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Love it or loathe it, it's Valentine's Day - a decent excuse to show you 19 MoneySaving ways to take advantage of being in a couple

BIG marriage tax breaks | 2for1 cinema | 'Free' mobile, travel & breakdown cover for 1.5 years | 5% spending cashback for 6mths

Valentine's Day tomorrow is a celebration of love... on paper at least. The reality is most of you - like us - are jaded, feeling it's less a romantic celebration, more a corporate construct. In fact, in Martin's Twitter poll last week, an overwhelming 82% said that. Even so, being blunt, we're happy to use it as an excuse to talk about the ways you can use being in a couple to your financial advantage...

1. Are you one of 200,000 parents losing out for not claiming Child Benefit in the right partner's name? Child Benefit is for parents of children under 16 (or 20 in full-time education). It's worth up to £24/wk - and even if you're earning too much to get financial help, the parent named on the form gets state-pension boosting national insurance (NI) credits.

So make sure the lower-earning member of the couple is the one to apply - if they're earning under £123/wk, they'll get an NI credit they wouldn't have otherwise. If you're already claiming in the higher earner's name, you could be one of 200,000 parents HM Revenue & Customs says is losing out. All you need to do is fill in a form to transfer the credits over to the lower earner.

2. Earn 1% cashback on JOINT bills PLUS each get 7% savers. If you live together, most bills are joint, so joint bills accounts are common even for those who keep the rest of their money separate.

The £3/mth Santander Edge* account is great for that as if you open it jointly, you get 1% cashback on shared bills AND you can BOTH open separate Santander Edge saver accounts paying 7% on balances up to £4,000. The cashback is paid in two categories, with £20 max paid out each month:

- 1% on bills: water, council tax, energy, broadband, phones, paid-for TV up to a max £10/mth.
- 1% on some spending: supermarket, fuel, and train and bus travel spending, up to a max £10/mth.

For households with average bills, we'd expect the gain to be around £80/yr to £100/yr. For those with bigger bills, the Edge Up account is worth a look - it costs £5/mth, but you get a max £30/mth cashback. To qualify, you need to have £500/mth paid into the Edge account or £1,500/mth into the Edge Up, and a minimum of two direct debits.

3. Get a YEAR'S 2for1 cinema together for £1. A quid may not get you much these days, but with our trick it does unlock a year's access to Meerkat Movies' 2for1 cinema tickets. This'll allow you to watch a film together at most big cinemas on Tue & Wed, but only pay for one ticket.

4. Combine spending power to get 5% cashback for SIX months. Cashback credit cards pay you for spending, and the big payer is the Amex Platinum Everyday* (best to check eligibility chances first), which gives 5% cashback for the first three months (up to a max of £100) and up to 1% after. But couples can get six months at 5%. Here's how:

You apply and make your partner your second cardholder, so you get the 5% cashback for the first three months on what you both spend. Then, just before your 5% ends, your partner applies, making you a second cardholder, and gets a further three months at 5% (though you must spend £3k+/yr per card to get ANY cashback).

However, DON'T use cashback as an excuse to spend more than you normally would, and ensure you set up a direct debit to repay IN FULL each month to avoid the 31% rep APR interest, which would wipe the gain. Full help and other reward cards are in Credit card rewards.

Tying the knot:  The BIG tax advantages of getting married (or civil partnered)

5. Married or civil partnered? Check if you qualify for a tax break worth up to £1,256. More than two million eligible couples miss out on this easy way to save on their tax bill. The marriage tax allowance allows a non-taxpaying spouse to shift 10% of their annual tax-free allowance to their basic-rate (20%) taxpaying partner. It's worth £252 this year, plus you can claim back up to four tax years, as long as you were eligible during that time - backdating can net you a total of £1,256. 6. Anything left to a spouse or civil partner is EXEMPT from inheritance tax. Whether it's worth 1p or £1 million, inheritance tax won't be charged on anything you leave to your spouse or civil partner. Crucially, that's NOT the case for cohabiting couples, so tax might be due on assets you leave to your partner, depending on their total value. It's one of the BIG financial advantages to marriage, as icingsugar27 tweeted: "I've been with my partner for 34 years and we've lived together all that time. Now we're having to think about getting married, as if he died I'd face inheritance tax". For more on when a tax bill's likely, watch Martin's inheritance tax mythbuster video. 7. Shift savings to your partner to maximise your tax-free allowance. Basic-rate (20%) taxpayers can earn £1,000 in savings interest each year before paying income tax, while higher-rate (40%) taxpayers can earn £500. If you've already used your allowance but your spouse/civil partner hasn't, give them some of your savings to ensure you both max out your annual personal savings allowance. The money will legally become theirs though, so it's not a decision to be taken lightly.

8. If marriage has a nice ring to it, buy your wedding bling with boosted Clubcard vouchers. Since £5 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers is worth £10 in Goldsmiths stores, you could halve the cost of engagement or wedding rings.

9. Unmarried and living together? Get a will, a contract, a civil partnership or tie the knot - your relationship means nowt in law. It doesn't matter if you've lived together for six centuries and have more children than a primary school, if you're not married/civil partners, your relationship has little status under the law. So if one partner dies, the other mightn't get the house, even if they've lived in it years.

That's why a will is oft crucial here - see cohabiting & no will rules. It's also worth considering a cohabitation agreement, which spells out what happens if your relationship breaks down.

10. Check your will is up to date, especially if you've since got married. An out-of-date will is almost as bad as no will. It's important to note that in Eng, Wal and NI, wills are often revoked when you get married, so you'll need a new one. See Cheap and free wills.

11. Want to leave your pension to your partner when you die? TELL YOUR PROVIDER - or it'll decide for you. Pension savings aren't covered by a will, so fail to fill in an 'expression of wishes' form and your provider decides who your pension goes to if you die - which may not be in line with your wishes. It's also crucial to update your form if your circumstances change, eg, if you've remarried, to make sure the right person/people are in line to inherit your pension.

12. 'Free' travel, breakdown and mobile insurance for almost a year and a half. For many couples, especially those with families, a packaged bank account may be a good option. You pay a monthly fee, but get insurances included, so if you'd be paying for these separately it can save you £100s. They can work well as joint accounts, as perks are often for the account holder(s), so you double the benefit without doubling fees. Here are two to consider:

- Get a FREE £175 to switch to a Club Lloyds Silver* account. There's a £10/mth fee, but use the switching bonus to cover the fee and the account's effectively 'free' for 17mths. You get mobile insurance for both account holders, UK family breakdown cover and European family travel insurance. You need to pay in a min. £2,000/mth or the there's a £3/mth fee.

- For more comprehensive travel and breakdown cover, there's Co-op Bank's Everyday Extra. It's £15/mth (£180/yr), but you get worldwide family travel cover, plus mobile insurance and UK & European breakdown for account holders. A couple needing it all could pay up to £400/yr separately.

Full eligibility info and more options in Packaged bank accounts.

13. Saving to buy a house together? Get TWO 25% boosts of up to £1,000/year. With a Lifetime ISA, the state adds 25% on top of what you save, which can mean a free £1,000/yr. You can't open one jointly, but you CAN both open individual LISAs to double the bonus, though you'll need to use them to buy a first home costing up to £450,000. Related: While you can't open a new Help to Buy ISA, you can keep paying up to £200/mth into an existing one until Nov 2029, before claiming the 25% government bonus.

14. Shift your partner's debt to your 0% card (not a decision to take lightly). A few major lenders allow you to transfer a balance from your partner's debt on to your 0% card - useful if one of you has a better credit history, so is more likely to be accepted.

One top newbies deal that allows it is Barclaycard 29mth 0% (3.45% fee). See a full list of lenders that allow partner balance transfers.

Warning: If you do this, your partner's debt legally becomes yours - making it YOUR responsibility to pay off. Never feel forced into doing this - see below for more on financial abuse...

15. Couples who share car insurance often get cheaper cover. While this trick works best for young drivers and their parents (we cover this and other young driver car insurance tricks below), adding your partner to your policy can also slash costs if they're seen as lower risk by your insurer. See Cheap car insurance.

16. Get 1/3 off train fares when Two (travel) Together, plus an EXTRA £10 off. The Two Together Railcard gives the two named on the card 1/3 off fares if travelling together (after 9.30am on weekdays) - a great saving in itself. Plus buy one via Trip.com, and we've a code to get 34% off railcards - so it'll be £19.80, not £30.

17. £57/year breakdown cover for you and your other half. Newbies who get long-time MSE top pick AutoAid's* full service policy (comes with home start and onward travel) can get it for £57.28/yr via our link if the car's under 16 years old. It covers you and your spouse/partner, so long as you both live at the same address. Similar cover from the big breakdown companies can be up to £300/couple. See full info in Cheap breakdown cover.

18. Both pay full price for Spotify and Amazon Prime? STOP. Amazon Prime lets one member share their benefits for free via Amazon Household. With Spotify, instead of paying £10.99/mth each, you can get the same service for the equivalent of £7.50/mth each with Spotify Premium Duo.

19. What's mine is yours? It can be better NOT to share credit histories. No matter how deep your relationship, always be mindful when applying for a joint mortgage, loan, bank account and some utility bills, as this creates a financial link between you. If one of you has a poor credit history, this can impact the other's ability to access credit - so consider keeping finances separate. See our Credit score tips.