(Photo by minato)

I’m sure everyone is aware that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  This means if you want to have a meaningful and memorable V-Day, then you should be thinking about it and planning for it now.  Preparation is certainly a key to a great Valentine’s Day with your significant other and given the not-so-favorable economic situation we’re all experiencing, it also helps that by preparing for it early, you can have an inexpensive and yet extraordinary happy hearts day.

I’m sure top of mind to most of you right now is what Valentine gift to give your loved one.  Well, I recently read an article featuring a guide to a terrible Valentine’s Day gifts.  By learning what not to give on V-Day, we can identify the best things we can give.   To give you a quick account, here’s the list of gift no-no’s on Valentine’s Day:

1. Joke Items – Even if you’re the fun-loving type of person, don’t ever make it appear as if you’re making fun of your loved one with your gift.
2. Pillow novelty items – You’ve probably seen this in an email or website.  The boyfriend or girlfriend pillow or a pillow with your picture in it is just not romantic.
3. Baby talk anything – Any item with “I Wuv You” should not even be considered as a Valentine’s day gift
4. Cheesy suggestive gifts – These includes t-shirts and other “items” that cannot be mentioned here because this is a kid-friendly blog.
5. Plastic roses – The article actually just mentioned roses, but I beg to differ.  Roses are still a romantic, classic gift that will never be out of style.  But plastic ones are not.

So what are the best gifts to give on Valentine’s Day?  Well, I was thinking you could help me.  I know many consider the classic bouquet of red roses, box of sweet chocolates and romantic dinner (probably in a restaurant with an excellent view of the sea or the city skyline) as the best gifts on Valentine’s Day, but the truth is, the best gift you can give your Valentine on V-Day is time.  Spend quality time with that person and be reminded what a blessing it is to love and be loved.  I’m not saying don’t give a gift, I’m saying the cost of the gift doesn’t really matter, it’s the thought that counts.  And with the current financial crisis, now is certainly the best time to be creative and cost-friendly with your Valentine’s Day gift.

That’s why I am asking the community right now, what Valentine’s gifts can you suggest for someone who is on a budget and why?  Let’s help each other out, click the link to answer the question, and feel free to share the link to anyone you know who may have an excellent gift suggestion.  Remember, we can give without loving but we cannot love without giving.  Advance happy hearts day to everyone!

So… Thank YOU Answers Community!!! Thank you for being a part of Answers, thank you for believing in it, thank you for putting up with all the technical upgrading works (also known as “coffee breaks“), thank you for contributing your experiences, knowledge and advice on Answers.

And so our gift for you is our very first Yahoo! Answers Guide to Everything. What you’ll find is a compilation of some of the many great questions and answers we’ve spotted on Yahoo! Singapore Answers in 2008 (it was quite hard to chose only 12 since there were so many good ones out there). We’ve also included questions asked by celebrities, as well as the Answers highlights of the year.

(Photo thanks to brungrrl)

We really hope you enjoy it and wanna wish you all a very, merry, happy Holidays! Selamat Tahun Baru from all of us here!

*Download the Yahoo! Answers Guide to Everything here.