Best Poor Man's Valentine's Day Gifts for Her: White Castle Dinner

Of course she gets it if you're underemployed, recession-afflicted, and stimulus-busted. She will adore you for choosing one of these Valentine's Day gift ideas that are all heart, and not much wallet.

Best Poor Man's Valentine's Day Gift for the Saintly: Surprise dinner.

You, yes you, cook, chill wine, set table, buy a new romantic music CD (okay you can get it from the library) have kids sent off to Grandma's. This Valentine's Day gift is almost as good as a big dollar Vermont teddy bear. Maybe even better because it involves those most precious components: Your time and focus zeroed in on her. Her alone, just her.

Best Poor Man's Valentine's Day Gift for the Comically-Inclined: Dinner at White Castle.

Don't start laughing yet. Put a tablecloth in a bag with two little splits of champagne. Go to your friendly local White Castle for the Valentine's Day Dream Dinner. They'll provide candlelight, flowers, and table service. Hey, you're saving so much on dinner, why not drive up in a limo?

Best Poor Man's Valentine's Day Gift for the Literary: Love poem.

A love poem you write yourself, maybe even have framed, or bound. If you're not a poet, that's okay. The Brownings have already taken care of it. Get one of the love sonnets by Robert or Elizabeth Barrett Browning and write it out in calligraphy on lovely paper, or in your own handwriting, or in a romantic font on your computer. Date it, sign it with love and frame it.

Best Poor Man's Valentine's Day Gift for the Monet: (Get it, Monet: Money?) : Original painting.

Do an original painting or sketch with a romantic theme. Computer graphics count. If you have Photoshop, start with a romantic photo, scan it in, change it to "watercolor" or "paint daubs" in the Filter dropdown under "Artistic." Print, sign and frame. You're a genius. No wonder she loves you.

Best Poor Man's Valentine's Day Gift for the Hormonally Gifted: Photo in the Buff (Almost)

Come on, you've been working out in the basement for years. Show those muscles off, buff guy. Get a beefcake picture taken, and frame it for her office, with a very personal inscription. (This should not be a photo appropriate for the business section of the newspaper.)

Hey baby, just because you're poor don't mean she don't love you no more. So if you can't be extravagant, you can still be inventive. Even a Poor Man's Valentine's Day gift can be romantic. You're still the Man of Her Dreams.

See complete Valentine's Day gift recommendations and do's and don'ts from this author here and here