Valentine’s Day is coming up and I have no idea what to get my girlfriend. I love her a lot and she knows it and I would buy her anything in the world but I just don’t have the money. She knows I’ve been strapped for cash lately but I still want to do something significant for her. I’m desperate for ideas.
-Missing money
The best gifts are usually the ones that require a lot of thought and not a lot of money. You are going to have to think details. What is it that makes your relationship special? When was it that you realized that you loved her? Where were you when that happened? Doing something as little as bringing her to that place and telling her that this is where you first realized you loved her might not seem like a lot but will score big points for you.
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One of my friends has been seeing her boyfriend for a while. She talks about him incessantly and I can’t take it anymore. Our friendship is hurting because I can’t stand being with her and constantly hearing about her boyfriend. How do I get her to stop without her thinking I do not want to hear about her relationship?
-Going gonzo
The important thing here is when you talk to her to say that you are really happy for her and her relationship. By stressing this it takes away all the accusations she might have that you are just jealous. Remind her of all the good times you had, how often you used to hang out or talk on the phone and why you value her friendship so much. Tell her that you like hearing about the good things in her relationships and she has every right to tell them to you and that you want to hear them, but that sometimes it is just too much. It’s a delicate situation, but if you take it with enough caution and constantly reiterate how much of a good friend she is things will go smoothly and you will get your friend back.
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My parents have basically forbid me from going away for Spring Break. I really want to go and I have worked all this past year and saved up just so I can afford to go with all of my friends to Cancun. I don’t want to completely go against my parents but it is my life and my money. What do I do?
-Breaking away
I say go for it. It sounds like you have talked with your parents and probably gave them every logical reason in the book of why you should be able to go away for break. You are an adult and obviously responsible since you’ve taken the initiative to save up your own money. Not to advocate lying to parents, but I would make sure they don’t think you are actually coming home for Spring Break. Tell them you are just going to stay in D.C. with some other friends whose parents won’t let them go away either (the extra jab can’t hurt). One other word of advice if you do go away: make sure to at least tell a sibling or someone who you can trust not to tell them where you are actually going. It’s important to do this just in case something does happen to you while you are away.
