10 great discounts and freebies for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a test. It's not a day for celebrating the joy in your relationship and enjoying one another's company: it's about measuring how much someone loves you by assessing the lavishness of their gift. It's just what everyone needs after the expense of Christmas.

The good news is that deal hunters are on the case. They have tracked down fantastic deals - so you can give your loved one a bargain (or a freebie) that won't land you in the doghouse for the rest of the year.
The users of HotUKDeals publish their discoveries on the site, and then rate one another's finds, so we can use the ratings to identify the best options for the day.

1. Valentine's Meal for Two
It may be worth dodging the over-priced fixed menus and crowds on Valentine's Day, and picking up a dine-in option. Most of the supermarkets offer a special Valentine's Day meal, but M&S has been the best rated of all of them over the past couple of years - two years ago it was actually rated the second best Valentine's Day deal overall. There's a good chance a starter, main meal, side dish, bottle of wine and chocolates will cost you £20 for two - so it's a fraction of the price of dining out.
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2. Bargain card
If your other half has a really great sense of humour, you can get hold of Asda Smart Price cards for 7p printed with the message 'ASDA, Be Smart, Be My Valentine'. It is currently voted the hottest deal on the site - although there are plenty of users who have highlighted that they gave this card as a joke last year - and it didn't go down fantastically well.

3. Free card?
If 7p sounds a bit pricey, and you are on the O2 network, then it's worth keeping your eye on the Priority app, because for the last two years it has run a deal for a free Valentine's card from WH Smith in the run up to the big day.

4. Cheap roses
Flowers made the top ten for the past two years. Last year the hottest deal was from Lidl - which had a dozen red roses for £3. A year earlier Tesco took the title with a bunch of roses for £2.50 - on offer from early in the morning on 14th.

At the moment, the second hottest Valentine's deal is from Morrisons, which from 11th February will be offering 18 luxury red roses for £10 or 12 red roses for £5. You could even order them with your online grocery delivery to save you the effort of going to the shop.

5. Delivered
Another deal in the top five is a £9.99 bouquet of red and white roses delivered from Home Bargains. The users point out that it doesn't say Home Bargains on the box!

6. Perfume bargains
Unsurprisingly perfume deals have made the top ten for the last two years. At the moment the hottest perfume deal on the site is 40% off fragrance from Feel Unique - including the Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Rosé Eau de Parfum which also comes with a free tote bag.

7. Chocolate freebie
It hasn't made the top ten for Valentine's Day, but users of O2 Priority can get a free slab of chocolate from Hotel Chocolat. It's not exactly enormous, and it comes in a box marked with the fact it's a freebie, but unwrap it, and make it part of a romantic meal, and you should get away with it.

8. Cut price lingerie
It hasn't made the top ten yet, because it was only launched yesterday, but Aldi is offering a range of lingerie. Prices start at £3.99 for a two-pack of briefs, or £3.99 for a satin bra. There's also a satin kimono wrap for £9.99. Aldi said in a statement yesterday: "Our range will be the perfect gift this Valentine's Day, and, available at a tiny fraction of the typical cost, we expect the items to fly off the shelves."

9. Cheap candles
At the moment Poundland is selling official Yankee candle holders with 'Love Love Love' printed on them. They are marked as official merchandise, and Yankee has confirmed they are old stock. For £1 you can't really knock it.

10. Discounted gift cards
It might not seem very personal, but you can always buy a discount gift card and then buy a present with it. Until Valentine's Day Tesco is offering 20% off a number of gift cards and digital gift cards - including H&M £20 cards, Pizza Express £20 cards and iTunes £25 cards. If you buy and then spend the card, you'll get yourself 20% off. Plus, of course, you'll rack up Clubcard points.

But what do you think? Will you be blowing the budget for Valentine's Day, hunting down a bargain, or opting for the biggest saving of all - by giving the day a miss? Let us know in the comments.