We all know Valentines Day is a huge money-making scam invented by Hallmark. But Galentine’s Day? Galentine’s Day is a wonderful holiday created by the beautiful Leslie Knope to celebrate our gal pals.

If you’re not familiar with the concept then be prepared to have your life wonderfully changed forever. Amy Poehler’s character on Parks & Rec, Leslie Knope, gets all her girlfriends together on February 13^th to celebrate “ladies being ladies”. It’s a day of appreciation and love of one another – no partners allowed!

Now in my opinion we should have a weeklong holiday for friendships, but I’ll take this humble day. And if daunting Pinterest level brunch images are flooding your head, don’t fear, you can still take part in this joyous occasion even if you’re broke AF.

Because the best ship of all is friendship!

Friendships Need Celebration

Friendships are important; science even claims they are good for our health. And although they will chop and change during our 20s, it’s hard to dispute that they enrich our lives.

I for one am pretty grateful for all the female shoulders I’ve cried on over the years. Maybe I’m a bit biased because I have the greatest female friends in the world (humble brag and shout out), but I truly believe our female friends make us better people. They not only give us company for boozy brunches but they support us, encourage us, appreciate us, and are own personal fan club.

That’s something damn worth celebrating.

No Money, No Problems

Don’t let being a poor struggling uni student stop you from celebrating this glorious day. Go forth and get some home brand cheese and ALDI wine and raise your glasses to one another.

You don’t need money to show appreciation for someone, you just need some creativity. You could go for a picnic, treat your friends to a home cooked meal, do at-home karaoke a la Ann and April or take part in a Parks & Rec marathon. The options are endless.

If you have the money to spend on flowers, personalised candles and the fanciest of fancy cheese, then by all means relish in the absolute spoiling of your friends. But there is no need to stress if you don’t have the dollars to do that.

Treating the ones we love is a great feeling but spending a load of money isn’t what is at the core of this day – love and appreciation is.

If Valentines Day being the money-spinner that it is makes you mad, then turn that energy into positive budget-friendly Galentine’s Day vibes.

Get Pumped Gal Pals

The world may be full of negative crap but February 13^th is a day to put it all aside and get excited about your BFFS.

To get you in the mood here is a list of times that Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins were just the absolute cutest friends. My personal favourite quote, “Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries”.

So you know your mate who’s constantly being a huge grump around V-Day? Well put a mimosa in her hand – it’s Galentines day bitches!

(Lead image: Parks and Recreation/NBC)