Valentine’s Day is creeping up on us again. When I was younger, winter seemed to drag by. One benefit of age is that time goes fast regardless of the season, so frozen toes and fingers, while uncomfortable, don’t seem to last that long.

Whether you think Valentine’s Day is a greeting card holiday or not, if you’re in a relationship, you certainly need to give it some sort of recognition. When my husband and I were first dating, he was terribly romantic. He’d plan out the day, buy small gifts to give me once an hour, and sweep me off my feet. Our first Valentine’s Day after we were married is one I’ll never forget. He told me he had a surprise planned, tied a scarf over my eyes, and led me out to the old pick up truck. We drove around the countryside for an hour. I was convinced we were on our way to Indianapolis or Fort Wayne, and halfway through the drive he also convinced me we were being followed by the police, which escalated into a high speed chase. When we finally arrived at our destination I discovered that he’d prepared for dinner to be ready and we had a wonderful evening at home. We had simply driven around the county for a few miles.

That’s one of my favorite memories, not only because of how sweet it was, but also because it helps me remember that sometimes the best surprises are right there in front of you. Like a lot of young married couples, we didn’t have a ton of money to spend on each other. My husband made up for lack of funds with a wealth of creativity, and my home that I lived in, cooked in, and spent a great deal of time in was transformed for that one evening from the everyday to something special.

When you’re preparing for those special moments in your life, whether it’s a one time event like a wedding, or something ongoing, like a marriage, your career, or retirement, you won’t often have all of the cash flow you think you need. If we waited until we thought we had enough money to get married, start a family, or retire, most of us would be single, childless, and clocking into work well into our 70s. It’s hard to feel prepared for something that has such huge significance in our lives because there’s always going to be an element of the unknown tied to it. But what you don’t have in financing, you can often work up to with planning. Starting to save towards retirement should start when you’re in your 20s, even though at that point you probably can’t imagine ever being able to retire. But even if you missed that mark, it’s not too late to start planning and saving right now.

If you’re short on funds this Valentine’s Day but you still want to surprise your sweetheart, you have a few days left to put a plan into place. Sometimes the most romantic gestures don’t have a cost anything at all. And if you’re realizing that retirement is closer than you think, you probably still have some time to plan for that as well. And while it will require saving extra money, it’s money well spent…just consider it a Valentine’s Day gift to your future self.