Dollar store deals for Valentine's Day

In case you've missed all of the advertising hype of the last couple of weeks, Valentine's Day is upon us once again and, if like many of us, you can't afford to splurge on diamonds or dinner at an elegant restaurant, you can still show your sweetie how much you care by taking advantage of great buys at your local dollar store.

Dollar Tree helps you celebrate Valentine's Day in grand style without spending a fortune. I love the 18" helium-filled mylar balloons for only $1 each. You could present your sweetie with a bouquet of these for three or four bucks and, if you choose, anchor the balloons to a Valentine balloon weight for another dollar. What a neat idea. For the kids, boxed character sets of 32 valentines are ready for giving to friends and classmates. Choose from Hello Kitty, Disney and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to name a few.

Dollar General also has an assortment of Valentine cards for kids. Again, a box of 32 is only $1. They also have plush animals like Bear in a Bag and a 6" Valentine plush in assorted styles for a buck each. Dollar General is also selling single stem live roses, but there is no price listed in the flyer. I imagine the price varies according to availability in each area. Guys, even a single rose from the fellow she loves, is going to make your girlfriend/wife very happy - trust me. It's an extremely romantic gesture.

I checked the prices of kids' Valentine's at my local Wal-mart-Mart and packages of 32-34 Valentines were selling for $3.77 and the balloon weights/centerpieces were $2.86 each. If you can get 'em for less, why not?