Love is in the air this week around my house. The girls are both excited to pick out Valentine’s goodies to pass out to their classmates, and little man will be bouncing off the walls with the amount of candy he’s already plotting to sneak out of his sister’s school bags. And even if you subscribe to the theory that Valentine’s Day is just another holiday created to make money for florists and greeting card companies, you have to admit it’s something to look forward to in an otherwise cold and unforgiving month.

 

I definitely celebrate Valentine’s Day differently than I used to now that my hubby and I have the three little ones. For instance, we used to have a romantic dinner usually followed by a movie.  We’d stay up late and sleep in late the next morning. Now we make little mailboxes decorated with paper hearts for the kids to receive their Valentine’s goodies in. If we have a babysitter arranged, we’ll still go out for dinner, but the past few years, we’ve ordered in and enjoyed a family dinner that required little preparation or clean up. Valentine’s Day is about love after all, and I can honestly say that there’s more love in our household than Cupid could pack in a quiver full of arrows.

But what does this have to do with money, with budgeting, with finances, you might be wondering. Well, Americans will be spending over $17 Billion celebrating Valentine’s Day this year. That’s a lot of chocolate, people! I love chocolate and flowers as much as the next person, but my mom always taught me that actions speak louder than words. So what do I want from the hubby this Valentine’s Day? If he surprises me with a clean car and a quiet meal together to talk about our plans for this year and next, I’ll be happy. We can browse home improvement catalogs together and plan our backyard remodel. We can look at travel agencies and plan our next vacation. And then we can take the money we saved on a more extravagant celebration and deposit it into our vacation club account at Afena. Palm trees and white sand beaches are going to trump chocolate and roses any day of the week, as far as I’m concerned. So whether your plans include a romantic night out or a modest evening at home, have a happy Valentine’s Day. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.