With Valentine's Day a few weeks away, shops up and down the country are gearing up for the most romantic day of the year with ranges celebrating love.
While it may seem like we've just got Christmas out of the way, and with the cost of living crisis hampering many plans, some couples might be thinking about trying to stick to a budget this year.
Luckily, many retailers are stocking budget-friendly Valentine's Day ranges filled with little gifts and novelty items you can pick up for less. One such store is Home Bargains which very rarely disappoints when it comes to its seasonal ranges.
Naturally, with the day of romance looming and my bank balance beginning to look a little tighter, I decided to find out if I could grab a few decent gifts from the discount retailer while sticking to a tight budget.
Shopping at Home Bargains this Valentine's Day
So, heading into my local store with just £10 to hand, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the amount that was on offer.
Walking into Home Bargains, the Valentine's Day range was easy to spot near the back aisles of the beginning of the store. Not to mention that the whole pink and red colour scheme gave it away almost instantly.
First things first, while I couldn't pick up everything, there was definitely something for everyone this year, whether it be novelty gifts, candles or chocolates. There were even matching pyjamas! Not to mention the plastic roses that were almost all sold out by the time I got there.
Decor
Within just a few minutes, I spotted one item that I knew I just had to pop into my basket - an adorable set of love heart shaped tea lights that would make any home look adorable. While they were, sadly, unscented, they were still only 99p, which is a winner in my books.
Gifts
Not far from the tea lights, I spotted the most adorable red love heart shaped "I love you" plush for just £3.99 that I think would make a cute gift to the other half. Also, is it really Valentine's Day if you don't get some sort of teddy? No, it really isn't.
Just less than £5 spent and I had already managed to find some adorable gifts that could work as part of a gift this February 14.
The next item that really grabbed my attention was an affordable Valentine's Day love heart bath bomb for just 99p.
I love a bath bomb and this novelty item is perfect for gifting to your partner, or for if you just want to treat yourself to a solo pamper session.
Okay, so £5.97 in and I have got love-heart shaped tea lights, a novelty plush and an adorable bath bomb, what I needed next was maybe some chocolates or sweets.
Sweets and chocolate
Let's face it, no Valentine's Day is complete without some form of romantic inspired sweet that you can gift - or eat all by yourself, absolutely no one is judging here.
Luckily, I was absolutely spoiled for choice when it came to this option, as Home Bargains had everything you could think of. From love-heart shaped gummy sweets and chocolates to red velvet cupcakes and DIY love-heart cookies, they had it all.
No February 14 is right without chocolate, which is exactly why I grabbed an adorable bag of mini love-heart shaped chocolates which cost me the grand total of, yup you guessed it, 99p again.
Also, because you can never get enough chocolate on Valentine's Day, I also spotted the cutest Sharing Heart Milk Chocolate Bombs that were filled with marshmallows for just £1.99. Quite frankly, if you like to share things with your significant other, then this is the ideal novelty gift that might suit a lot of couples who want to unwind at the end of the day.
Cards
With £1.05 left in my budget, the last thing that I really needed to pick up was a romantic card and Valentine's Day cards are usually just too sweet to pass up.
There was a huge variety ranging from tongue-in-cheek to simple and sweet. In the end, I opted for a simple, yet cute, red Happy Valentine's Day card that featured an adorable panda with love-heart balloons for just 99p.
You can never go wrong with a simple yet effective card - I'm not really here for the over-the-top ones.
My verdict
I had a grand total of just 6p left. As there was nothing for that price, I ended it there, which I'm not complaining about. At the end of the day, I managed to grab five adorable, yet simple, gifts alongside a cute card that all came to the total of just £9.54 - meaning I managed to stay under the £10 budget I set myself.
If you are looking to celebrate Valentine's Day and look for a gift while sticking to a budget, then I would absolutely recommend popping into your local Home Bargains to see what they have on offer. There are a range of items and decorations that I think would suit everyone's tastes and personalities, so no-one will be left disappointed this February 14.
You can head to your local Home Bargains for its range of Valentine's Day gifts now. Stock may vary in each store.
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