, CA -- a little more than a day away.
When we got there, we found a grocery store and
stored up on snack foods and also cold
medicines. We came down sick with colds the
second day of our vacation. We stayed at a small
hotel that didn't charge parking fees and just
walked or took the street car everywhere. I made
homemade breakfast bread and then we got free
hot tea from the hotel lobby along with a free
newspaper each day. We ate a lot of salami,
cheese and fresh sourdough bread from the wharf
along with shrimp cocktails at minimal cost
along with the items that we had stocked up on
from the near by store. We only ate out one meal
a day as a treat." ~ Angel
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"It may be strange for
a single (never married) person to write you on this
subject, but I have the sweetest memory of my parents'
wedding anniversary celebrations.
They would always go out to
eat at a restaurant and take me, their only child,
along. Their reasoning is that the day they married was
the official start of our family, and it's only right to
celebrate with all the family members. So they included
me. They were married not in a lavish ceremony but in
the pastor's study, since it was during World War II
that they wed. They were married 55 years and it was a
case of 'til death did they part." ~ Lynn
"We just celebrated our 10th anniversary at home
because my in-laws had asked to take our 2 kids on a 4 day
trip to visit relatives. (It was 2 weeks after our
anniversary but that was fine.) We went to a matinee
movie, used restaurant gift certificates we had, saw some
sights in our city and spent time together. We were 'on
vacation' and screened calls, did no work, email, etc. We
had a great time together and we spent very little money
but did have those wonderful grandparents to thank who
enjoyed some time with our kids, too." ~ Teresa
"My husband and I agreed from our first
anniversary that we wouldn't buy each
other gifts. We didn't want to spend the time apart
shopping for each other and we already gave each other
surprise gifts for birthdays and Christmas so we
didn't need to get each other more stuff. Instead, we
make a plan to take one whole day (not necessarily our
anniversary, but one day near it) to do something
adventurous together. It doesn't have to be on
our actual anniversary - sometimes taking a day off
mid-week is perfect because the kids are in school.
Some years we discover a new hiking trail near our
city, or we take an art class together, or we try out
a new recipe, or visit a historical site. There
are lots of cheap things we can do together when money
is tight; we don't need to go away for a whole weekend
or go out for an expensive meal. The whole idea is
just to find something that we can discover together
and share an experience. The only rules are that we
have to be alone (no kids or friends) and we can't do
anything that feels like work (chores, paperwork, etc.
are out!). We finish off our day sitting together over
a cup of home-brewed coffee (while the kids sleep) and
talk about our exciting day. Discovering new places,
talents, and interests together is a great way to bond
and it's so much more fulfilling than spending a few
minutes opening up an expensive
gift." ~ Trix
Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who took the time to share
his or her ideas!
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