17 Unique Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Men, Women, and Couples

 Some affiliate links appear in this post. 

I know, I know. You don’t need a special holiday like Valentine’s Day to show your spouse or significant other how much you love them.

But I like to anyway.

The only problem I have with picking out a meaningful or thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift is that I’ve used up all of my good gift giving ideas during Christmas and by February, I’m out of ideas. 

You too?

I put together a list of unique and fun Valentine’s Day gift ideas for men and women. Some are couple gifts because why not share the love on Valentine’s Day, right?

17 Unusual Valentines Day Gift Ideas for Fun Couples

How to Cook Gasless Beans the Lazy Way

Beans are low in fat and high in protein and fiber which makes them an excellent,  tasty, and budget friendly addition to your diet.

Unfortunately, being low in fat and high in protein and fiber are also the things that give most people gas after they eat beans. 

There are many, many people who add this or that to dried beans and claim it is the secret for breaking down the exterior seed coat of the bean and making beans gasless. That’s great but what happens if you don’t want that ingredient's flavor in your bean dish?

I used this post as an excuse to cook gasless dried chickpeas and make hummus. Yum!

25 Beans and Rice Recipes

Beans and rice is one of the most versatile and delicious complete proteins (when  eaten together according to Livestrong) available. Not to mention, rice and bean dishes are generally a less expensive way to feed your family even if you add meat to the dish.  Chili anyone? Yum!

So it makes perfect money saving sense when a financial guru like Dave Ramsey preaches that you should eat “beans and rice, rice and beans” meals as a way to cut expenses.

Unfortunately he makes eating beans and rice meals sound like a sucky and bland hardship way to save money.

I don’t agree.





Millions of people in the world eat yummy beans and rice recipes and are a staple in many countries by choice. For example Costa Rica’s national dish Gallo Pinto is – you guessed it – beans and rice!

25 Rice and Beans Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert!

Shopping Seasonally: What’s on Sale in January

 While many people take a spending break at the beginning of the New Year, there are some items that only go on sale in January that can help you with your New Year’s Resolution of saving money, getting in shape, or eating better.

Pin this list!

Especially when it comes to food. You can save money on fresh food and vegetables in January if you buy them during their national growing season if  nothing is growing locally during the winter. *Raises hand*

Seasonal Food, Fresh Fruit, and Vegetables on Sale in January

Duck Pho Soup

Husband and I became accidental foodies and from scratch cooks after checking out our local international grocery stores in an attempt to lower our grocery budget. 

We still regularly try what Miss 1 of 10 calls, “weird food.” Although many married years later we do it more for fun than to streeeeeeetch our (thankfully) no longer newlywed budget.

Today I’m doing it to celebrate National Soup Month and help all of you Ohio State Buckeye and Oregon Ducks fans celebrate the National Championship Game with a nice, hot bowl of duck soup.
The lazy way and for less money of course.

 

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) a clear Vietnamese soup made with bone broth and features chunks of meat as a condiment and to compliment the vegetables in the soup.

20 Ways I Saved Money in December and for Christmas

December is usually a big money spending month because of the holidays but there are still some ways to save while you splurge on food and gifts for you and yours. Here’s how we saved money during Christmas.





1. Sealed any air leaks around windows, doors, light switches, and outlets. Heated air likes to escape through little gaps around pipes, outlets, and windows so it is in your interest to find them and fix them. These were easy and inexpensive projects I did several years ago that keeps our house warm and heating bill low.