9 Affordable Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas From Costco

You can’t buy love, but you sure can buy merchandise that alludes to it. The National Retail Federation estimates that America spent nearly $26 billion on Valentine’s Day last year, with the average romantic donating $192.80 to Cupid’s cause on Feb. 14.

The most common gifts are candy, greeting cards, flowers and jewelry — and Costco has all that and more. If you have a Costco membership, here are a few affordable ways to put it to good use during what has become a very expensive holiday.

• Price: $17.99

If your squeeze has a sweet tooth, it will be hard to go wrong with 15.2 ounces of individually wrapped heart-shaped chocolates from a brand that is synonymous with creamy confections. You can also slip them into individual valentines if you’re spreading love to a group.

Flavors include milk chocolate, crème brûlée, sea salt caramel dark chocolate and caramel milk chocolate.

• Price: $37.99

No one should have to choose between chocolate and charcuterie on Valentine’s Day, and this Feb. 14, you can have both thanks to this gift set from Hickory Farms.

It comes with a heart-shaped bamboo cutting board and a three-pepper dry salami to pair with a smooth and sharp cheddar cheese blend and cranberry pistachio crisps. On the sweet side are four mini chocolate hearts and Torn Ranch dark chocolate rum pecan English toffee.

• Price: $39.99

This treat comes with plenty of chocolate, but it’s not the Halloween kind of boo the name refers to.

The Valentine’s Day-themed box includes six chocolate pretzels — two sprinkled, two drizzled and two covered with nonpareils. There are also milk chocolate sandwich cookies, brownies, cookie and caramel bites, candy cherry bites and a milk chocolate heart-shaped crispy cookie.

• Price: $49.99

Godiva was already one of the most famous names in decadence before it unveiled the Valentine’s Day Gift Tower, which includes Godiva Masterpieces milk chocolate hazelnut oysters, crème brûlée truffles, milk chocolate hazelnut oysters, dark and milk chocolate mini pretzels and cheesecake truffles.

The Valentine’s-themed packaging consists of a box tower — stacked five red-and-white packages high — with a red satin ribbon emblazoned with the famous gold Godiva logo.

• Price: $49.99

This gift set blends cute and cuddly with chocolatey and delicious. It includes vanilla fudge with sea salt, caramel popcorn, chocolate brownies, strawberry cream milk chocolate, palmier pastry, caramel milk chocolate, flavored jellies and a plush bear who’s literally holding his heart in his hands.

• Price: $54.99

If your valentine is more meat than sweet, go for the Savory Snacks Gift Box from Hickory Farms.

It comes with three signature beef summer sausages — nearly two pounds in total — along with smoked gouda, farmhouse cheddar, jalapeno cheddar, mission jack blend, harvest cheddar blend and golden toasted crackers, all packaged in a Valentine’s-themed box.

• Price: $55.99

Roses are the standard Valentine’s bouquet, but the Love You More arrangement expands on the ordinary with carnations, stargazer lilies, spray roses and other on-theme flowers along with the customary red roses — although specific selections are subject to change.

It comes with a red vase, gift messaging is available at checkout, and you can get it delivered as soon as the next business day — perfect for procrastinators.

• Price: $59.99

While a dozen roses are technically edible, the experience isn’t nearly as pleasant as eating 12 strawberries encased in fine European chocolate — but don’t worry, Costco has you covered.

This gourmet gift from Chocolate Covered Company features four berries dipped in Belgian dark chocolate topped with the word “LOVE” spelled out in Belgian white chocolate. There are also eight berries dipped in Belgian milk chocolate and decked out with red-tinted Belgian white chocolate.

• Price: $129.99

Flowers die in a few days, but you can celebrate enduring love with enduring roses. Packed in a trendy hat box and available in a variety of colors, all 16 blooms feel soft and silky to the touch, just like fresh-cut roses, but they’re preserved to last up to a year with a little TLC. That will keep your love fresh in the mind of your recipient all the way up until next Valentine’s Day.

While forever roses are the most expensive item on the list and the only one to reach triple digits, they’re still more than $60 under the average Valentine’s Day spend — and if they last the full year, they’ll only run you about $0.36 per day.