Love and Money: What America's Spending This Valentine's Day
While archeologists have yet to uncover the first written words, there's little doubt that they were soon followed by some version of "Take my wife ... please!," perhaps followed by a riff on how so-and-so's husband is better at bringing home the mastodon. When it comes to romantic relationships, the cliches are as old as time, as shopworn as vaudeville comedy routines.
But even though we know it all, know that the exuberance of young love gives way to the the steady companionship of maturity, there's still the notion, especially popular around Feb. 14, that love and marriage can be reduced to dollars and cents. With that in mind, Discover recently released an infographic that shows what everyone wants this Valentine's Day -- and how much they expect to pay.
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On some level, it plays out the classic tropes: Men spend more than women, and daters spend more than married couples. Men want a special dinner, women want flowers, and everyone wants to go on a vacation.
And there are a few surprises, not least of which is the fact that, while romance fades, it doesn't fade all that much. When compared to singles, married people are about half as likely to spend $100 or more, but are much more likely to spend $26-$50. They are also no more likely to spend nothing. In other words, even with a ring on the finger and kids in the house, romance seems to stay alive. For that matter, there's also the fact that, gargantuan marketing push aside, most people don't spend all that much on Valentine's: almost half spend $1-$25. The second largest cohort, 28 percent, spend nothing at all.
Take a peek at Discover's findings:
