Although estimates of the cost of Valentine’s Day vary, all sources agree that the traditional Valentine’s Day purchases increase in price significantly on Valentine’s Day. If you’re thinking of spending money on a dozen red roses, expect the price to double during that time. Other traditional expenditures include dinner at a nice restaurant, champagne, cards, expensive chocolates and/or jewelry. Bankrate.com estimated the total cost of this Valentine’s Day celebration to be over $500 last year.
If the objective is to show your Valentine how much you care about them, you can do that thoughtfully and inexpensively if you think of nice alternatives. The key is putting thought into showing them that you care about them. Here are easy tips:
Cards:
Although a $5 card is a small part of the total expense, you don’t have to pay that much to give a pre-printed card. Making a homemade card and writing a very thoughtful, sentimental letter in the card will be much less expensive and will probably be appreciated more.
Eating Out:
A fancy dinner out with champagne can cost over $100 for a couple, and most restaurants do not accept coupons or discounted gift cards on Valentine’s Day. You can make a nice, simple dinner at home for $20, and if you wanted to dine out you could go to breakfast, lunch, or even just have dessert out after dinner.
Instead of eating out, you could enjoy time together by attending a local event, taking a walk, renting a movie at home or doing an activity together that you both enjoy—all much less expensive options than the $100 dinner.
Gifts:
Rather than giving expensive jewelry, you could give a gift certificate for an indulgent experience, like a facial, massage, or manicure. Go to sites like Groupon or Living Social to buy discounted gift certificates (often 50% off) for services in the Beauty and Salon segment. You’ll spend $39 for a special gift. Less expensive gifts include books on a topic of interest, which shows you thought about their preferences or tickets to an event that they would enjoy. Making a music CD of favorite songs is another thoughtful and inexpensive gift.
Flowers:
Because a dozen red roses may break the budget at over $50, you can buy a pretty bunch of flowers at Trader Joe’s or the supermarket for $10 or less and arrange them yourself in a vase or jar. You can also give a flowering plant that lasts longer than a week and may only cost $5 or $10. My husband did that 26 years ago and the plant lived until both of our children graduated from high school!
Chocolates:
Instead of buying a $60 box of Godiva chocolates, you can buy a heart-shaped cookie cutter for a couple of dollars and make heart-shaped sugar cookies, or bake a pan of brownies and cut them into heart shapes. Arrange them on a paper or plastic plate and wrap with a bow for a festive sweet treat that costs less than $5 to make.
You can also buy Valentine’s Day bagged chocolates (like M&M’s) or conversation hearts on sale for $2 or less and put them in a glass jar or mug, ties with a bow. CouponMom.com lists the best Valentine’s Day candy deals and has printable coupons to make them even cheaper.
Remember, the key is to show your Valentine that you put time into giving a thoughtful gift, which doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.
Stephanie Nelson is the Coupon Mom. With more than 7.5 million members, Coupon Mom gives members access to thousands of printable coupons for groceries, restaurants and more. As the nation’s top expert in couponing across the country, Stephanie has been on every major national television talk show and taught millions how to save money for the past 15 years. She has been called ‘”the rock star of the recession” by the Washington Post and her book, The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, is a New York Times best seller.
