How much do you spend on Valentine's Day?

[marvholly]

I am a widow at this point BUT

DD2's bday is Valentines day so we tried to go out several years but frequently encountered horrendous lines. costs, service and/or snow storms. We changed to having her pick out a home meal and sometimes went out the weekend after.

At this point I do not have a SO in my life. Late DH & I used to exchange cards & do a 'special treat' (generally food/candy) gift for under $5.

[kork13]

In all, I'm technically spending about $100 on Valentines Day....however, Valentine's Day for me is more of an excuse than a cause for the spending.

A local acting troupe is putting on a show of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing", one of the comedies. I generally try to go see a few shows of this sort every year (especially any Shakespeare plays), so the fact that it's on Valentine's Day is simply a happy coincidence. So those tickets are something like $85-$90, then I'm also making a "fancier" dinner for the both of us ahead of time, which I'll guesstimate for a $10-$15 cost. Again, I love to cook, so this is more of an excuse to do something a little nicer than the normal for me.

I/we value experiences far more than things, so this Valentine's day will be exactly what both of us are looking for, and I'm expecting it to be alot of fun. I'm actually excited for the 14th.

[dawnwes]

Probably very little, as usual. We don't go out to eat because the restaurants are crazy busy.

I might buy my kids a small candy something or other, but I usually buy it on the 15th! Mostly because they really don't care and it is half off.

The kids usually go to a bowling party and take candy for everyone, but this year we cannot attend, so we won't be spending anything.

Dawn

[MonkeyMama]

$0.

If we did celebrate we'd probably be quite frugal, but its just more that we don't care at all about V-day. & along the same lines, try to avoid crowds and over-priced goods. So going out while *Everyone else* is, doesn't sound appealing. Much in the same way we never vacation during 3-day weekends or holidays. Ugh!!

OF course, the kids have been buying cards for their classes, but I always stock up on clearance after V-Day. So I don't think I even have to buy those any more. (I've got enough for the last few years - eldest is outgrowing). We decided it was cheaper to buy on clearance than to make our own.

[disneysteve]

We joined friends for Valentine Day's dinner at a really nice restaurant one year and it was such an awful experience we've always avoided eating out as celebration. It was crowded, hot, and noisy. Worse yet the food was not the quality we expected, sloppily plated, poorly served, and twice the regular price

we tried to go out several years but frequently encountered horrendous lines. costs, service and/or snow storms.

I love to eat out but I will never understand the appeal of doing so on Valentine's Day or Mother's Day or Easter or Thanksgiving Day. The restaurants are packed, often with large parties and lots of kids. They often have "special" menus which means limited selection and bumped up prices. There are longer waits and lesser service.

I'd rather stay home and order a pizza and save my dining out money for a regular night that isn't a holiday when folks are swarming the restaurants.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I think of Valentines Day not as a day celebrating romantic love, but as a kids' fun at school day.

So valentine cards for 3 kids are the plan. Two of them will have little $0.49 packets of sunflower seeds attached, because the recipients are big-time candy eaters who love the day, but who will probably bring home 1/2 to 1 pound of candy from school mates.

I will handmake those cards and give healthy instead of sugary treats in part because I like to show kids that one can do things in alternative ways and enjoy some creativity doing it. So they will get lacy, be-ribboned cards from me, and I'm hoping they will look at them and some of their thought will be, "Hmmm, how did she do this? Oh, I think I could do something like that, too!" I offer no excuses for taking advantage of Valentines Day as a teaching moment.

[lorraineb]

I just read that the average person spends $133 on Valentine's Day

http://nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1759

[disneysteve]

I just read that the average person spends $133 on Valentine's Day

http://nrf.com/modules.php?name=News...ive&sp_id=1759

I also heard a few months ago that Americans spent something like $7 billion on Halloween which is insane when you think about what that money could have taken care of. And that pales in comparison to what people spend for Christmas.

[hamchan]

Steve, It completely depends on where you live I guess. I have gone out to eat on many major holidays in my neighborhood, and it's not much busier than they typically are. They don't limit the menus either. I live in a very urban neighborhood with a very high concentration of gay couples and singles, and a low concentration of kids. If I lived in the 'burbs it would probably be different.

[disneysteve]

Steve, It completely depends on where you live I guess. I have gone out to eat on many major holidays in my neighborhood, and it's not much busier than they typically are. They don't limit the menus either. I live in a very urban neighborhood with a very high concentration of gay couples and singles, and a low concentration of kids. If I lived in the 'burbs it would probably be different.

That's probably true. Do your local places do "special" menus? There was one time a few years ago (don't remember the occasion) that we actually thought about going out. Fortunately, we looked at the restaurant's website online and found they were doing a special menu for the holiday which didn't appeal to any of us. The things that we really like at that restaurant weren't among the choices. So we stayed home.

[FrugalTexan75]

This year I have a SO. I have already spent $5 on fiverr to create a special greeting for him. That's all I'll spend on it. If we were closer (distance wise) then I'd probably do some kind of special meal (in house - not out!)

[hamchan]

That's probably true. Do your local places do "special" menus? There was one time a few years ago (don't remember the occasion) that we actually thought about going out. Fortunately, we looked at the restaurant's website online and found they were doing a special menu for the holiday which didn't appeal to any of us. The things that we really like at that restaurant weren't among the choices. So we stayed home.

No. They sometimes have holiday related specials, especially at the one American restaurant we like, but the regular menu is always available too.

[TBH]

Usually we make each other cards or don't exchange cards at all. Sometimes we buy each other some inexpensive chocolate, less than $10, but not every year. We don't usually go out, but sometimes we make a special meal at home.

This past weekend our kid was out with friends on Saturday night, so we talked about going out for dinner as an early Valentine's Day celebration. Both of us were feeling tired and we didn't want to spend the money, so we got Chinese takeout and watched Netflix instant at home and called it a date. It was fun and simple and cheap.

My son's current school doesn't have a gift exchange, but when he used to go to a school where they did I would usually spend $10 or $15 on store bought cards. We made our own when he was little, but as he got older we were too busy and he's not very craft, so it was like pulling teeth getting him to do it.

This reminds me--I probably will spend $5 or $10 at the drug store on some treats for my son.

[figuringmoneyout]

I won't spend anything this year because I don't have a significant other and I'm not planning on going on a date. In the past I've spent about $25 or so. Not a huge amount but enough for a little something.