Last updated on January 24th, 2020 at 07:24 pm
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Valentine’s day does not have to cost a lot of money, in fact, it does not have to cost a dime at all if you don’t want it to. Love can be expressed in so many ways that don’t require money but instead a bit of time and thought. Personally, those types of gifts mean more to me than the ones costing money.
10 Ways Thrifty People Celebrate Valentine’s Day
1. Go Crazy With A Stack Of Post-it Notes
Buy a stack of pink post-it notes and fill them with reasons why you love them and then hide them in their work bag and all over their car and other items they use daily.
For more ideas on how to use post-it notes for creative Valentine’s gifts read 4 Creative Ways To Us Post-it Notes For Thrifty Valentine’s Day Fun ( I dare you to try number four)
2. Give Them A Homemade Coupon Book
Make them a stack of printable coupons, for ideas enter “printable valentine’s coupons” into the Pinterest search box. When I did dozens of different ones came up.
Not into coupon books? Read How To Give Acts Of Service Gifts People Will Really Use
3. Give Away Your Point Earned Gift Cards
Write a note saying all the gift cards you earn this month from various point reward websites and apps for the next 30, 60 or 90 days are theirs to spend however they choose.
Not familiar with point reward programs? They are a great way to earn money in little cracks of time often doing things you currently already do online without getting paid.
Here are three great point reward websites
Swagbucks
Last time I counted there were over 25 ways to earn points through Swagbucks. Here is a post I wrote that explains the ten simplest ways to earn gift cards with Swagbucks.
Go here to sign up for Swagbucks
InstaGC
The Insta stands for instant, and that is one thing I like about InstaGC. There are a few simple ways to earn with InstaGC and this post shares four I like.
Go here to sign up for InstaGC
PrizeRebel
PrizeRebel has a low cash out threshold with gift cards starting at just 200 points for a $2 Amazon gift card code and 500 points for a $5 gift card to many different retailers.
PrizeRebel has nine ways to earn–you can learn about them here.
Go here to sign up for PrizeRebel
Here are two great apps that give you cash back on your purchases
Ibotta
Use Ibotta to collect cash back on groceries, clothing, pet supplies, home decor, entertainment and more. Chances are the stores where you shop work with Ibotta.
Once you sign up, click on the account icon. At the bottom, you will find “how to use Ibotta.” Click on it, and you will find a tutorial explaining how and where you can use it.
Go here to sign up for Ibotta.
FetchRewards
It is super simple to earn points using FetchRewards, just shop wherever you shop for groceries and when you are done, upload your receipt to FetchRewards. Within 24 hours (sometimes longer) you will receive points for your receipt. What you earn depends on what you bought and what their current offers are.
Use my referral code RE9FU at sign-up and receive 1500 points when you complete one receipt. (that puts you halfway to your first cash out right there)
Here is a tutorial I wrote about FetchRewards
4. Write Their Name In the Snow
Take a spray bottle filled with water and food coloring outside and in the snow create a heart outline with your initials inside. Place it right under a window they look out often.
5. Create A Movie Night At Home Kit
Rent a Redbox movie and purchase two theater sized candy boxes from the $1 store, place them in a gift bag, and then send the kids to bed just a bit earlier and enjoy movie night only the two of you cuddled up on the couch.
Thrifty tip: The blog Money Saving Mom often shares codes for free Redbox movies.
6. Cash In Your Point Earn Gift Cards For A Coffee Date
Use your Swagbucks to earn a Starbucks gift cards then grab your drinks and find a quiet corner to just talk.
Love Starbucks? Read this list of places where you can earn Starbucks gift cards plus how to save money on Starbucks.
7. Go For A Walk Just The Two Of You
If it is warm enough go for a long walk hand in hand and chat about how you first met, what you thought when you saw each other for the first time, rekindle all the memories that started your love story.
8. Bake Up Some Sweet Treats
Bake up your spouse’s favorite dessert, then after the kids are in bed light candles, and turn off the lights cuddle up on the couch and eat your sweet treat together off the same plate. Feed it to each other.
Here is a list of 6 different treats you can make your sweetie for Valentine’s day.
9. Create A You Are The Sweetest List
Buy a large chocolate bar, take off the wrapper and replace it with a list of 10 reasons you think your spouse is the sweetest.
10. Take A Read And Snuggle Date
This last suggestion is exclusively for bookworms (because both my hubby and I are bookworms) Go to the library together just the two of you, each grab a book and then spend that evening cuddled up together on the couch reading books.
Love books too? Here is a list of 17 ways to save money on books.
Want to keep the fires of romance going all year long? Find out what your spouses love language is by reading The 5 Love Languages.
For a list of 52 different websites, apps, and stores our thrifty family uses to help us keep our expenses low, click here to visit our Thrifty Tools Resource Page.
Looking for ways to save money? Join my Thrifty People Of Snail Pace Transformations Facebook group where I share thrifty tips, thrifty finds and more!
3 Articles That Will Help You Spend Less On Date Night
Available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon–get your copy here!
This is a great list and will link this up to my 14 Days of Love series.. Also pinning. Great ideas.
Great list. I will definitely be doing a couple of these. Another cute idea I saw once was to buy Valentine’s cards on clearance to send on the 14th of each month for the rest of the year.
We just hang out in our room and eat chocolates while watching scifi movies. Joining from List-It Tuesday.
This may just stem from the pain of too many single Valentines Days where we separately felt subhuman for not being in a relationship, but my hubby and I came up with a great solution to the expense of Valentine’s Day. We moved it! Since Feb 14 does not have any particular significance to either of us, we decided to move “our Valentine’s Day” to a date that means something to us in the parameters of our relationship. It works great – the flowers are half the cost, the restaurants are less crowded and not as expensive. We don’t really do much else, commercially speaking, so a bouquet of flowers that contain our wedding colors and a quiet meal out followed by a funny movie at home is perfect for us! I’ve also told him he is NEVER to give me flowers on Feb the 14th because they feel obligatory to me – if you want to blow my socks off give me daisies on a random weekday and you’ll get way more bang for the buck!