5 frugal ways to celebrate an anniversary

Today is my 9 year wedding anniversary (insert well wishes, congratulatory sentiments, and statements of shock and awe here).  Over the years, my husband and I engaged in some pretty extravagant activities to commemorate the day we got married and maybe we incurred some debt to do so (cough…trip to Key West…cough). But not this year. This year we got a little smarter and decided that it’s possible to celebrate our anniversary in a special way without spending a fortune.

Here’s what we did (or plan on doing):

1. Went out for breakfast instead of dinner. Although we plan on going out to eat this weekend (probably paid for as an anniversary present from the in-laws), we decided to do something today. So we decided to go get bagels rather than going out to dinner. This saved us money on two fronts: breakfast is way cheaper than dinner when you’re at a restaurant and we didn’t have to pay for a babysitter because our daughter is in school.
2. Bought cards, not presents. Six weeks elapse between my anniversary and my birthday. And there’s Mother’s Day in between. I’ve absolved my husband of expensive (or any, for that matter) anniversary presents for that reason. But we make sure to give each other cards. Lots of savings to be had there (on occasion, we’ve even made cards but ain’t nobody got time for that this year). 
3. Stay home and had drinks. Well, not really drinks as I haven’t had a drink since the red wine incident of 2012. However, my husband found cocktail flavored jelly beans and we plan to have those as a substitute. It’s a tiny little pack of jelly beans which cost a fraction of a cocktail at a bar or restaurant. I just hope it’s as tasty.
4. Did a craft. I know this sounds weird but stick with me. Apparently, the 9 year anniversary is the pottery anniversary. Instead of going somewhere and getting all Ghost, my husband went to the craft store and bought us plaster ice cream cones and paint for us to do at home (not quite pottery but close enough). So much less expensive and I don’t have to contend with other people complaining about how they suck at art. Double bonus!
5. DIY present. I can’t divulge too much detail because the husband sometimes reads my blog. Even though I don’t ask him to get me a present, I still like to do something for him. I have something planned this year that involves Pinterest, Snapfish, and the Dollar Store. It will probably cost me all of $5, a few hours of my time, and it’ll be more valuable than any golf club I could buy.

We decided to do it this way because a) we’re on a much tighter budget this year than ever before and b) we’re trying to save money for a big 10 year anniversary celebration. We want to go on vacation, with our daughter, and doing that is going to require spending a good amount of cash. By saving money this year, that gives us a little more to put away for next year’s big one.

For us, the most important part of celebrating our anniversary is not how much money we spend or the presents we have to show off. No, for us, the important part is doing something that’s meaningful and special. And that can be free.

Readers, how do you celebrate your anniversary in a frugal fashion? Any tips for us for upcoming years?