Hacking Valentine’s Day for Big Savings
To save money you must focus on saving money. At some point it becomes a part of your lifestyle just like anything else. Travel hacking is one part of that of course, but there are many opportunities to save outside of the travel realm.
A couple of weeks ago Valentine’s Day and President’s Day fell on the same weekend. This was unfortunate for one simple reason. My wife and I had a friend from out of town visiting and we weren’t able to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the actual holiday, but instead planned a night out for this past Wednesday.
Opportunity Is Everywhere
Since we weren’t actually going to be celebrating on Valentine’s Day, I planned things a little differently. On the Monday morning following the holiday I woke up and proudly went into my local CVS where everything Valentine’s Day related was 50% off. I picked up some nice chocolates, a dancing bear and some other cool little things. I paid using a CVS gift card that I had purchased for 20% off!
By the time Wednesday rolled around I wasn’t done saving. My local supermarket had an abundance of left over flowers and I was able to get a bouquet of very fresh roses for 75% off. I then picked out a nice bottle of champagne and used a store coupon that gave a discount for purchasing champagne and flowers in the same transaction.
Travel Hacking Too!
Travel hacking also played a part in it. Since we had a babysitter for the entire afternoon and evening, we decided to head to the Strip and enjoy ourselves. Rooms on the holiday weekend were very expensive, but on this Wednesday night they were cheap. Ultimately I decided to get us a room at the MGM Grand so we could spend the day out and then change for dinner. We didn’t plan to stay the night, but I am always looking for Hyatt stay credit so it didn’t matter.
In the end I booked at $50 base room (+ $30 resort fee) with an offer that gave a $35 resort credit towards dinner. After telling the front desk agent we were celebrating Valentine’s Day, we were upgraded to a huge suite. That wouldn’t have happened over the holiday weekend! Of course I also earned both Hyatt and Southwest points for the stay along with Mlife tier credits.
Be Conscious of Opportunity
So what is the point of this story? Am I advocating not celebrating Valentine’s Day on the actual day? Absolutely not! As someone who has been married for 15 years I can say it that would be a terrible idea. With that said, circumstances lead us to celebrate a few days later and while I could have bought everything ahead of time, I didn’t need to. I saw an opportunity to save with minimal effort and I took it.
Whether it is applying ninja tricks to an everyday purchase or thinking ahead to purchase Valentine’s Day stuff on clearance, saving money is fun and prudent. I have learned as I get older that taking the easy wins is important, because time is a huge factor. In this story I didn’t spend any more time then I would have otherwise, but I saved a lot of money. I didn’t sacrifice the quality or experience and paid less than half than I would have otherwise.
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Another good idea: Buy non-perishable clearance Valentine Day’s gifts this year for next? 😀
Shawn. Looks like you got the Champagne Room. Hope you used it as intended bro!
Happy wife = happy life
That’s the only equation we need! I definitely agree that the actual day doesn’t matter. When you’re together/married 10+ years and have children all that matters is staying connected in the midst of busy lives and being flexible with the when/where kind of stuff.
Easy wins is definitely where it’s at too. Especially when it comes to valentines day or birthday or holidays I don’t necessarily use the MS/deal hacking angle (but I definitely look for opportunities if it fits). Simply put, I don’t force it.
Wife’s birthday was earlier this month and I picked up some American Eagle gift cards that were obtained at 35%+ off. She’d been wanting to go there for a while (don’t have time either) so we turned it into a trip into town while I played the role of the good husband and let her try on clothing. When she found pants that I knew they sold online I didn’t push her for the cash back angle and have it delivered to home. As a fellow deal hacker I’m sure that’s something that crosses your mind too!
Totally man. Emotional connection is key dude. When youre married, its no longer single player mode.