Last year, Miley Cyrus said “I can buy myself flowers”, and we all went along with it. We labelled gifting red roses as cliché and then somehow ended up replacing them with LEGO. We didn’t let romance die, but we started to stray away from traditional acts of love and began to rely more on practicality, love languages, and honest communication. Despite this, Valentine’s Day has recently passed, and while you and your partner may have renounced the day (or you just couldn’t celebrate because you’re, you know, single), the question of what you could have gifted your partner remains unanswered. 

In 2024’s economy, it’s of utmost importance to really know your partner… for financial reasons. Like, imagine getting them something that costs you an arm and a leg just for them to not like it; that would be a disaster! (FYI: not liking a present does not necessarily make you ungrateful, but there’s no reason for you to behave like a c*nt). Besides, we should be smarter than that by now anyways. If you’re not, you actually are. Why? Because you’re reading this article, and every good idea starts with a Nexus issue in your hand. 

Let’s start with the MC of the show: flowers. Flowers are probably one of the safest bets for Valentine’s Day if you know your partner will appreciate them. That brings us to this question: are flowers actually overrated, or are they overhated? That’s a question I can’t answer alone, so here’s a series of mixed-ish opinions to help you out. Quick tip: choose which one sounds most like something your partner would say and roll with it. 

  • Girl A: Would “absolutely” appreciate flowers. 
  • Girl B: “I was very grateful for the flowers my partner got me (on Valentine’s) because what girl doesn’t want roses for Valentine’s Day.” 
  • Girl C: “I would be grateful, but at the same time Valentine’s Day is overrated. For me, Valentine’s Day is everyday; you shouldn’t have to wait for one specific day to receive all this love when you can have it everyday.”
  • Girl D: “I would be grateful for flowers on Valentine’s Day because chivalry is not dead, and I would appreciate less material things like jewellery because flowers are more sentimental (but cringey if you have to ask them for it).”

If you do think flowers are the go, why not try something different to roses? If your partner likes roses, then sure, buy them. However, there are so many flowers that mean different variations of love that you can get. It’s also nice to add flowers that mean things like loyalty, devotion, passion, and beauty.

While flowers aren’t completely unpopular, there is an underlying feeling that they are unoriginal and can lack sentiment. If you do really want to avoid being like everyone else, there’s one alternative that, in my humble opinion, is unmatched: hand-made gifts. Now, before you ask if home-made gifts will lose their value if everyone makes them, use your brain. Of course they won’t! Home-made gifts are special because they are unique to your relationship and to your partner, and they hold a great sentimental value because they have your own touch. Here’s an example: 

  • Girl E and Girl F both like BTS. Girl E’s partner buys her Jung Kook’s album ‘Golden’. Girl F’s partner makes her a BTS-inspired photo-book with song lyrics to match each photo, and each photo is of every date they’ve been on. Both girls are extremely happy, but one present does have more sentimental value than the other.

This is not to say that getting the album is a bad idea- I’ve personally had that thing in my cart for months. What I am saying is, specifically for Valentine’s Day, some people may prefer a gift that is more sentimental and unique to them and their partner, rather than something that they can buy themselves any other day.

Buying and making presents are always nice gestures for Valentine’s Day, but realistically it may put a not-so-pretty dent in your wallet even if you consider cheaper options. We’re all (mostly) university students here, and we need to keep in mind that money does in fact not grow on trees. In this section of ‘extremely affordable gifts’ that people actually want, there are two subsections. One targets strengths, and the other targets love languages.

First, we have a continuation of our sentimental gifts. Here is where we get real nitty gritty about paying attention to detail. This is where you can show off your own talents, or give back to your partner in a way that you know they’ll appreciate. That makes no sense, right? Here’s what I mean: 

  • Girl G is a really big fan of Jujutsu Kaisen (Gojo come home, the kids miss you), and her partner is an artist who, in their free time, likes to draw anime characters. Girl G’s partner decides to draw her as a Jujutsu Kaisen character, and gifts her the drawing for Valentine’s Day. 
  • Girl H is a writer, and her partner recently saw that she reposted a TikTok that said “always the writer, never the muse”. The video showed love letters in the background. Girl H’s partner isn’t much of a writer, but they got the idea to write her various love letters and arrange them as a gift to give Girl H on Valentine’s Day. 

Do you see what both of these have in common? One gift works to the giver’s strengths, while the other is a reflection of the admiration the giver feels for the receiver’s strengths. They’re also both super cute. 

The second (and last) subsect of ‘extremely affordable gifts’ relies entirely on love languages. There are five: words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, receiving gifts, and physical touch. Some of these won’t necessarily equate to a gift, but the goal is to target your partner’s love languages. If you don’t know them by now, literally just ask them instead of playing a guessing game and getting it wrong. What you want to do on Valentine’s Day is target these. Why? Because it’s these little things that your partner will most likely remember. Here’s a really quick rundown on a few things you can do for your partner on Valentine’s Day:

  • Words of Affirmation: Small notes with compliments. See “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” for more information.
  • Quality Time: Plan the day full of things your partner will enjoy or has recently been talking about doing with you.
  • Acts of Service: Has your partner been putting something off, for example, washing their car? Now is the perfect opportunity to do it for them.
  • Receiving Gifts: This is pretty self-explanatory considering I have been talking about gifts in this entire article.
  • Physical Touch: A great idea for this is a massage! Not at a spa, but a more intimate vibe with just the pair of you. 

In all honesty, Valentine’s Day is a little odd anyways, so whether or not you take this advice entirely depends on if you and your partner decide to celebrate it. I’d also like to think that you’ll use this gift advice for other days too because Feb 14th isn’t the only day of the year where you can do something nice for your partner. And hey, I guess the title is “clickbait”, because some girls actually do want flowers (it’s me, I’m “some girls”. Send them to the Nexus office, you won’t).