Valentine’s Day is coming up fast, and while retail experts believe people will be spending more money for the love holiday this year than they did in 2012, all of us are still feeling the economic pinch. That’s why a place like Costco is an undercover bargain hunter’s dream come true.
I’ve written before about Costco and products you can buy here for weddings. But, as I’m sure you know from Christmas shopping, Costco is a spectacularly awesome place to buy gifts. (And, not to worry, Costco is not paying a dime for me to write this. I’m just a fan. You know how Target has fans? I am a Costco fan.)
I get Costco’s sale emails, and they’re pretty gosh darn tempting. Say you don’t want to spend more than $30 on a Valentine’s Day gift. I think that’s fair — it’s kind of a Hallmark holiday, and you’d rather spend the big bucks on a big deal date like an actual anniversary or his/her birthday? I think Costco’s gift baskets are a gift anyone can get behind.
Mrs Fields Dancing Hearts Tin from Costco.com
I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t love to get something like this. Out of all the Valentine’s Day-themed gift baskets on Costco.com, this is the one I’d be all about — hint, hint, Mr. Powells. It wouldn’t be great for my waist, but one of these were delivered to my work, I probably wouldn’t care at that point. These are just $24.99, and that spectacular price only lasts until Feb. 17, but supplies are limited.
If you are willing to spend a little more, go for the flowers. When I actually shop in a physical Costco, their flowers look as good as any I’ve seen in the grocery store, where I know many men will be doing their last-minute shopping for Valentine’s Day. Hey, I’m not judging, just keeping it real. With just a little bit of effort to plan ahead, you can order a vase arrangement that looks like it came from a specialty flower shop.
The most expensive bouquet — the 50-rose vase — is just $149.99. That sounds expensive, but trust me — its a deal.
If you want to spend more money, you can stretch it further at Costco and actually indulge in jewelry. I know, there’s tons of commercials right now advertising jewelry for Valentine’s Day, but are they really deals? Probably not.
This was my favorite on Costco’s Valentine’s Day specials page, and its just $579.99.
Of course, if you really want to go all out or you’re planning to propose this Valentine’s Day, you could really splurge and book a week in, say, Maui.
One of the vacation packages offered by Costco is a luxury package at Maui’s Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. This luxury package starts at $1,389 for five nights and includes a $500 resort credit and a full-size rental car.
That’d be a helluva Valentine’s Day, if you ask me!
The information in this post was accurate when originally published in 2013.