Just over half of U.S. adults plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, spending a total of $21.8 billion, according to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation.
Nearly three-quarters of consumers celebrating Valentine’s Day say the pandemic will directly impact their plans for the holiday.
While candy, cards, and flowers are still part of celebrations, there’s a significant decline in the number of consumers who plan an evening out.
Less than one-quarter of consumers plan to go out for dinner, the lowest in the survey’s history. However, 41 percent say they’ll plan a special dinner or celebration at home.
Those celebrating plan to spend an average $164.76, down $32 on average per person, from a record $196.31 in 2020 right before the pandemic began.
With consumers planning fewer evenings out, spending on significant others saw the biggest drop this year, down an average of $13 year over year.
In addition, the survey shows a decrease in spending on teachers, classmates, and co-workers, as many continue to social distance.
Consumers say they’ll spend an average of $10.77 on their children’s classmates and teachers, down from $14.45 last year. In addition, they plan to spend an average of $8.47 on colleagues, down from $12.96 in 2020.
Another survey, conducted by the personal finance website WalletHub, showed 98 million Americans expect their significant other to spend less on Valentine’s Day this year.
The survey also showed:
- Bad credit might keep you single – 47 percent of people wouldn’t marry someone with bad credit.
- Reckless spending ends relationships – 47 percent of people would break up with their significant other if he or she spent irresponsibly.
- Financial irresponsibility isn’t attractive – 44 percent of people say irresponsible spending is a bigger turnoff than bad breath.
- Love is blooming for some people – 48 percent of people say they got richer in love since last Valentine’s Day.
See the infographic below for more details on the WalletHub survey:
Good news, bad news. The bad news is that we will not be going out to dinner as we usually do. the good news: we’ll keep our Valentine’s budget in the $1 – $49 range.