Budget friendly lifestyle

I’m excited about the forthcoming Valentine’s celebration if you can’t tell already. So I look forward to getting gifts. What are the best valentines day gift ideas for her? What are you planning for valentines day?

I’m usually giddy for all seasons, and it gets extra during Valentine’s as it is the season of love. My favorite thing is to go out and dress up. Check out my best valentines days dresses for women perfect for you. Also, I love the gift exchanges too.

One of the challenges with Valentine’s season is not knowing the right gift to get for your chosen person. So for this article, I’m coming through for guys who want the best Valentines day gift ideas for her to buy for your girlfriend, family, or friends. 

Some people say that guys are horrible at gifting. I’m not saying so, though. But I’m here to help her with that perfect Valentine’s Day gift idea. 

Cute Valentines day gift ideas for her

Here are some of my top 10 best Valentine’s Day gift picks:

1. Plants

Does your partner have an interest in the environment and nature? Is she happy when she is outdoors around plants? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you should make her a plant mum by gifting her plants on Valentine’s day. 

This way, you’re helping her better bond with nature by bringing it indoors for her. You’d notice that she would pay so much attention to the plants, and they serve as a reminder of you when you’re not around. 

Getting her such a gift signifies how thoughtful you are towards her interest, and you best believe she would love them. 

2. Love notes

Let’s get a little mushy, shall we? This is one of the inexpensive valentines day gift ideas for her to give to your girlfriend or wife.

You have many sweet things in your head that you want to say to your lover. Sometimes you voice them out, and they remain in your head. But Valentine’s Day is a time to get mushy without fear. 

So, why not pen those things down and gift her love notes? She will cherish those love notes for a long time, and you’d always find her going through them at intervals. She may even go the extra mile and use them as decorations for her room. 

A little bit of mushy wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

3. Jewelry set

Do you know how excited your partner would be if you gave her a jewelry set? I’m yet to meet or see any woman who wouldn’t love to get a set from their man. 

If you’re stuck on what to get her for Valentine’s day, you can play it safe by getting a jewelry set. Now, you know that your babe will be ready and cute on your next date. Jewelry is a wardrobe essential that will elevate your outfit. It makes you look put together and chic.

From earrings to bracelets, necklaces, etc. You’ll leave her looking stunning, and she wouldn’t want to part with such a gift anytime soon. It is one of the best Valentines day gift ideas for her. Also, check out some cute accessories for women that are perfect as valentines day gifts.

Click here to buy necklace

4. Polaroid camera

One thing about women is that we love to keep a record of things. Women love to make memories with their partners and keep records of them. So you can help your woman with this mission by getting her a polaroid camera. 

This instant camera would have her take pictures with you almost every time. These pictures would fill up the memory book and increase your bond. 

I love that the idea of a polaroid camera isn’t common. So, if you’re looking for something unique for your babe, this is the best Valentine’s day gift for her. 

5. Customized water bottle

It isn’t always about talking about how much you love your partner. But are you intentional towards her well-being? You can contribute to her wellness and be romantic by gifting her a customized water bottle. 

It could be designed with her name, initials, favorite color, etc. What matters is that the water bottle should be personalized. 

If she wasn’t intentional about her water intake before, you’d see that she would get better at it. Why? Well, her man got her the bottle, and she would always want to take it everywhere. Trust me, her obsession with this bottle would be cute to observe. 

6. Flowers

There’s no harm in being cliche and going the conventional route of getting flowers for your woman. It also classifies as one of the best Valentine’s day gifts for her. 

However, instead of getting random flowers, be a gentleman and find out her favorite flower. Then, show up at her place with the flower and a note. 

I’m already blushing as I’m typing this, as I can imagine how cute it would be. Do not be surprised if your woman spills some happy tears. Trust me, those flowers would become her favorite decorations in her space, and she would be so protective of them.

7. Hoodie

People would say that women have a strange obsession with hoodies. When I look at myself and my friendship circle, I can’t even deny it. For some reason, hoodies are comfort clothes for women, specially stolen hoodies from our partners. 

For Valentine’s day, you can get your girlfriend a hoodie. You can even go the extra mile to get a hoodie set to match you both. Hoodies are comfortable travel clothes for women to get as a couple. It is perfect to wear if you’re traveling to a colder region.

Some of the best Valentine’s day gifts do not have to be dramatic. As long as they are thoughtful, they will make your woman happy. So you should start shopping for those hoodies now!

Click here to buy a hoodie set

8. Little black dress

Every woman needs a little black dress. It gets more endearing when they get this little black dress from their man. And it is even better when this little black dress comes in on Valentine’s day. 

I want you to imagine your woman in a cute silk little black dress. I know you love the imagination in your mind right now. So, make a move and shop for a little black dress for your woman so your imagination can become a reality. 

You can go the extra mile to round off the dinner with a romantic dinner and have your woman wear the dress for dinner. 

Click here to buy a black dress

9. Spa voucher

Doesn’t your woman deserve to relax and be taken care of? Another of the best valentines day gift ideas for her is a spa voucher. I can see you nodding your head. 

Your woman has been working hard, and you can decide to spoil her for Valentine’s by booking a spa date. It helps her to relax and shows that you acknowledge all she has been doing and agree that she serves to be spoiled. 

If you get her a spa voucher, she will shower you with lots of appreciation, and you will tell her that it’s enough. Some men say they are happiest when their woman is happy. And you can make your woman happy by gifting her a spa voucher. 

10. Shoes

Some people are shoe freaks, and your woman could be one of them. If you’re at the point of thinking of getting her Valentine’s day gift, then we are sure that you are familiar with her shoe size. 

So, if you’re still stuck on what to get her for Valentine’s day, you should get shoes. It could be heels, sneakers, or cute slippers. Shoes are one of the best valentines day gift ideas for her to buy for girlfriend, wife or siblings.

Click here to buy boots

Yes, I know you’d say I’ve come again. But did you know that there are ways you can travel the world for free? They may not be the ‘conventional’ ways, but indulging in them would get the dream done. 

Many people often aspire to travel anywhere in the world, but monetary constraint often holds them back. You can choose to save money for travel or simply seek opportunities to travel for free. As someone who likes exploring, there are times when I’ve had to put a planned trip on hold because of insufficient funds. After all, who wants to be stranded in a strange place? 

The strong desire to travel to many places got me wondering if there are ways one can travel anywhere in the world for free. I was doubtful at first and even pushed the thought to the back of my mind. But, travel anywhere in the world for free? How? Would I walk there? Wouldn’t I have to pay for my flight? How can I find cheap flight tickets for my trip?

But my curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to research and began to see some exciting things I would share with you. The more I checked, the more excited I got as I began to see that it was feasible to travel the world for free. 

How to travel the world for free

Below are some ways you can travel anywhere in the world for free. You get to enjoy free accommodation from hotel alternatives, free flights and even get paid while traveling the world.

Au Pair

One of the easiest ways to travel the world for free is via Au pair. Have you heard about the Au Pair system before? By being an Au Pair, you declare that you can provide the service of helping families take care of their children. Most countries today operate an Au Pair system where they help connect families with caretakers of their children. 

When you sign up on the Au Pair website of any country, you get to fill in your details. Then, people can search through profiles of potential Au Pairs, and you may be lucky to get picked. 

Typically, your host family takes care of you as an Au Pair. You get to stay with this family as you provide the Au Pair services, thus eliminating the stress of looking for accommodation or having to pay rent. 

For example, let’s say you are from Germany and you register on the Netherlands Au Pair website. When you get picked up by a host family, you can travel to the Netherlands for free as your host family bears the cost.

In the Netherlands, you get to help the family take care of their children and experience the country as a tourist. Luckily, you have a host family that lets you learn the country’s routine quickly and shows you how to go about everything. 

Not only do you get to visit the country for free, but you also get to enjoy yourself as you explore.  

Volunteering

I’m sure you must have heard people talking about volunteering before. Interestingly, I’ve seen that being a volunteer is a way to travel the world for free. 

To become a global volunteer, you must get affiliated or attached to an organization accepting international volunteers. This way, you can be sure that you can apply to become a volunteer in any part of the world that you desire. 

As a volunteer in any country, you are not paid for the work that you would be doing there. After all, you are a ‘volunteer.’ The idea is that you are offering the service because you are passionate about it and you want to make an impact.  

However, the body or organization you are signed under is in charge of your welfare as you are in a new place, and you do not have to spend your time. Now, you can travel anywhere in the world for free while making an impact. You can decide that you want to spend two months each in any country while you actively volunteer for a year. Therefore, you would be visiting about six countries in a year. 

But, I would advise that you are passionate about volunteering before getting into it. Your sole reason for volunteering shouldn’t be because you want to be able to travel anywhere for free. Click here for volunteer jobs you can opt for. Some are paid stipends while most are free work.

Work exchange programs

Another way you can travel the world for free is through work exchange programs. The idea here is that you can offer your services to people in that country and get other offerings in return. Yes, it may seem similar to the Au Pair system. However, it is more attractive as it isn’t only limited to taking care of children. 

There are many websites available to help you with work exchange programs. All you need to do is check for a suitable one, sign up for it and enlist the skills or services you can provide.  

You are good at content creation, corporate communications, and branding. Someone who goes through such a website is in dire need of an individual who can provide such services for their brand and doesn’t mind covering your bills and sponsoring your trip to their physical location for you to help with their brand.

Now, you get to leave your home country, and you’re doing it for free. After the expiration of that contract, you might also get an offer from someone else. Then, when the requests keep coming in, you’d see that you’d be traveling anywhere in the world for free. 

So, you need to check within yourself and identify what you can do (the services you can provide) for people. 

House swaps

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that such a thing exists and that there were websites that make this happen. The idea here is for people to experience other places apart from their region for some time. 

So, you’re tired of staying in Nigeria and feel like you need a change of environment. However, you do not have much money to sort out accommodation if you decide to leave the country. Well, why not try house swaps? 

The idea here is to have individuals swap houses for some time. The same way you’re tired of staying in Nigeria could be the same way someone is tired of living in Ghana. Now, if both of you interact, you can decide to swap houses for some time.

So, the other individual comes to Nigeria and stays in your home for free while you also do the same in Ghana. It is a win-win situation as you do not need to pay for accommodation, and you also get to leave your immediate environment. 

I may try this soon, even though I cannot say when. And you can be sure I will be back with a gist to tell you how it went.  

Help someone when moving

I can’t even lie; the first time I stumbled on this idea, I laughed uncontrollably as it was such a feasible surface idea. Yet, I wondered how it had not become widespread and popular. What am I even doing with this driver’s license that I have? 

I’m sure you are beginning to connect the dots as you read this…

One of the ways you can travel anywhere in the world for free is by helping someone when they are moving. For example, let’s say you’ve been in Nigeria all your life, and your close friend is moving to a West African country. You’ve never left Nigeria before, which may be a golden opportunity to visit another West African country. After all, you do not need a visa to visit these countries. 

So, you can offer to help your friend drive the moving truck to the new country. As you can see, it allows you to travel the world for free. After all, you will get a free ride as your friend pays for the fuel. The only thing is that you would be the one driving for long hours. However, it’s a small price to pay to visit a new country for free. 

I’m excited at this option for some reason and cannot wait to share it with everyone around me. Your driver’s license can come in handy in different practical ways. 

Many us want to blog but find it super hard to balance it with our regular jobs. This was my situation when I started blogging 4 years ago. Here is how to balance blogging while working a full time job.

Blogging is a full time business. So, you if want to get the best from blogging and earn from it, you need to be committed to it. How do I balance blogging with a day job? The answer is in your why. Why do you want to start a blog?

If the aim is to create a side income for yourself. Then blogging is a great option of side hustle to engage in. However, you need to put in the work to get value from blogging. Also, blogging is not a GET RICH QUICK scheme, so you need to find time from your day job to blog.

Here are my tips on how to balance blogging while working from a full time job.

Tips for balance blogging while working a full time job

I also find time to create content on my blog. Here are my best tips on how to balance blogging while working a full time. Most times, I hardly have time to myself during my weekend. This is because I have to commit my time to catch with my blog.

Below are my best blogging tips to help you balance blogging while working from home. Some of these tips will come in handy if you work from home to boost productivity.

Time Management

The most difficult thing to manage is time. It seems like the 24 hours in a day is too small to achieve my goals. e.g. putting up a post , studying and working. Sometimes i wish we have 25 hours in a day but trust me if time is well managed, it is more than enough.

A simple time management tip is to have a to do list in which work is at the top of your scale of preference. Your regular job pays the bills so it should get more attention. Blogging or studying can be done intermittently also when your’re at work. Especially during times that work is very slow or not so busy. This trick is what i use to joggle blogging/studying with work so as to make the most the not-so-busy days of the week.

Enjoy the blogging process

Creating content, drafting a blog post, and promotion of blog content is quite an interesting process. For me blogging is enjoyable and the process of creating content is fun. There are also times when you don’t feel blogging or may be going through some form of writers block, its okay to take time off, reset and restart. Make blogging fun and enjoy it to the fullest.

In other to make it quite easier for your blog life, use a simple blog planner. There are a lot of blog planner available at cheaper rate. For me a simple carry on note pad does it making it easy to jot points on the go. Incorporate scheduling for your blog post to social media sites.

This makes it easier to post to a larger audience at right time. One simple app i use for that is Crowd fire. It is easy to use, free for use app. You can also use hoot suites for scheduling your post. It takes of the time and work involved in sharing your post manually on your social media site. You can also read my lesson learnt and personal growth on my blogging journey to inspire you.

Create a schedule for blogging

A blogging schedule will come in handy if you want to balance blogging with your day job. If you don’t want your work life balance to be in jeopardy, create a schedule for blogging.

I only have my weekends for blogging. So, I naturally rest in the early hours of Saturday and blog in the evenings or the next day. This is to avoid burn out from my day job.

Create work schedule for writing content, take pictures for your content and promoting your content. You need to create time for all this things

Outsource if possible

This year, I decided to get an employee to support my blogging. This employee is to create long form articles four times a month. I can say the pay is great.

So, if you can, set asides funds for employees or writers. You can source for writers from places like Fiverr, upwork, or social media. If the pay is great, you will find the best fit for your blog.

Schedule your blog post

The main aim of the content of your blog is to share it with possible readers. However, there is a hardly time to write and share this contents on social media.

The below tools have come in handy for me, Hootsuite especially for twitter shares, publer (free to use) scheduler, Triberr ( Also free) and paid crowd fire. The plus side, you can re-share old blog post using any of the above to get the word out after publishing.

Take time out

The last time is to take time off work. Yes, I said it. Your day job offers you time off because it is needed. So, you need to take time off blogging frequently.

This will help you reset and refresh. Also, this will give you ample time to research new topics in your niche, check out what your competitors are doing also boost your overall well being.

How to earn money from your blog?

The best way to earn money on your blog is to go self hosted or you paid blogging websites. Most brands avoid working with blogs that ends with “blogspot.com” or “wordpress.com”. However, we all know that owning and running a website is not cheap.

I use a very brand for my website, Namecheap. I have been using this brand for a long time. There are times I ruined my website because your girl is not tech savvy, they came through for me. All I have to do is to reach them via the customer chat option. Their customer service is exceptional, so I highly recommend them.

If you want to start off your blog strong, sign up with Namecheap. You can add the an SSL certificate too to rank and make your site secured. This you can purchase also on namecheap.

Now lets dive into making money from your blog.

Travel payout

Travel payout is one of my favorite Affiliate marketing platform for travel content creators or travel bloggers. You will get to work with brands like booking.com, Trip Advisor, Trivago, etc.

I highly recommend travel payout if you’re a beginner. Some of these brands pay per click for your banner adverts too. So, if you have great traffic, I recommend you leverage banner adverts to earn more from travel payout. Click here to Join Travel payout to start earning.

Awin

I joined Awin because I am ardent shopper of Shein clothes and accessories. Well, I got rejected by shein. So, I decided to join other brands that I shop and love on Awin network.

You can sign for brands like Shein, Etsy, Everything5pounds, etc. Well, I love fashion. So, I joined Awin platform basically to promote fashion brands.

You can also join Awin to promote Categories in electronics like HP, home improvement or interior decorations and other lifestyle content.

Awin is rich with several categories you can join. Click here to Sign up for Awin, you can also earn whooping $30 for referring Awin affiliate program. Sweet right.

Commission factory

Commission factory is another/ lifestyle affiliate marketing platform I highly recommend you join. You can promote brands like Lulus, Chow chow sang, banana republic, meshki etc.

I love this affiliate as it is perfect if you want to promote luxury , budget friendly or high-street brand. All you need to is to sign on commission factory and start promoting to earn income.

Other ways to earn while blogging is to join influencer marketing agencies like Intellifluence. This brand offer paid guest post or sponsored post that are within the range of $50-$100 payment. I have earned about $1000 from working with brands on Intellifluence. Imagine if I wanted to do more. Definitely click here to sign up for Intellifluence.

You can also sign up for pay per click adverts on your blog. I highly recommend joining AdSense. This is what I use. However, if you have more traffic i.e. 50,000 session per month, just sign up for media vine. The earnings here is way higher than AdSense.

Feel free to comment other ways you balance blogging while working a day job. Ciao.