Today is February 16th, which means it is two days after Valentine’s Day. On the surface, it would appear foolish to purchase Valentine’s Day cards today. After all, with the day having come and gone, who exactly are you going to give the Valentine’s Day cards?

Well, the answer is your child’s class . . . next year.

At the moment, the cards at different stores will be deeply discounted. Likely, you will see them for at least 50% off. If you are lucky, you will find a better deal.

The initial reaction may be cards only cost $4.00 for a group of 16, and as such, you can get cards for your kids class for under $10.00. If you have two kids, it is still less than $20.00.  For some people, spending $20 on cards for Valentine’s Day is not that big a deal. That is all well and good, but the same people who treat $20.00 like a rounding error also don’t like to just throw money away.

Fact is you can get cards for not just this year, but you can also get them for the next year or two or three right now. Considering your children are in elementary school for six years, that’s over $120 for Valentine’s Day cards. If you child is in pre-school or daycare, that amount increases by an additional $60. When you look at it in terms of nearly $200.00, you quickly realize how much money you waste on those little cards other people just throw away days after receiving – if not sooner.

As for the cards themselves, in the day and age of peanut free schools, those cards are increasingly including things like pencils, stickers, and temporary tattoos. With that in mind, you don’t have to worry about the contents of the cards expiring. Really, you just have to be mindful of the cards you are purchasing.

On that front, certain things don’t go out of style. Superheros and Disney princesses are always in vogue. As for your child, you know where their interests lie, and you can purchase the cards accordingly. You can also purchase a variety of cards so as to not look cheap year-in and year-out.

Really, if you are interested in saving a buck so you don’t have to spend it later, you should go out today and purchase Valentine’s Day cards for your child’s class today.  At a minimum, not only will you save a few bucks, but you will also have the benefit of not having the hassle of having to go get them next year.