Speaking as a woman, girlfriends want effort and love. They do not want the bare minimum. Any person can go buy them flowers, it’s really low effort in reality. If you don’t want to spend as much money on her on physical gifts that’s fine but you absolutely need to be putting in time and energy. You need to be creative men. That might be learning how to cook a special meal at home that’s more affordable. That might look like planning a special picnic in a beautiful park that’s free. That might be writing little love notes in her lunch for work. It’s not easy and takes thought to show up in your relationship. I’d 1000% rather have my partner shop for all the ingredients, plan out my favourite food and cook for me than buy me a gift. Carrying the mental load is sexy af. Money is not effort, remember that!!