Each week, our resident Couponista, Amy Leneker, shares her personal shopping experiences and extreme couponing tips so that you too can be a Coupon Expert!
Call me a helpless romantic, but I LOVE Valentine’s Day. Sappy cards, pink and red hearts everywhere, chocolate?! Sign me up! Valentine’s Day is a great day to tell those closest to you that you love them, and it’s also a great day to score some sweetheart deals.
Hallmark Cards for (almost) FREE
I love sending (and receiving) greeting cards. Seems that these days it’s more common to send emails and text messages, but I’m old school; I believe there is nothing quite like a greeting card with a hand-written signature. Safeway must like Valentine’s Day as much as I do because they’re running a promotion where you can get Hallmark cards for FREE.
Right now, if you buy 3 cards at Safeway, a Catalina coupon will print for $5 off your next purchase. And you can do this multiple times in a row. Plus, the deal is running long past Valentine’s Day, so it’s a great time to stock up on cards for the rest of the year. My time couponing has given me an organizer full of greeting cards that have cost me almost nothing. Never, ever pay full price for a greeting card ever again! Here’s how it works:
Transaction #1
3 Hallmark cards at $1.99 each = $5.97
Catalina coupon prints for $5 off next order
Transaction #2
3 Hallmark cards at $1.99 each = $5.97
Catalina coupon prints for $5 off next order
Use $5 coupon from transaction #1 -$5.00
Total Cost
Total cost per card – only 32 cents!
Bouquet of Savings
Another reason I love Valentine’s Day is that society practically hits my husband over the head with reminders that he should buy me flowers. For any of you looking to buy flowers this time of year, Fred Meyer is offering a sweet deal! They have a coupon for $5 off any $5 floral purchase.
I was there this morning and they had some beautiful floral bunches for only $6.99. With my coupon the cost came down to only $1.99. My son and I will stop there on Valentine’s Day, so he can pick out a pretty bouquet for his teacher. The coupon says it can only be used once, but I asked the woman at Fred Meyer and she said it can be used multiple times. That’s great news because now, for only $1.99 each, I can pick up extra bouquets as Valentine’s Day gifts.
Sweetheart Deals for Couples
As much as I love saving on greeting cards and flowers, I'm most proud of this last deal. This is the perfect time of year to be on the lookout for sweetheart deals…and I found one! A spa in my town is offering a couple’s massage package for only $130. When you arrive you are greeted with champagne and chocolate (I was sold at champagne) to enjoy before your massage starts. As if this helpless romantic needed one more reason to love Valentine’s Day!
I bought the couple’s massage as a surprise for my husband (and in the spirit of full transparency, as a HUGE gift to myself too!), and didn’t think twice about the price. Now I am just counting down the days to Valentine’s Day…
