At the beginning of every year, stores immediately get rid of their previous Christmas and New Year decorations and replace them with pink ribbons and heart-shaped cases of chocolate, reminding all of their consumers that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Nothing reminds you more of Valentine’s Day than walking into a Duane Reade and being greeted with giant teddy bears and fake roses and those tins of Ferrero Rocher that you wish you could steal. Many begin planning their Valentine’s Day events early, making sure they have their reservations and that their gifts will arrive on time. People go out of their way to make sure that Valentine’s Day will be a special day for the person they are with, but what makes Valentine’s Day so special? It’s not an anniversary or a birthday—for most—or a graduation, or any event that should be blown up to the extent that it is. But every year, people strive to make the day bigger and better than the one before.

People place so much importance on this one day in an attempt to make their partner or the one they love to feel special, but all we’re doing as consumers is living up to what Valentine’s Day really is: A marketing holiday. It’s the one day of year, aside from Christmas, that chocolate, candy, and jewelry companies make a considerable amount of revenue.

If you love someone and have been with someone, why do you need to use Valentine’s Day to reaffirm your love? Why is Valentine’s Day the one day of the year that you place importance on your relationship and partner?

There’s no need for the sparkling wine and five-star dinner. There’s certainly no need for the $50 teddy bear that takes up more than half a room. Why not make your Valentine’s Day simpler? You could have the same amount of fun at home baking a cake with the person you love, and save all of the money that you would have spent trying to go to Max Brenner.

Let’s say you’re actually working on Valentine’s Day, and you come home after a 12-hour shift because someone called out, so all you want to do is relax in bed and watch movies. Lo and behold, your partner is actually home and already made something for you to eat and picked out your favorite movie, all at the cost of nothing because you already had groceries at home. It’s those little things that make you treasure the person you’re with, not the $500 ring that was way out of both of your budgets. Regardless, you’d appreciate the gift, but in the back of your mind, you know you would still love them if they just massaged your back and cuddled with you on the couch.

Take Valentine’s Day as any other day to tell the people you love that you love them. Get a cheap, $1 card, spend the day together and if you wanna go out, then go out. But there’s no need to plan an extravagant event for just another day of the year.

If you’re alone, then get your friends together and go watch "How To Be Single" or "Deadpool." No, I’m not saying it because you don’t have someone to spend this cheesy holiday with, but because even I want to go see it. Just because Valentine's Day is known as the "day of love," doesn't mean you can't share your love with your friends.

Regardless, you’re either going to buy into the holiday or you’re not. If Valentine’s Day is a day of love, then do you really have to show your love for large gifts and fancy dates? Just surprise your partner with the simple things they like and add a pink bow to it. It can be as simple as one-two-three. Besides, isn’t the feeling of love supposed to be simple anyway?