Saving Money on Valentine's Day Flowers
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
Valentine’s Day is just one week away, and with it (for those of us who celebrate) come some tough decisions. If you’re buying flowers, I wrote up some useful tips in Saving Money On Flowers, and here are some Valentine’s-specific tips:
Your best bet is probably a local florist
In past years, I would often order online, but have found that local florists’ arrangements are typically fresher, less likely to be damaged in transit and often no more expensive. With a local florist, you avoid many layers of promotional and logistics costs found with the massive online florists.
In addition, the online florists often tack on particularly onerous surcharges for Valentine’s Day. After years of ordering from 1-800-Flowers, Teleflora, and ProFlowers, I’ve decided to go local this year and the cost is roughly the same as I’ve spent on Teleflora in the past. If you pick up the flowers yourself (as opposed to having them delivered), you’ll save even more.
If you’re buying online
Make sure to use cashback (for at least 10%, and often 20% back—a rarity in the cashback world!) and consider using discounted gift cards as well. For example, Raise currently has 1-800-Flowers gift cards for 15% off. Combine cashback and gift cards for extra savings.
In addition, if the florist charges extra for Valentine’s Day delivery, consider having the flowers arrive earlier if it results in a lower shipping charge. I often do this regardless, as I think it’s nice to have the flowers for a couple of days before, and also prevents disaster if there is an unexpected delay.
Finally, make sure to comparison shop. The online services can often have vastly different pricing.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
And now…Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
Listening to Kenny G is an incredible documentary about one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. You definitely don’t need to enjoy his music (I certainly don’t) to enjoy this documentary.
Why have there been eight Spider-Man movies in the past 20 years? Planet Money explains why.
And finally, inflation is everywhere, especially in Chanel bags. From the article:
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.