14 Feb How To Have A Special Valentine’s Day For Less

Valentine’s Day. As with most holidays, they have strange origins. It is written that St. Valentine lived during the time of Emporer Claudius II. This guy goes and BANS MARRIAGE. I know, what a dick move. Why does he do it? Because he thought married men were bad soldiers. So this guy named Valentine, who was a priest, thought that wasn’t very fair and started marrying people in secret. Well, he eventually gets discovered, sent to jail, falls in love with the jailer’s daughter and on the day of his death sentence (yes, it was February 14th), he writes a love letter to the jailer’s daughter and signs it…from your Valentine.

How far we’ve fallen. A lot of you dudes look like complete idiots right now with your heart emoji texts and recycled memes being the primary form of “written” affection you show on this “day of love”. Do better.

Anywho, here’s some stats about this Hallmark Holiday:

• $161 – the average amount couples plan to spend
• 25% – how much more the average hotel room costs
• 13% – how much more people are planning to spend in 2019 vs 2018
• $3.9 billion – how much will be spent on jewelry
• $100 – average amount spent on dinner
• 200% – how much more men will spend than women
• 53% – the number of women who would break up with their boyfriend if they got nothing

So yeah! It’s crazy how this holiday has been around since the Medieval times and has still found a strong foothold in our capitalistic society! Now fewer people are catching on and not celebrating the holiday to save money, but I say that there’s a fine middle ground where you can have a great Valentine’s Day and spend significantly less than the average person! But beware…we may have to put some effort into this and be a little creative!

Gift Ideas

• Instead of jewelry, give an experience like a spa treatment ($45-$75 average)
• Buy a single rose and add a handwritten note, women prefer it to a dozen with no letter
• Create a picture book online at websites like Shutterfly.com
• Use your imagination and do something special to your relationship

Dinner Alternatives

• Stay at home and cook a meal
• Go to your local grocery store, get some crackers and slice up cheeses and meats
• Just don’t do a fancy dinner (it’s not a requirement) and just do a nice dessert

Things That Are Free And Priceless

• Telling each other why you love each other
• Cleaning their house/car
• Leaving love notes
• Doing something your significant other wants to do that you usually don’t like
• Create a “mixtape” or playlist of songs you both like
• Get dressed up for your significant other
• Go on a walk together
• Stare into each other’s eyes for a minute without talking (it’s weird, we don’t do it often)

If you’re single, be grateful that you are going to be a lot richer than everyone else on February 15th. Know that your time will come so better to start saving for those gifts now. And I’d argue one of the best gifts you could ever give your special someone is the gift of having your finances together. But if that’s not plucking your heart strings enough, anything on the above list should do just fine.