Ask the Readers: Will you spend $130 on Valentine’s Day this year? or Stop laughing and tell us your plans for Valentine’s Day
Published on - February 8th, 2013 (by Ellen Cannon) This short post is from personal finance writer Gwendolyn Pearce, who last wrote about no-money fun.
According to the National Retail Federation, the average person is planning to spend $130.97 this Valentine’s Day. If you’re a male in love, that number jumps to $175.61. Females, however, are only projected to spend $88.78. The NRF’s report forecasts that consumers are playing down Valentine’s Day this year by only spending $18.6 billion. (It made me curious what Valentine’s Day spending looked like since the recession. If you’re curious as well, check out this infographic.)
Really? I haven’t spent $130 on Valentine’s Day in 15 years combined! And no, I’m not one for hating on Valentine’s Day. Yes, it’s overtly commercial and sends the message that it’s definitely not the thought that counts, but I enjoy the reminder to check in with my spouse, and we strive to make each other feel appreciated and adored. No gifts, no reservations – just quality time over a dinner at home.
But apparently, we are in the minority, though, I suspect not here at GRS.
The report continues to show that the amorous holiday isn’t just for couples. Over 60 percent of shoppers plan to buy for family members, 25 percent shop for friends, 13 percent show their appreciation for co-workers, and last but not least, 20 percent plan to do something special for their furry friends.
So, how, if at all, do you plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year? What is the best low- or no-cost Valentine’s Day gift you’ve given or received?
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5.99 for three roses at trader Joes (or is it 2.99) and a bar of trader joes dark chocolate. Gets me through valentines day for under 10$ every year
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We do the same. Have a $10 or so budget. Wifey loves the flowers from TJs and Dark Chocolate is spot on.
We also try and do something outside (run/hike/walk) to be together and then eat or go out on another night of the week (Vday can be pretty crowded around here).
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One year I happened to be in Trader Joes the day after Valentines Day. One of the staff was walking around with bouquets of roses and offered me one for free. I saw him do the same to all the other women near me. I guess they had to get rid of all the excess flowers but now I try to remember to schedule my TJs shopping on that day!
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Dark Chocolate AND Flowers: The TJ Special!
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I’d be ok with just a bottle of wine and watching a movie on Netflix. I don’t need any materialistic stuff.
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We don’t really do gifts for each other. We try to go out for dinner sometime around the holiday, but due to work schedules it is not often on the 14th. My MIL does send us a package each year with some small gifts and candy for the kiddos, and usually a gift card for us, but she just really enjoys giving so pretty much every holiday, big and small, we get something from her. My husband used to give me roses for Valentines before we got married. But after getting married, and combining finances, I think I would strangle him if he paid those super inflated prices to get me roses — perspective changes when it’s “our money” rather than “his money” paying for it!
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I’m going to spend about $50 to buy the fixings for a really nice meal (incl. wine and dessert) that I’ll make at home. I’ll spend another $5 on a good chocolate for each of my children. I, um, doubt my husband will spend more than $0. (That is actually fine by me!)
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We usually stay in and have a really nice meal at home. No gifts or flowers- such a waste of money, IMO.
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We celebrate by making a really nice dinner (sometimes on the weekend after valentine’s day because of work schedules) and a dessert we’d generally not indulge in. I must admit that I am tickled when he gives me a card.
I am a huge saver and prefer a higher bank balance over a gift for Feb 14th, I’m lucky that I get to enjoy many little random things throughout the year (like an unexpected cup of tea after a rough day at work) over a showy gift now and then.
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We usually buy some good steaks and cook a nice meal at home, no fancy gifts needed!
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I usually make a nice steak frites in a red wine sauce, so I’ll spend however much steak costs this year, $7 for the wine, and $2 for the card. Except it will likely not be happening on the 14th.
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$130 definitely seems like a lot!
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Same as the posters above. Just a nice home cooked meal. Depending on prices of things, we usually do a really nice steak and/or shrimp/lobster, steamed veggies, and a decadent dessert. The fixings may cost more than our usually weekly grocery bill (haha!) but it’s worth it to eat at home and watch our shows or a movie. We don’t do gifts at all and prefer it that way.
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Chipotle burritos and a flower bouquet. Done and done.
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@Chuckie, this made me laugh because I am getting Jake a Chipotle GC for VDay. It is something of a joke between us because years ago when we were first dating, he asked me to go to lunch and said, “we could go to x, y, z or we could do Chipotle.” When I said, “Let’s do x,” he said, “I was really hoping you’d say Chipotle.” So I give him grief about it all the time
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We’ll probably spend close to that because we’re going away for the night and will do a nice dinner. And I know he’ll probably have some flowers/card/whatever. We don’t splurge a lot, but we’re both ready for a weekend away so I don’t think we’re going too crazy. This is only our 2nd Valentine’s Day together though, so I imagine that we will celebrate less and less over time.
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I’m sure the majority of that sum is dinner out… which is not that crazy really for a nice dinner for 2 w/ drinks. I am not outraged by this spending level honestly.
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“According to the National Retail Federation”
Is there any reason to believe them? No. This is great marketing. What are you, cheap? Its the skill of merchandisers at setting expectations that is the primary reason so many people are in debt.
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Yes, look closely at the wording — It says “the average person plans to spend…” If you’re spending less than $130, it sounds like you’re a cheapskate compared to the “average Joe”. Spend more, and you’re a hero?
More likely the wording should have been “Americans plan to spend an average of…” Since averages take in the people who spend $5 for a card and people who spend $1000 on jewelry, the survey really doesn’t tell us anything at all.
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$8 for cards for classmates (kids)
$8 for teacher gifts
$5 for tablecloths and food for school party
It makes me smile that people buy gifts for their pets.
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Well my lady is getting one of my favorite books, $12.99, and a case of delicious ginger beer. I have no idea what she is doing for me, but she has claimed planning Valentine’s Day.
Maybe we screw up the stats as we are both women & I won us tickets to an amazing concert earlier in the week.
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I’ll “spend” $230 on St. Valentine’s this year, none on Mr. Sam . . .
One of my favorite charities runs a campaign for Valentine’s day, you make a donation and they send a card out on your behalf. $60 went to that, but again its really charitable giving.
Then, I send my nephew, niece, god daughter and her sister cards with $40 checks, I call it a mid-winter pick me up. That’s $160.
Then I send out a few cards to a few friends and relatives who I think need a card on this day.
My husband and I do not celebrate.
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It sounds like you’ll also want to check out or evil opposite sister site, getpoorquickly.com
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Why the snark? I think it’s sweet. People should spend Valentine’s Day in a way that is meaningful to them.
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Our local NPR station often partners with a floral delivery company (maybe ProFlowers?) around Valentine’s day or Mother’s Day. The deal is usually donate $150 and we’ll send roses to someone of your choosing.
We’ve never done it, but have definitely considered it as a way to send the MIL flowers and feel like we’re supporting a cause we value.
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My husband and I had our first date on Valentines Day. It also happened to be the Chinese New Year parade – which was what we did. For the first anniversary of our first date, we decided to go for a Sunday brunch to celebrate. They raised the prices on the brunch so it was almost double, and the only difference was that they gave me a rose. That was the last time we did anything for Valentines Day. We decided to celebrate that anniversary on the Chinese calendar instead, so if we do anything it isn’t at an inflated cost.
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I’m going to spend more than usual on my wife…
- $20 on a new board game
- $20 on ingredients for a steak dinner
- $0 on a home-made card
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We’re going to spend a total of $20 on ingredients for a meal at home and perhaps a flower or two.
We may follow the poster above and get some Chipotle actually, yum!
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I plan to spend much less than that! I will make a blueberry pie from scratch, and I might pick up some steaks or something for us next week.
We went out once – ONCE – on Valentine’s Day. Never again! The wait was horrible, everyone was in a surly mood, and the restaurant upped the price by quite a bit.
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I usually make a heart shaped cake for the family as a special desert – I don’t buy anything special for that. I also put special notes in the kid’s lunch boxes that day and mail out some cards to some relatives. Cost is less than $10.
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$5 on a nice card, that’s it. We only exchange cards with heartfelt written sentiments on valentines day.
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My husband is a chef and always has to work. I’ll probably buy him some Peanut M&Ms (his favorite) and a homemade cards. I’ll make cards for our two kids and get them a small thing of candy (probably from the Dollar Tree).
We are going to make the cards for their classes and are also going to make cards for kids with cancer at the Children’s Hospital here. I’m trying to teach them about giving back to others and thought this would be a good opportunity to turn the focus away from “what am I getting.”
I budgeted $50 for all of this, but I’m expecting to spend less.
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we’re spending almost exactly $130 on Valentine’s this year. But really it’s we spent $130 on concert tickets that we’ve planned for for a while, and the concert happened to be close to valentine’s day so we’re calling it that.
Our version of celebrating is always to do what we would be doing anyway but call it a ‘valentines date’ if it happens on or near 2/14
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Historically I have spent very little but we had a lot of fun on V-day (I would cook a really good meal and find some local flowers). Now that we have reached the last stage of personal finance (thanks in large part to GRS) – I am spending about $200.00 this year on flowers for my sisters, mother and wife. I will also probably spend another $100 on the day itself for a nice meal. That some of money is now a small % of our financial world. I am actually really excited to splurge a little this year!!! “Live like no one else”.
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I bought 20 Shari’s Berries, fancy chocolate dipped strawberries for my and wife and 11 year old daughter to share. They cost around $40 bucks. A splurge but not to bad in my opinion. I usually spend about $50 for Valentines day so I guess I am under the average.
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We have no kids at home and the dog doesn’t really care if it’s Valentine’s Day as long as he gets treats now and then, so we’re having the weekday lunch special at a pretty good sushi place close to home. We’ll be getting takeout, so the bill will come to about $25.00. It’s a cheap and tasty celebration, instead of flowers or gifts.
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Our anniversary is the same week as Valentine’s Day, so we usually use a Groupon or a Christmas gift certificate to a local restaurant to celebrate. It’s inexpensive and meaningful: we try to go to the place where we had our first date.
We use the money we don’t spend on V-day on a vacation. This year, we’re off to Miami via Homeway and credit card points. Thank you Chase Sapphire Preferred!
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I’ll be taking the most frugal option of all: Don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day.
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I’ll be making my guy a fabulous dessert rather than spending heaps of dosh on stuff he doesn’t need or want. Recipe here …
http://karinscuisine.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/a-fabulous-valentines-day-treat-to-make.html
Enjoy!
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Nothing. If anything we would cook for each other
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We make a nice home cooked diner every year. Make it a little more luxurious than usual, perhaps add a bottle of wine…
We prepare it together and the time spend in the kitchen is truly quality time! We enjoy it every year and spend maybe $ 30 extra in comparison to a ‘regular’ meal at home!
Works for us!
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well i m not that idiot who spend such amount on valentine day u knw why coz m single yet
LOL
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$14 for chocolate (the artisinal stuff) for my 2 kids.
$0 for my husband. He’s been bugging me to switch sides of the bed for over a year. So that’s what he’s getting. Plus I’ll make him breakfast (I hate making breakfast and he loves it).
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I’ll be working my 12 hour shift on Valentine’s day, because radio watchstander’s work 24/7/365. Then I’ll come home to a nice home-made dinner, do some homework, and head to bed. We are living on a budget while I pay down debt, and we prefer to use our limited eating out money for less crowded times. Even when work isn’t in the way, we don’t do much for Valentine’s Day. Our anniversary and birthdays are when we’re most likely to go out and celebrate.
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I usually send a couple of heart shaped sandwiches (pink bread made with beet juice) with kids to school, and a heart shaped cake for desert. The family celebrates together usually, however our oldest is away at college, so we signed a card, and mailed her $10.00 of candy and a card. VDay is a family day here.
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Husband and I chatted about this post and realized the most he ever spent was probably $75 on our first Valentine’s Day together for dinner out (in Seattle) and flowers. This year we are going to a nice restaurant but with a big gift card from a friend. The national averages seem mind boggling to me.
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So I’m the one who has the outlier on the other end. We weren’t going to do much of anything, except a really good airfare to a place we wanted to go came along.
Three day weekend…way more than $130, and something we would do anyway.
Chocolate and churros, here I come!
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Are you headed to Spain? I would happily spend money to go back if we got a good deal. (We were there a few months ago, and it was worth every penny we spent.)
Bon voyage!
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Yes, Madrid.
Haven’t been there yet but absolutely fell in love with Barcelona last year.
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Spent about $30 on some caramels sprinkled with sea salt for my wife. A little splurge and a guilty pleasure… no biggie.
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Valentine’s tradition the past few years has been for me to take my husband out for a fancy dinner. It’s year is cheaper than other years, but it’s still a $100 meal for the two of us.
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Dinner at home and $1.00 movie from Redbox = quality time spent together
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Flowers from Costco — $8. I don’t know what they put in their plant food, but the flowers last forever!
Plan B — flowers from Trader Joe’s. Still really cheap and look really nice.
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A cute valentines day card, and time spent with my bf is enough for me!
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We make handmade cards for each other. SOO much more special than Hallmark. And we sort of have a contest, so they are kind of elaborate now.
We also usually have a gift card from Christmas for a nice dinner out, so we don’t have to spend anything on that.
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My boyfriend and I spend about $100 each on each other. I know it sounds outlandishly high but we do this in lieu of Christmas gifts. I know a lot of people spend very little on both. That’s not us. I usually get concert tickets or something we can do together. One year I contributed towards his new laptop. This year he’s get the extremely romantic gift of a reciprocating saw. It’s worked out well for us so far.
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My bf and I are long distance, so we are exchanging cards (mine is homemade) and watching a movie together over Skype for our Valentine’s day date. Since we are getting the movie from Netflix/the library the cost is pretty much negligible!
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He is taking me to see the new Bruce Willis movie that opens on Valentines Day. We don’t go to the movies that often, 3-4 times a year. And I will get the large popcorn and my own soda!
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This is my girlfriend’s and mine first Valentine’s Day together. We plan to go to a couple of free museums in Kansas City, about a two-hour round-trip, so most of the cost for our celebration will be in gasoline. We may go out to dinner, but we may also have a picnic-style lunch – haven’t decided yet. No presents are planned.
Somewhat ironically, we first started talking to each other at an “Anti-Valentine’s Day Party” put on by mutual friends last year.
Being a woman who dates other women, I’m not sure how I skew the Valentine’s Day data. I’ve been in relationships before on Valentine’s Day, but they were pretty young relationships, so not much at all was done. Maybe some chocolate was consumed. In my current relationship, though, we’ve been together nearly a year, and we’ve been wanting to check out these museums, so we decided to go for it on Valentine’s Day.
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Best low-cost gift candlelight dinner at home
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This year I ordered a cell phone case using my belief points for my husband. Something that will protect the investment in the phone and that we would have purchased anyway.
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