How To Celebrate Valentine’s Day At Home: 17 Amazing Gift Ideas

Last Updated February 1, 2022

Looking for some amazing and affordable ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home? You don’t always have to go out and spend a lot of money to show your love for someone. Find out how to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home and get some great gift ideas on a budget.

Valentine’s Day Ideas At Home

1. Cook A Nice Dinner

Instead of going out to dinner, try cooking dinner for your loved one. If you both like to cook, make it a romantic night where you cook a special meal together. Make sure you download the Fetch Rewards app on your phone so you can save money on your groceries.

Fetch Rewards is a free grocery savings app that rewards you just for snapping pictures of your receipts. That’s really it. Free rewards no matter where you get your groceries. Just scan your receipts and collect your rewards.

Fetch Rewards works anywhere you buy groceries (from big box stores, mom and pop corner shops, drugstores, liquor stores, and hardware stores – it’s all fair game).

Sign up for Fetch Rewards now and use code “EN9VM” to redeem 2K points!

If you’re not a great cook, consider using a service like Home Chef or Blue Apron.

I’m not a great cook and have used these services before. There are easy to follow recipes and meals come out tasting delicious. Finally, I like using these meal prep services because it allows me to try cooking meals I wouldn’t normally cook.

Save $60 off your first 3 boxes of Blue Apron with my affiliate link. Save $30 off your first order at Home Chef with my affiliate link.

Don’t want to have a monthly subscription? No problem. Just order a meal kit like this one from Amazon. It’s the same concept as Blue Apron or Home Chef.

2. Order Food

Don’t feel like cooking? Have a romantic evening at home and order food. I like to use Seamless to order food.  It shows me all the nearby restaurants in my neighborhood and makes it easy to choose one to order from. 

You get $10 off your first Seamless app order of $15 with my affiliate link.

3. Make Homemade Treats

If you love to bake, consider making homemade treats. Personally, I think people (myself included) appreciate homemade gifts more than store-bought because you know much more time and effort was put into the gift, and it was made with love.

Here’s a picture of some Valentine’s Day cookies I made for my Mom one year.

So consider making a homemade treat for a loved one.

4. Give Your Services

Consider offering your services as a gift. Think about the tasks that you can do for someone. What services can you provide? Maybe do a chore for them, a car wash and detail, a haircut or color, organization services, personal training lessons…the list could go on and on.

Think about the person you are giving the gift to. Have they ever mentioned they would love you to teach them about or how to do something? Whatever it is, if you have the skill or talent then offering it as a gift is not only heartfelt and valuable but also saves you money.

5. Make It A Movie Night

Yes, the good ol’ Netflix and chill. Stay in with your loved one and watch a movie together. But before you surprise your partner with Netflix, you have to make it special.

Create a lineup of your lover’s favorite TV show episodes or rewatch that movie you watched on your first date. Whatever you do, don’t make it a typical old TV night—add something special and sentimental to show you care.

You can also snuggle under a blanket and binge-watch a new show together.

6. Have A Scavenger Hunt

Have a scavenger hunt around the house. Leave clues and have a nice surprise at the end.

7. Have An At-Home Spa

Surprise your partner with an at-home spa treatment. Light some candles, get a playlist of soothing music going and treat your love to a relaxing massage or a facial.

8. Have A Game Night

Another great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home is with a game night. Pull out a board game, play chess or checkers, truth or dare, or challenge your partner to a game of cards. Just make sure to pick games specifically made for two players (like Scrabble).

9. Have Valentine’s Breakfast (Instead Of Dinner)

Try having a Valentine’s Day breakfast rather than dinner. This can save you the hassle of trying to get dinner reservations and the inflated Valentine’s Day dinner price.

Even better if you surprise them with breakfast in bed. It’s very thoughtful and romantic. Plus, who wouldn’t love a date where you don’t even have to get out of bed?

Budget-Friendly Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Now that you know how to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home, that doesn’t mean you need to skip the gifts. Here are some great Valentine’s Day gift ideas that your loved one will like that doesn’t break your budget.

10. Purchase Flowers From The Supermarket

Flowers are much less expensive if you purchase them from a supermarket florist, rather than online or a stand-alone store. You can save even more if you order your supermarket floral arrangement a few weeks in advance and pay upfront.

11. Make Your Own Gift Basket

Making your own gift basket is always cheaper than buying them from the florist, a gift store, or online. You can get a cheap basket from the craft store or a “Valentine’s Day” themed coffee mug from the dollar store.

A simple red, white, or pink mug will do just fine. Buy fruit, cheese, crackers, snacks, and/or candy from the supermarket to fill your gift basket. Finally, wrap your gift basket with colored cellophane from the dollar store.

12. Buy Flowers In Bulk

If you buy flowers for multiple people for Valentine’s Day, consider placing all your orders to the same florist at once. That can help you get a bulk order discount. If you don’t buy flowers for multiple people for Valentine’s Day try to combine your order with other friends who may be buying flowers to take advantage of the discount.

13. Make A “Love” Scrapbook

If you would like to do something like this, you can buy this Scrapbook Photo Album DIY Kit from Amazon. I used this scrapbook to make a gift for my friend’s 36th birthday (pictured below), but you can easily make something like this for Valentine’s Day.

Make a scrapbook that tells the story of how your love for the person has grown over the years. Include pictures and other memorable tokens that have sentimental value to your loved one.

You don’t have to be incredibly talented or artistic—because most of the time it’s the thought that counts. No matter how small the gift may be, it shows a little thoughtfulness to those you care most about—not to mention being easier on the wallet.

14. Use Reward Points From Credit Cards

Many people these days have a credit card that offers rewards points or cash back for their purchases. If your card gives you cash back rewards, you can buy a gift and then apply the “cash” towards your credit card balance. Also, consider using your rewards points to buy gift cards.

My two favorite credit cards that I personally use to earn cash back for my purchases are:

• American Express Cash Magnet Card – I love this card because you can earn 1.5% unlimited cashback along with some additional perks that come with having an American Express card (such as car rental loss and damage insurance, Global Assist Hotline, and exclusive access to ticket presales)—all without an annual fee.

  American Express is also offering a $200 bonus if you sign up for the Cash Magnet card and spend $1,000 within 3 months.

• Capital One Quicksilver Rewards – I also love Capital One’s Quicksilver Rewards card because, like the American Express card, you can earn 1.5% unlimited cashback.

  Although the American Express card has some great perks, this is also a great credit card to have because not every vendor accepts American Express. The Quicksilver Rewards credit card also does not have an annual fee.

  Capital One is offering a $200 bonus if you sign up for the Quicksilver Rewards card and spend $500 within 3 months.

15. Get Free Cash Back On Online Purchases

This is one of my favorite ways to buy Valentine’s Day gifts on a budget. There are a few cashback websites I like to use when purchasing things online.

In general, the way these cashback websites work is you go to the cashback website and search the store you want to buy from online. Then click on that store. You are then redirected to that merchant’s website and you can shop as normal with your credit card, debit card, or gift card.

You can use coupon codes and the site functions exactly as if you had not come through the cashback website. After you complete your order, you will get cashback.

My Favorite Cash Back Websites

My two favorite cashback websites to use are Rakuten.com and Ibotta.com.

Rakuten (aka Ebates)
Rakuten.com is best for general online shopping. Every quarter they will send you a check or you can get paid through PayPal. When you sign up right now and purchase something through eBates you will get $20.

I have gotten over $1,200 in cashback since becoming a member. Of course, you can earn a lot more depending on the stores you like to shop at and how much you spend. 

Ibotta
Ibotta.com can be used for online purchases, but it is the best for in-store purchases as well. You get paid via PayPal, Venmo, or you can buy a gift card with your earnings. If you sign up right now, you will get a $10 welcome bonus after your first purchase.

I normally check each site to see who is offering the best cashback for the particular merchant I’m looking to buy from. Keep in mind each website is a little different and one might be better than the other depending on where you’re shopping. I then choose whichever site is offering the highest cash back at the time.

16. Buy Discounted Gift Cards Online

This is a simple way to buy Valentine’s Day gifts on a budget. There are so many websites you can use to get discounted gift cards. Some of the websites I like to use to buy discounted gift cards are:

• Raise.com (save $5 off of your first purchase with my referral link)
• Giftcardgranny.com

How it works is people sell their unwanted gift cards to the marketplace (you can sell your unwanted gift cards too). Then you buy their gift card at a discount for some of your favorite brands.

You can buy an electronic gift card that is almost instantly emailed to you, and then print it out, or you can purchase a physical gift card that is mailed to you—shipping is free.

I’ve been able to save up to 30% on some of my favorite brands.

The one downside is some of the physical gift cards do not have round values. For example, they will have a gift card with a value of $55.33—which makes it awkward to give as a gift. What I do when that’s the case, is buy the gift card and use it to buy an actual gift at that merchant’s store or on their website.

So for example, if I see a Victoria’s Secret gift card for 15% off, but the value is not a round number (like $55.33), I would buy the gift card for myself and then go to Victoria’s Secret to buy my gift.

This way I save 15% on the gift I purchased! DOUBLE savings if you use your gift card online and one of the websites above is offering cashback!

17. Consider Buying A Potted Plant Over Flowers

Consider giving your loved one a potted plant over flowers. They tend to be less expensive than cut flowers and last much longer. Some stores even offer flowering plants which makes them perfect for loved ones that also love flowers.

Summary

Now you know how to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to show your significant other your love or feelings. Try one (or a few) of these Valentine’s Day ideas at home. And with these Valentine’s day gift ideas making the day memorable can be free or cost next to nothing.

Related Articles:

• 10 Simple Ways To Save Money This Easter
• 10 Budget Friendly Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
• How To Recover From Holiday Overspending

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About Dafina

Dafina went from being in the ICU to becoming a successful attorney and entrepreneur. Read her inspiring story of how she was able to turn her six-figure debt into six-figure income HERE. Feel free to send Dafina a message HERE.