This year Americans will spend more than $2.1 billion on flowers on Valentine’s Day alone, according to NBC News. The prices of roses skyrocket. Restaurant reservations will be non-existent. Wine will disappear off shelves, movie tickets will be sold out and extravagant dinners will be slaved over.

The average spending for Valentine’s Day will come close to $19 billion, according to the U.S. News & World Report.

I will preface my statement by saying that my relationship status has not changed from “casually flirting with the same attractive and intelligent man for months,” but what the hell, Valentine’s Day?

When did the expression of “love” turn into a multi-billion dollar industry for a series of days? When did Valentine’s Day become ridiculous?

For at least a day, the relationship revolves around “Did they buy flowers?” “Where did you go for dinner?” “What did you make for dessert?” “Was there chocolate involved?” “Did you wear lingerie?”

We all get the notion that “single people hate Valentine’s Day because they don’t have anyone to spend it with,” but being single on V-Day isn’t really that bad. I don’t have to dress myself up, make sure every inch of my body is shaved, spend an hour doing hair and makeup and making myself prim and proper, only to take everything off a few hours later for some potential passionate one-on-one time with a significant other.

Love is a sentiment that should be spontaneous, not rehearsed. No one should be expected to buy flowers, cards, chocolates and find a dinner reservation simply to please their significant other. Love shouldn’t be a rehearsal of high, outlandish expectations.

This is exactly what Valentine’s Day has become: a run-through of the exact same performance, something akin to Shakespeare’s most famous play that has the same run-time every year and the same audience response.

I spent my night arguing against the commercial holiday with that “casually flirting with the same attractive and intelligent man for months” man. He was arguing that V-Day is a day set aside as a date night because otherwise you tend to hate each other after being stuck together for so long.

False. Even when living with each other for years at a time you can find small ways to express your love. Whether that’s doing the dishes, or bringing home the type of milk that your significant other likes or finding some small detail that really puts you in good graces.

Instead of coiffing yourself up and spending more than $50 on dinner, a movie and flowers that skyrocket in prices just to empty your wallet, why not rid yourself of the expectation and just take things as they come?

You can bond over video games and hash out your differences with a round of “Super Smash Bros.” You can order a pizza and curl up on the couch. You can even watch porn and have that passionate one-on-one time that was going to be postponed until that horrible movie was over.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love “Pride and Prejudice” as much as the next girl, and am still waiting for my very own Mr. Darcy. I love the idea of love. I don’t appreciate the idea that love can be bought or sold. I don’t need all of the fancy things to know I’m in a relationship with someone and that I love them.

All I truly need is to steal a sweater or two and play video games all day.

Being alone with someone that you truly care about, someone that truly loves you, is so much more intimate and creative than being surrounded by hundreds of other couples that are trying to prove they love each other by doing the exact same thing.

I’d rather beat you in “Call of Duty.”