How to Save Money on Your Valentine’s Day Date: 10+ Methods

If you are planning on having a nice dinner for Valentine’s Day, here are a couple things you can do to save some money. 

There are plenty of ways to save money regardless of if you plan to eat at home or dine out. 

In this post you’ll find: hide
Signup for Rewards Programs
Take Advantage of Cash Back Credit Cards
Buy Discounted Gift Cards
Check for Credit Card Offers
Check Groupon
Plan on Dining on a Different Day
Consider Making Reservations
Check on Promos from Your Local Area
Have a Backup Plan
Consider the Specials
Consider Cooking
Share this:
Like this:

Signup for Rewards Programs

The sooner you do this, the better. You want to make sure that you can see all the emails and text message offers that they are sending to subscribers. 

This will help you plan out where you are planning on shopping and dining for Valentine’s Day so you can have a great time while saving a bunch of money. 

Take Advantage of Cash Back Credit Cards

Many cash back credit cards offer cash back for specific categories. As long as you make sure that you use that card when you are making a purchase in that category. 

If it helps you to remember, you can write on the face of your cards what category and percentage is offered on that card. 

Buy Discounted Gift Cards

Whether you are planning on buying gifts, dining at a restaurant, setting up a spa day, or something else, discounted gift cards are a great way to save money on purchases you were already going to make anyway. 

They can also be used with coupons, sales and other promos to save you even more money than you would have been able to before. 

If you are able to get a really good deal on a discounted gift card during the holiday months when there are generally more promos on gift cards, that would be the best bet. However, don’t think that all is lost just because you didn’t buy a gift card during one of the holiday sales.

Just know, that “bonus cards” that come with your gift card during a holiday or other promotion are allowed to expire, but the gift cards themselves aren’t allowed to expire by law. 

Check for Credit Card Offers

There might be a credit card offer that is available with a specific store or restaurant that will give you additional cash back. 

Make sure that you add any offers to your credit card that you think you might end up using. It doesn’t harm you at all to add any and every offer to your card that you want. There isn’t a penalty for not using the offers that you add to your card.

If you really want to save a bunch of money, you can use the credit card offer to buy some discounted gift cards directly from that retailer and save even more money. 

If you see that there are more discounted gift cards available from third party sites, you will have to determine which will give you the most money back. Sometimes the offer from a third party is better than the offer from your credit card, but you will just have to compare to see if that is the case. 

Check Groupon

Depending on what you are looking for, there might be a Groupon offer that will help you save money. 

Groupon isn’t always a great deal though, so be sure to check the offers directly on the site of the place you are planning on shopping as well as on other third party sites. 

Plan on Dining on a Different Day

In addition to avoiding the crowds, you will probably be able to get a better quality meal because the cooks won’t be so rushed.

Depending on if there was even a deal available for Valentine’s Day, you might want to consider dining on a different day so you can really enjoy the experience and get the most bang for your buck. 

Consider Making Reservations 

Depending on where you are planning on dining, they might require reservations. This will also give you peace of mind that you will be able to dine that night, especially at a time that will work best for you. 

Check on Promos from Your Local Area

Businesses, especially small businesses will sometimes leave coupon cards at local libraries, small businesses, and other places around town. 

There might also be some promos posted on the Facebook or their other social media pages, so be sure to check there too. 

Have a Backup Plan

Anything can happen, a broken water pipe in the restaurant, getting off work late,but more likely is sick kids. So it is a good idea to have a backup dinner or even just a dessert planned out. 

If you don’t need it on Valentine’s Day, that is fine, but just having it on hand will make life a lot smoother should you need it. 

Consider the Specials

There might be a special deal that the restaurant is putting on. This is more common with small businesses than larger institutions.

Confirm that the date for the special actually matches up with the current year, nothing sucks more than getting to the restaurant to realize that they either don’t have any specials or what they offer is completely different from what you were wanting. 

Consider Cooking

If you are on a tight budget or if you want to avoid the crowds, you might want to consider having a romantic night cooking together. You can get better quality food cheaper than you could at a restaurant.