Budget Anniversaries

These days, it seems everyone is concerned about the economy and tightening their financial belts. With that in mind, I thought I would share my wedding aniversary plans...on a budget.

Tomorrow is my 15th Wedding Anniversary. I won't bore you with mushy love notes. I'll just say I would marry him again in a heartbeat and he feels the same about me.

Every "big" date...5 years, 10 years, and now 15 years, I have this idea that we should do something really special, say a romantic weekend away. Alas, thus far my budget has not allowed for this and this year is no exception. So we are going with "nostalgic" rather than extravagant.

A little background is necessary here. My husband and I met on a blind date, set up by his mother. She and I lived in Bethel, Alaska together (I'll tell you more about Bethel another time.) One day we ran into each other in the Anchorage airport both on our way to Portland. She was going to visit family and I was going just to get some sun.

I realize Portland is not known for the "sun" factor, but you have to take into consideration, that I was living in a part of Alaska where we only had sun for a couple hours a day that time of year, and working overnight shift, I didn't see it. I had limited funds, and limited time off, so Portland was the destination of choice. I also chose Portland because of the temple. (Richard and I were married here later.)

So future mom-in-law said, "I hate for you to spend time in Portland alone, why don't I call my single son and see if he will be your tour guide?" The rest is history as they say, except to add that this took him by surprise and so he was short on funds. Thus our first meal together was at Burger King, something I have teased him about ever since. You notice it didn't stop me from falling in love and marrying him though.

So, kind of as a joke and partly nostalgia, we always go to Burger King for our anniversary (thank goodness they have veggie burgers, because hamburger is not my thing.) This year being our 15th anniversary we decided to splurge! We're going to Red Robin! The hamburgers will be in keeping with tradition, but a step up (and they have veggie burgers too!) We think this is hillarious.

I really want to go see Crime and Punishment in the Seattle Theater, but in keeping with the budget I think we will go to the dollar movie theater and hopefully catch a romantic comedy. (When we first dated we saw Sommersby and Untamed Heart.)

For an anniversary present, I have requested a long mushy love letter. I don't plan to write one back though, I don't write romance well. Maybe a foot massage will do instead.

So there you have it, anniversary on a budget. And you know what, we are going to have a blast. We always do. It's not hard for us to have fun together because we make each other laugh.

If you are one of those who are accustomed to having more and are now living with the stress of financial woes, remember romance, fun and laughter don't have to carry a price tag. Romance on a budget does require a little more imagination, but it is so worth it!