Why Being Single on Valentine’s Day is Actually Great

Valentine’s Day can be annoying at best and depressing at worst if you’re single in the city. It’s never been ideal for singles in general, but it has been made all the more annoying in our Instagram era, where couples now play a social media game of keeping up with the Joneses on the Hallmark holiday, one perfectly filtered #vday post at a time.

I’d say that no single needs that content in their newsfeed, but I learned a long time ago not to let being single on Valentine’s Day get me down. In fact, as I’ve discovered, Valentine’s Day is actually one of the best days of the year to be single (second to Halloween, but that’s a different topic all together).

For starters, it’s safe to assume that any man who in a relationship is going to be spending the evening with his significant other. This means you’ll run much less of a risk of hitting it off with a handsome stranger who “forgets” to mention his girlfriend until you discover snaps of the two of them on Facebook days later. Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year, a.k.a. Hump Day, the best day of the week to enjoy a few civilized (or not-so-civilized) after-work cocktails. If there’s ever a day to throw a pair of sexy heels in your work purse and take advantage of the city’s happy hour scene, it’s this February 14.

Of course, hitting the town doesn’t have to mean being on the prowl; you can gather the girls and head out with no agenda other than to celebrate one another with a good, old Galentines night out.

While it’s one thing to enjoy an evening at a bar as a single looking to mingle, dining out on Valentine’s Day is a nightmare in itself. When it comes to dining out on Valentine’s Day, you’re lucky if you can even get a reservation in the first place if one of the city’s cooler spots is what you have in mind. If you do find yourself across from your date at a restaurant, you can likely expect your meal to come with a side of an overcrowded restaurant, a rushed server, frazzled chefs, and unmet expectations. Not to mention, many spots operate on a special prix-fixe menu for the evening, which – while often great – eliminates many regular menu choices.

When you’re single, the whole gift-giving element is also removed from the equation – a major bonus for the babe on a budget. Gone are the days of a simple card and a box of chocolates. Recent research shows that the typical American adult on average spends $143.56 on Valentine’s Day. Even if you do have the dollars to drop, you may as well do so on yourself – and send yourself some flowers while you’re at it (it’s almost like buying them for yourself at the store, right?). Price tag aside, let’s not forget about the stress that comes with choosing that perfect gift in the first place (and one that’s appropriate given the duration of your relationship). You don’t need that pressure.

So, whether you go out and end up dancing on tables (hey, it happens to the best of us), or at home in a bubble bath with a face mask on and a glass of red wine within reach, relish in your singe status and the fact that you’re living your best life, and celebrate yourself this Valentine’s Day.