On Valentine’s Day many couples show their love by giving each other gifts like flowers, candy, jewelry or lingerie, and they top it all off with dinner at an expensive restaurant.

After all, Valentine’s Day is the most romantic day of the year, and who are you if you don’t go all-out for the occasion by buying these tokens of love?

Before plunking down half of a financial aid check on Valentine’s Day gifts, students should think again. Just how much can one really afford to spend on Valentine’s Day, and how can the holiday become more meaningful?

Valentine’s Day is the second biggest moneymaking holiday in the United States; Christmas is the first. Last year the Census Bureau found that $425 million was spent on Valentine’s Day flowers in the United States.

TheRomantic.com reports that each year one billion cards are sent out, 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are purchased and $650 million is spent online in the United States, all in the name of love. Well, this year I’m not buying it.

The U.S. Federal Reserve reported in January that the average American household has $9,200 in credit card debt, with the national consumer debt being more than $2 trillion.

College students, who are thought to be uneducated in fiscal matters and who already have a large amount of debt, are the target of many credit card companies.

According to the financial aid office’s Web site, the average Sacramento State undergraduate carries $11,525 in student loans. Add to that the average $9,200 in credit card debt and suddenly there is a real problem. According to Operation HOPE’s Web site, one-third of college seniors do not know how they will make their first student loan payments. Yet students are also expected to participate in expensive holiday gift giving.

Advertisers market specifically to people under the age of 35 because it is thought that older people have already established their preferred brands. The meaning of Christmas, Valentine’s Day and most other highly-commercialized holidays has been completely lost.

If people spent as much time with their loved ones on the holidays as they spend shopping for them, then the holidays would feel a lot less stressful and become a lot more meaningful.

That’s why this year I’ve decided not to buy anything or torture myself by approaching the mall. Instead of spending money that we both know we don’t have on a lame gift and a fancy dinner in a crowded restaurant, my husband and I are going to go for a hike and enjoy the great outdoors, and that’s priceless.

Rebecca Adler can be reached at [email protected]