Send your Valentine's Day card for under $1

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- If you're headed to the greeting card aisle this week, prepare to spend an average of $4 for a card, unless you finish reading this article.

A Valentine's Day card is an easy way to say I love you, and it's easy to spend up to $8 by doing so.

"When they are $3, $4, $5 in general, people just throw them away," shopper Amy Taylor said. "You feel like you are throwing your money away as well."

One of the biggest tips to make sure you aren't kissing your money goodbye is to get your card early. If you wait until the day of or day before, the selection is typically picked over. The only ones left might be the $8 cards!

Make sure to flip over the card before you purchase it! We found a wide price range at Walmart - $0.47 to $8!

Head to the Dollar Tree, where the price range is only $0.50. All of their cards are either $0.50 or $1 for the fancier ones. For $1, the quality is similar to one purchased for much more. They feature accents and embellishments, high quality card stock, and bigger sizes.

"I get all my cards here, I think is a fantastic deal, the wording is nice and for every occasion you get them for the right price," said Dollar Tree shopper Darla Watkings.

If you'd rather not spend any money at all on a card that will likely get tossed, go digital.

Sites like SmileBox and Punchbowl have easy e-greeting cards that can be sent for free. You must sign up with an email address, but it only takes a moment. At SmileBox, you can even create custom videos using your photos and adding

captions to tell your Valentine a story.

There is also an app called justWink that will let you send your Valentine something right away. The receiver gets in within a few minutes, and it is free. The app is available on Apple, Google Play, Nook, and Kindle.

If you like the idea of creating a custom photo card, but would still like to send it via snail mail instead of online, check out the free Red Stamp app and website. They give you the option to do both with the same card! Perhaps you can send the grandparents a digital card and send your sweetie the real thing.