Valentine’s Day 2026 is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than write a Buzzfeed-esque guide tailor-fit to our largely financially and romantically challenged student body? If somehow by now you still don’t have any ideas here are the do’s and don’t’s of Valentine’s Day gifts.

Playlists

You’ve already tried to impress them by showing off your niche Spotify Wrapped— but desperate times call for desperate measures; it’s time to go a little further. Since the invention of portable music players, and even before them with stationary cassette players, young people have been trying to impress their Valentines with mixtapes. 

Today, you don’t even have to worry about burning CDs or taping cassettes yourself– all you have to do is press “Create Playlist” and you’re already one step closer to winning them over. 

Well, you also have to put at least a little thought into it. Find out what music they like, choose songs that are special to the both of you, or if you’re a cornball just add 15 songs with the word “love” in the title. Please don’t do that. 

If you don’t know what music they listen to, and you don’t want to be the corniest person to walk these halls, you may choose to add songs that are important to both of you. Even if you haven’t been together for long, I’m sure you can think of something. 

For example, maybe the first time you guys kissed you turned around to turn up the stereo in your car, only to see, to your horror, that “Geronimo” [by whoever] was playing the whole time. How did you not notice? Did you skip the song quick enough? Did they notice? Did they care? 

Bake Something

I can count the number of people I know who don’t like dessert on one hand, and I can count how many of them I like on the other. Why don’t you like sweets? I don’t understand. I guess we can’t all be correct. That’s fine.

The point is that almost everybody likes dessert, so this works well especially if you don’t know your Valentine that well yet. And on the off chance they end up going for their best friend’s freshman sister after they ghost you, you won’t feel too bad because it’s cheap and you wouldn’t have wasted too much time. 

Cookies, muffins, cake pops, Dubai Chocolate Brownies– all of these are great, safe ideas. Attach some sort of cute note to it. Make it pink, or red. Put it in one of those really cute heart bags. Honestly, just pretend you have a Valentine to post it on your story and eat it yourself. 

Picnic

This next idea goes hand in hand with the previous one. Because I’m writing this after school and I’m still hungry, I think there’s no better idea than more food. I know you’re probably broke, and that’s okay. Someone kind of just had to activate a free trial for 60% off so they could afford Door Dash. Employment is just a concept. 

And though groceries are pricey, the dollar menu isn’t! Yes, you have several thousand McDonald’s points and you are going to show your love for your valentine with them. Dollar menu picnic is the move for broke people who love food– and that’s all of us. 

Card

The thing about cards is that if you get one from the Hallmark aisle you automatically fail Valentine’s Day. Because if they open that card and it says “roses are red.. Violets are blue…” I am going to find it and take a picture and post it on my private account with 3016 laughing emojis, 12 wilted rose emojis, and 41 praying hands emojis– and I won’t feel bad in the slightest bit, because you didn’t put in any effort. 

The point of a card isn’t to show that you love them with $4.73– the point is that you write something so meaningful that it proves you really know them. Handmake the card and draw something on it, too. Honestly, it’s even funnier if you’re horrible at drawing. It just shows that you care enough to try something you wouldn’t usually do just to impress them. 

“Just the fact that it was from my best friend made it special,” Senior Rachel Mandell said. 

How cute. 

Paint Something

Embarrassment is a love language, because trying your best at something where failure is imminent just shows you care about your Valentine more than your own ego, and what’s more flattering than that? So try your hand at a skill most of us know nothing about. If it comes out looking like a toddler did it, that’s even better. 

This is a good Valentine’s gift that isn’t inherently romantic. Paintings are good for gift exchanges between friends, too.

“What made the painting special to me is that when making it she didn’t think of herself; she thought of me specifically,” Junior Johnny Tirado said. “She put a lot of effort in so it meant a lot, and you can tell it came from the heart.”

Paper Flowers

Mr. Taylor wouldn’t let me write about normal flowers due to lack of creativity but he did give me the OK for paper flowers– which are so much better than the regular, living ones people usually give their Valentine. 

Objectively, they last much longer, they’re less messy, require zero upkeep and they also make for good decorations. 

“I felt really appreciated and happy when I got them,” sophomore Rachel Wang said. “It was meaningful since I know how much time and effort it takes.”

They’re also so much more customizable– choose pages out of their favorite book, or a map of where they’re from. 

As far as where to put them, yes, you may also have to be creative here. Mason jars and glass Coke bottles are classic alternatives but if all else fails, thrift an odd vase from Goodwill. Give it character. 

Thrifting

On the topic of Goodwill, another cheap but fun thing that shows you care is shopping for them. Maybe you’re going out with a fashion snob, maybe you are one yourself– maybe you’re both insufferable. Aww. I can’t name a better way to impress them, then. 

In any case, thrifting for someone you care about takes time and effort– and it can be a gamble if you don’t know your Valentine that well yet. Either way, they’re free clothes. So, how mad will they really be if you get them something “vintage” and forget to rip off the SHEIN tag?

“I love giving [thrifted clothes] to people and it makes them happy,” sophomore Nathan Bowen said. “I love seeing my friends in cool stuff I got them.”

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what you do or get for your Valentine as long as your gift shows them how much you care. That’s the point of this whole corny holiday, anyway. There’s no singular perfect gift. 

If seven ideas later you still don’t know what to get your Valentine, you’re on your own.

But you know what they always say: It’s the thought that counts.