Valentine's Day gifts: Who Spends the Most?
On Valentine’s Day, all you need is love and a chunk of disposable income.
Childhood candy grams or “Be my valentine? Check yes or no” love notes are things of the past. Being a grown-up means finding the budget for $17 boxes of chocolate, $48 bouquets of long-stem red roses, $53 bottles of bubbly or $101 romantic dinners for two.
Not everyone gives equally. Planned spending and expected returns differ across genders, generations and regions. The National Retail Federation's Annual 2020 Valentine's Day Spending survey revealed people plan to send $196.31, up 21% over last year's $161.96.
For their part, men planned to outspend women $291.15 to $64. Not only did men plan to spend the most, they expected the most in return too. On average, men expected their partners to spend $211 on them. Women expected $106.22.
By age those between 18 and 24 plan to spend an average $109.31. People between the ages of 25 and 34 expect to spend $307.51. The biggest spenders, those 23 to 44, expect to spend $358.78.
So what are people buying? Shoppers are spending $4.3 billion on evenings out, $1.3 billion on greeting cards, $2.4 billion on candy, $2.3 billion on flowers, and a whopping $5.8 billion on jewelry.
In spite of these figures, remember a gift’s value does not lie in its monetary cost but in the time and consideration it took to find something another person will enjoy. Substitute a trip to Paris with an adventure to the most romantic spot in your state.
