So my boyfriend's birthday is in three days and he's a little bummed since this year has been hard and we can't celebrate.

I'm hoping to surprise him with some kind of celebration though, and I am open to creative ideas from the internet. Have you guys ever celebrated birthdays, christmas, Anniversaries, etc, with little to no budget? If so, what creative ideas have you come up with? I'm not just looking for gift ideas, but also just cool celebration ideas as well.

Also I haven't been on much lately because I've been job hunting again, so hopefully I'll get one soon. I hope everyone is having a great month and Christmas/holiday too!

Gib

apologies if I left out some really neat holidays in the poll. I live in the US and have only included what I know to be really popular. Let me know if you have a favorite holiday I haven't mentioned!

6 years ago*

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What's your favorite Holiday?

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Christmas
Halloween
Easter
New Year's
Thanksgiving
Other
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As an adult, socks.
Or a book.

6 years ago
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lol very true. When I was a kid I hated getting socks for Christmas. Now I would love to be given free pairs.

6 years ago
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Could be easier with a budget and a location, I have free time and can check things on internet

6 years ago
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As I always say - books n games, baby; books n games! You can never go wrong with that with me.

6 years ago
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For a second I read boobs

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Oh that is a must!

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You can never go wrong with that either.

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6 years ago
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We are both the opposite of outdoorsy. We watch movies, play games, and are pretty much just nerds lol. That is a really neat idea though. We just live in Bradenton Florida, which is a boring swamp filled with nothing to do. No mountains, snow, hiking trails, etc lol.

I will check out if there are any free events this happening this week though. Thanks for the ideas!

6 years ago
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http://www.bradenton.com/entertainment/local-events/this-weekend/

Or a marathon of Gravity Falls cartoon, wine and popcorns/meat

6 years ago
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What kind of presents he preffer? He's a bit romantic and like something with meaning but kinda useless or more pragmatic and his present has to be useful?

6 years ago
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I'm sure he'd love any gift whether it's made or bought. I just wish I had more creativity lol. I'm getting some nice ideas from this thread though. To answer your question though, he's a nerd and likes things such as games, movies, anime, etc.

6 years ago
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If he likes cute things you can create some simple origami with a hidden message (for example you can write down things you love him for). It doesn't even have to be origami, it can be hearts cut in color paper and put into some nice box or something :) You can also make a nice album with photos of you both (the photos could have descriptions with quotes from his favorite movies/games that would also describe your relationship). If you can draw, you can draw him as a character from his favorite anime.

6 years ago
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those are some really creative and neat ideas. Thanks!

6 years ago
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adopt a puppy maybe :)

6 years ago
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Pets make terrible gifts. That should always be a mutual decision.

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6 years ago
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+1 Unless the gifter knows for certain that the giftee wants one, I vote for no xD

6 years ago
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I would love to adopt a puppy. Our apartment is too small at the moment since we already have an energetic pup. Plus I think if I went to the pound I'd end up bringing back a house full of animals :P

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If they're struggling financially, they shouldn't get a big pet

6 years ago
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We aren't usually struggling, just the holiday season. You are right though, definitely don't want to pick up a new family member during a bad month.

6 years ago
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I picked up a kitten even though money is tight. I wish I hadn't, but I love him too much to get rid of him. Much more expensive than I thought he'd be lol

6 years ago
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Make a baby ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

6 years ago
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That's not a gift, it's a curse :)

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For planet Earth, yeah.

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6 years ago
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I never thought about cooking since I'm terrible at it but it's the thought that matters. I might just try that, thanks!

6 years ago
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Make him a cake. Whatever its shape comes out to be - at least try to make it edible. That's all that matters xD Jk, ofc it is the thought that counts. but do try to make it tasty, just in case xD

6 years ago
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how this cake turns out will determine if this will be a good birthday or the worst one ever xD

6 years ago
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Have faith! ;)

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6 years ago
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this!
That is why it doesn't matter what the shape of the cake would be :D

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If it's terrible, I'll just cover it with fruit and sprinkles. That'll fix it!

6 years ago
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See... CREAAAAATIVE! :)))

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If cooking isn’t your strength, you can try something food-related. If he’s a gamer into Skyrim, for example, you can draw the Dragonborn character on the cake in colored icing. If you don’t feel confident in your artistic ability, print out a picture, attach it to a piece of cardboard or plastic and cut it down to the right shape to use as a cake decoration. When he blows out his candles, play an audio clip of the “Fus-Ro-Dah!’ shout from your phone (there’s probably a free app that lets you do that with a tap). Silly, but fun and more personal in that it’s something you created and did based on knowing his tastes.

If you’re feeling crafty, try balloon animals in the shape of game characters, like Glados / cores / turrets / companion cube from Portal (white balloons would form the base for the most part, colored markers can add features like eyes, and cardboard can add legs, etc., particularly for robots where a little silver/gray duct tape fits the character).

6 years ago
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Out of the box thinking like is that is why I created this thread. I love goofy and fun ideas like that. Thanks!

6 years ago
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Long story short, ex-gf use to wear a small medal like this not this one all the time, but it broke, so I made a small hole in it, bought keyring with a small chain for a few cents and made a keychain out of it. Less than a dollar spent. xD

It's not hard to do, but you would need to know how to use a drill. I guess, depending on the object you wouldn't even need to use a drill.

6 years ago
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That's really creative. Thanks!

6 years ago
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isn't he registered in on sg? you know he will read it... 😔

6 years ago
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Member
Last Online
40 minutes ago

SURPRISE!

6 years ago
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Oh no... at least hes rarely in the discussions. until he gets his first win, I'm not convinced he doesn't think this website is a scam xD

6 years ago
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He isn't on much since his new job and I don't think he has read the threads in ages. He mostly just gets on to check his giveaways and messages then leaves. If I see him going into the discussions I'll quickly close the thread :P

6 years ago
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🚨DANGER🚨

😱

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6 years ago
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6 years ago
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Most guys like tech stuff. I'd go for https://www.coolstuff.com/ and just buy anything unique

6 years ago
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And if he don't like it, you just go," I planned on buying a better surprise, but they were out of stock" . And if he asks what it was you just say you won't tell since it's a future gift

6 years ago
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Nice site. thanks for showing me

6 years ago
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you're most welcome

6 years ago
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My favorite holiday is Valentine's Day :P
I'm broke, so this year I put all my gifts on paypal credit. If you spend $100 at once, you get 6 months to pay it off (interest free).
Are you looking for a completely free gift? Or something cheap?
You could go to one of those walk through Christmas lights displays to celebrate. The ones around me are like $12-20, and are pretty big.
You could also check out Groupon for some cheap tickets to different things

6 years ago
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How about a photo album of 2017. Print out photos you have from the Year together and write a little something under each one - what you remember about the photo, where it was, why you chose it, something funny...

6 years ago
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Maybe cook him something?

6 years ago
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how about surprising him that u got a job? lmfao

6 years ago
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lmao if that happens on his birthday that would be great.

6 years ago
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My go-to is always cookies. Relatively cheap and simple to make, and there are plenty of options. one time I was so frazzled I started making chocolate chip cookies, couldn't afford to go out and get chocolate chips, and resorted to chopping up these caramel-filled chocolates we got from my grandma. They turned out surprisingly well.
Or if you're looking for something completely free, hand-made cards and such are always nice. For Christmas about 5 years back, my best friend made me a poster with pictures and drawings of stuff we did together and little inside joke quotes. Other people who come into my room think it looks crazy, lol, but I still love it.

6 years ago
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good ideas, thanks!

6 years ago
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Isn't having you enough for him!? :P

Seriously though...here's a few low-cost ideas, things I've done or somehow I was lucky enough to get from someone I trapped into a relationship:

  1. Make a mix cd. NOT a playlist, but a cd.A tape would be best of all but that's a rarity these days.To take it further, make themed playlists like "This reminds me of our first kiss" or "Remember when we rode our bikes down to the quarry and jumped in and I thought you'd drowned?" etc.

  2. Write or draw or paint, etc a book of your favorite memories, the things you like about your SO, your relationship, etc. Write a poem, a song, a haiku about your SO.

  3. Make a comic book/write a short story using their favorite character from their favorite obsession with them involved as a protagonist. Sure it's Mary Sue-ish but it's also guaranteed to make the person feel special.

  4. Go to a half-price/used bookstore together and have him pick out some, then u surprise him with one or two. If he doesn't read, do the same thing with music cds, pc games , movies or tv shows(depending on the store).

  5. Surprise him with a day themed around his favorite game,movie,book, etc. :
    Eat food like the characters might eat, even if you fudge it a bit (no pun intended). Wear clothes/costumes like the people might wear (even a false beard and a houserobe can make you into Gandalf the Grey!), watch or play whatever it is, and try to stay in-character. Themed events might be things like 'Drink every time Captain Picard says "Engage" or 'Make it so' and drawing/writing/whatever depictions of the people involved.

  6. Terribly cheesey but one of those "coupon books" people make with things like 30-minute massage, free hug, one free home-cooked meal, 2 hours extra sleeping in on a weekend day, etc.

6 years ago
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oooo those are some really nice and creative ideas. thank you!

6 years ago
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Clean up his pc.

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6 years ago
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lmao oh no

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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6 years ago
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I'm seconding this! That sounds like a really lovely idea

6 years ago
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This is really neat, I think I'll do something like this. thanks!

6 years ago
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Hi stef!

I'm a little in the same boat this year with my girlfriend - it's hard to scrape money together on unemployment.

But my plan is - I've bought her some stickers to decorate her new laptop with, and Christmas morning I'm going to hide them around the house like a scavenger hunt - mark them with a blue post-it note or something. It's a way to make gifts that are already fun to put on her laptop to find, too! It'll be a nice story to tell over dinner, I think.

It's a way to make smaller gifts stand out, I think. Who doesn't love scavenger hunts?

6 years ago*
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Who doesn't love scavenger hunts?

true! That's a cute idea. thanks!

6 years ago
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You could do something that doesn't take money but takes a lot or time or effort, like cleaning his car, inside and out. The more work it is, the better the gift! Then maybe catch a movie at a drive-in theater in his shiny clean car.

6 years ago*
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nice idea! thanks

6 years ago
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If you enjoy boardgames, I would highly recommend Settlers of Catan. It is lots of fun (especially with the Cities & Knights expansion).:)

6 years ago
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I do like board games. I'll check that one out, thanks!

6 years ago
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thanks. bump

6 years ago
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Create a little adventure/treasure hunt game. He follows clues from one hint to the next. Can be done inside a house, a room or even outside. If you have some free time, you can make it more complex (think more outside, or little tasks at each station). You can even go with him and give hints or when he reaches the next location, hand him the next. The treasure being something simple like a homemade. Clues should not be too hard, you don't want him frustrated. Spots or items can also hint towards things you've done together, where you met, etc. A little walk through your relationship or another theme that he likes. It also encourages talking during the meal. Put a little effort in it and he will love it.

6 years ago
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Great idea, thank you!

6 years ago
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Bump

6 years ago
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I usually spend extra time with the loved one(s), having board game/video game night, baking etc. Making it an extra fun, laugh-filled day.
I also normally look for pun related stuff about things they like and then make my own card around it (colouring/paint). Or photoshop something similar, the worse/funny the better. Hope you guys have a great time celebrating regardless, I'm sure he'll appreciate the company. :)

6 years ago*
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