Valentine's and Galentine's Day celebrations can be cute, but in 2026, many of us don't want to drain our already strained wallets.

The big picture: Romance isn't dead! But according to a WalletHub survey, two in five people say the Feb. 14 holiday is unaffordable.

• Plus, more than half expect their Valentine to spend either nothing or between $1 and $49.

In that context, we bring you cheap and free ideas that'll still make your friend or beau feel special.

📖 Bookish date night: Go get books together, curl up on the couch at home and read by candlelight.

• The book-procuring process can range from free at the library to cheap at a secondhand bookstore or a little pricier if you're buying new.
• For new books, try Source or 27th Letter Books in Detroit, Book Beat in Oak Park or Novel in Rochester.
• For used books (and to get lost among the shelves), we always recommend John K. King Books in Detroit. There's also Shaw's Books in Grosse Pointe Park.

🦅 Date night deal: Some restaurants are offering pretty good deals, including the Eagle in Midtown. For $29 each, get a snack for the table; one entree, side and drink per person; and complimentary prosecco this Thursday-Saturday.

• Nearby taco chain Bakersfield, owned by the same restaurant group, has a similar deal.

⛸️ Twirl on ice: The downtown Detroit ice rink is $12 a person with your own skates. Add $6 for skate rental.

• 6-9pm on Valentine's Day, the rink will become a party with hot cocoa and love songs spun by a local DJ.

🍺 Dive in: "Anything can be romantic with the right mindset," we tell our dates as we pull up to a dive bar and order them $3 PBRs.

• But seriously. Put on something cute and go to a neighborhood dive for a refreshing brew and a less stuffy atmosphere. Nancy Whiskey in North Corktown, Old Miami in the Cass Corridor, Bumbo's in Hamtramck or any of these named by Metro Times.

🖼️ Artsy: Who could say no to a stroll around the Detroit Institute of Arts, free to tri-county residents? Make sure to stop by some of the museum's most romantic paintings, like Artemisia Gentileschi's vision of the beheading of Holofernes, or Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare."

• Plus: Drop in on a free notecard-making workshop Friday, 6-8:30pm; Saturday, noon-4pm and Sunday noon-4pm.

Sweethearts conversation hearts — the chalky Valentine's Day staple — are debuting new phrases in 2026 to reflect how inflation and high living costs are reshaping romance.

The big picture: "Being practical is having a moment," said Evan Brock, vice president of marketing for Spangler Candy Company, the maker of Sweethearts.

• "SPLIT RENT," "SHARE LOGN," "CAR POOL," "BUY N BULK" and "COOK FOR 2" are among the new sayings.
• Classics like "CUTIE PIE" and "MARRY ME" will fill the Sweethearts boxes, too.

The intrigue: In a Sweethearts survey of 2,000 people (half Gen Z; half Millennial), 80% said the economy is impacting their Valentine's Day plans.

Catch up quick: The pastel candies' limited-edition updates often lean into dating trends.

• In 2024, they had blurry messages emblematic of a murky "situationship."
• In 2025, they were scannable, with links to buy heart-shaped headstones.
• And last October, they were all-white and message-less — a Halloween-themed play on ghosting.

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🚗 Thousands of pounds of concrete from a Dearborn parking garage caved in Friday night onto a car, but the car's occupant wasn't injured. (Detroit News)

⛸️ Michiganders Madison Chock and Evan Bates took home Olympic gold for team figure skating. (Free Press)

🗞️ Detroit Metro Times switched printers and is now publishing larger, staple-free editions that it says will help it print more copies and increase distribution. (Metro Times)

Across the globe, languages have strikingly specific words for feelings of love and attachment that don't always have a direct English equivalent.

Why it matters: As Valentine's Day approaches, borrowing a word from another language could help you say what "love" alone can't.

The big picture: English heavily relies on the "L" word to talk about all matters of deep connection.

• "It's not necessarily a bad thing," says Ben Kramer, a linguist and learning designer at Duolingo. "There's also something beautiful" about viewing feelings for a relative as on the same level as those for a romantic partner.

In Japanese, the phrase koi no yokan means the premonition of love — the idea that you will be in love with the person in the future.

• No, that's not the same as "love at first sight," Kramer tells Axios.

In Arabic, ya'aburnee means "you bury me." In other words, you love someone so much that you need them to outlive you, because you can't keep living if they die.

• In Arabic, there are words for different levels of affection, but "this is the most pure, serious" way of expressing love, Kramer says.

In Korean, jeong describes a specific kind of attachment, a fondness between two people or for an object that builds over time.

In French, mon chou literally means "little cabbage," but is a term of endearment like the English "honey."