Making Long Distance Relationships Work Without Breaking the Bank

A lot of us have someone special in our lives but many of us do not have the privilege of seeing our special someone on a daily or weekly basis. It may because you are going to two separate colleges, because you just live a few hours apart and haven't made the move to live in the same city yet, but whatever the reason, you're separated but want to maintain a healthy, vibrant and loving relationship. Many people do this by sending expensive flowers, calling daily, and gifts and traveling to see their significant others on a regular basis. There's nothing wrong with this, but it can get rather expensive as time goes on. Fortunately, you can maintain a healthy long distance relationship without going broke in the process. Here's how to do it.

Have an End in Sight. It's just not sustainable to live far apart emotionally or economically from the person you love for a long period of time. If you two are serious and plan to have a future together, you should have a plan to be with each other within the next two years. Having a perpetual long distance relationship just doesn't work.

Get Cheap Calling. Maintaining regular communication is very important, this means you'll be on the phone and chatting online quite a bit. Long distance calling can get expensive, so make sure you can find a way to call for next to nothing. You can do this through a service called Magic Jack that offers unlimited long distance VoIP service for $40 a year, use the nights and weekends minutes on your cell-phone, or get a cell-phone plan that allows you to have unlimited calling to a few individuals that you choose.

Make Travel Affordable. If you drive to see your significant other, make sure your car is in proper running shape before you leave. There are also a number of techniques you can use to improve your gas-mileage that you can make use of to cut down on fuel costs. If you have to fly, always make sure to get the cheapest possible tickets by searching for prices online. Make sure that you and your significant other are doing an equal amount of traveling. If one person is always on the road, it can get very expensive for them to do so.

Keep Deliveries to a Minimum. It can be very tempting to send your significant other flowers, chocolates, or other presents on a regular basis, but this can also get expensive. If you do want to order them flowers, call a local florist in the neighborhood and have them deliver. It will likely be cheaper than going to FTD or another online flower store. If you do want to let them know they're special, mail them a box of their favorite candy with a note attached or something of the sort. It's a lot cheaper than paying a flower shop $50 to deliver flowers for you.

Maintaining a long distance relationship is close to a full-time job and can get very expensive, but with some simple planning, the process can be much cheaper.