I recall when I live in USA that February 14th was a day that I kind of loathed when I was in a relationship. Commercialism in that country dictates that the man is obligated to spend a ton of money on their girl to go to fine dining establishments, buy jewelry, get gifts that probably wont be appreciated anyway and all for what? Because someone invented a holiday I suppose. I recall struggling to get reservations and then being treated to crazy prices as some places invented "special menus" that were the only options on those days and of course, they were really high priced.
I do have a girlfriend now in Thailand, but I am happy to say that the holiday here does exist, but the commercialism doesn't.
In Thailand, Valentines day still has some of the usual things like roses associated with it, but that is basically the end of it. According to what I have been told you are meant to purchase a single rose for the "one you love" and that is all there is to it. There is no expectation of a fancy dinner or vacations or expensive nights out. Just the flower, that is all. A rose here costs less than a dollar and this is something I can get behind. I think the main reason why this is the case is because a vast majority of people are quite poor here and to attempt to build anything else out of the basically made up holiday wouldn't be something that most people could even dream of participating in. I am sure there are some multi-millionaires out there that still get all lavish with their gifts but I don't know anyone that has anything to do with it.
My girlfriend has been with me for this will be our 2nd Valentine's Day and last year I got her a dozen roses and while it was appreciated she later told me that this is wasteful and in the future I need to only get her one and the sentiment will be the same. Well, that works for me! I don't really like these holidays that have been dictated by some industry and am for the most part happy that holidays like Christmas don't really exist here either. hell, even birthdays are not an event where you are meant to shower someone with gifts.
Sure you could spend a bunch of money and do stupid crap like this but the point here is that this is not expected. If you live in a part of the world where there are pressures for you to be spending money all the time I guess I will say that feel sorry for you and I am happy that this is, at least for now, not at all a part of my life.
If you have the kind of loved one in your life that expects you to break the bank on this very silly holiday then I feel bad for you. I'm really happy that my girl doesn't really care about Feb 14th at all.