Valentine’s Day; Delivering Myself From Debt
Posted by jefferson on Feb 12, 2012 in Making Money | 20 comments
Why do we, the husbands and boyfriends of the world, feel obligated to purchase flowers for the ladies of our lives on Valentine’s Day? Flower prices are marked up as much as 300% on the days and weeks leading up to February 14th, but men happily pay the premium to make sure their women feel the love. But is this really the best way to show how we truly feel about someone? Wouldn’t it be more romantic to instead give flowers on.. well.. any other day, when she wasn’t expecting them? The sense of obligation around Valentine’s Day is something that has always bugged me. Its an obligation to spend a bunch of money on something that doesn’t last, just to fit an outdated model of fake romance.
Before you start feeling sorry for Mrs. See Debt Run (Michelle, who is of course, also a regular contributor to this site), realize that she is totally with me on this one. Lucky for me, she finds it much more romantic to know that we are on our way out of debt! But I will also take the time to cook her a nice meal, and (baby willing) offer her a nice massage. I think both of those things are more romantic than flowers, and neither will put a dent in our budget.
To take this even further, the true frugalist and opportunist that I am sees all the money that is being thrown around on Valentine’s Day and started thinking. Not only do I not want to contribute, but I want a piece of the pie! Of all of these flowers that are being ordered, somebody is going to have to deliver them. The florists in the area are not going to have a legion of delivery drivers who are sitting around 364 days per year, waiting to deliver flowers on February 14th, and they will probably need some help! I scanned the local classified ads and postings on Craigslist, and quickly found that my hunch was correct. I found 3 separate ads, placed by local courier services, for companies looking for part-time delivery drivers to deliver flowers around the area on Valentine’s Day. After reaching out to one of these services, I was surprised to learn that the money was actually really decent, as much as $300 a day.
Now, I do have a full-time job, doing IT work for a local company, and V-day this year falls on a Tuesday. In order to get in on the delivery fun, I would need to take a day off of work. Lucky for me, I have made it a habit to stockpile PTO hours for occasions such as these. So technically, I will be getting paid for both jobs. A few weeks ago, I went to an orientation at the courier service, and they asked if I wanted to work on Monday and Tuesday (the 13th and 14th). Basically I would be asked to drive by the florist early in the morning (around 6am), and pick up about 15 different orders, all of them located in a single zip code. They recommended heading to a coffee shop or somewhere at that point and mapping out my route. From there, I would start dropping off the orders one by one. Once all 15 had been delivered, I could head back to the florist to get another car load of orders. I did have to use my car, but I would be reimbursed for the fuel and would get paid about $4.50 per order.
So that is what I will be doing for the next two days, instead of my normal day job. I am actually looking forward to it, because it represents a change of routine, and couldn’t be more different than what I usually deal with day to day. I haven’t had a job that entailed driving around since I used to deliver pizzas back in college, but I enjoyed it back them. And it isn’t like I am delivering warrants to people. Receiving flowers usually makes people pretty happy, so I should be dealing with some happy folks.
This year on Valentine’s Day, I will be pocketing over $500 to help pay down our debt. In a way, the men of the world who are purchasing these overpriced bouquets and arrangements for their women, will be helping my cause by providing flowers for me to deliver. And I find that very romantic 
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I’ve never really been a huge fan of flowers – which I know might seem crazy since I’m a woman, but they die. Who wants gifts that die? Lol. But really though, they are crazy expensive, and I’d much rather go to the movies with my guy than get flowers. But that’s just me.
Good for you, Daisy. And a good point about having to watch you gift die
Going is pretty expensive too these days, ya know..
*AAAAAND* now they are predicting snow for both Monday and Tuesday. This should be fun…
I don’t pay much attention to Valentine’s Day. I believe that if I’m in relationship with somebody I love and I care about it means I have Valentine’s Day 364 days in a year
You had really great idea about earning some extra money. And, as you wrote, receiving flowers makes people happy so I think it’ll be really nice experience. Let us know how did it go!
We have rose bushes. During the summer, my wife gets all the roses she could hope for. But I always treat Valentine’s Day as a spending fast. No flowers, no chocolates, no dining out. Instead, I just cook her favorite meal.
That’s a great idea about flower delivery. I’ll have to look into it next year!
I love it that instead of spending money you’ll be making money! I’d much rather receive a handwritten note then chocolate and flowers. In fact, I’ve told the bf that instead of an engagement ring, I’d prefer he use that money towards our house downpayment. Diamonds have no real value once they’re out of the box and on your hand, houses on the other hand…
Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Flower Delivery. Hope the snow holds off.
I think this is hysterical, and such a great idea. Sort of sorry I didn’t think of it! I agree with you on the flowers issue – however I think if money were no object it is a lovely thing to do for your SO.
That’s such a good idea! I never even thought about that kind of side job. For some reason, I just assumed they had all the florist deliverers(?) they needed.
thanks for the comments, folks.
the flower delivery ended up working out really well, and i certainly wouldnt mind doing it again next year.. the snow held off for the most part, and i never once felt the tires lose traction with the road.. maybe we can find a sitter and michelle can do it too, next year
i would imagine that this type of work is available all over the country, because the need is so much more on valentine’s day than the rest of the year.
i made about $300 over the course of two days .. putting in a 6 hour day on monday and an 11 hour day today.. That comes out to almost over $17/hour, which isn’t bad at all.
Did you make anything extra on tips?
I think that was a great idea, and getting short-term work like that was something that I never would have thought of. And now you could put half away and get ingredients for a nice romantic dinner in with the remainder if you were so inclined. A co-worker did home-cooked lobster today.
I just want to say that today was very romantic, imo. Jeff even got to come home in the middle of the day to grab a bite to eat with me and our little one, which is something he doesn’t get to do with his regular job since it’s a longer commute. Then, he made me dinner…I’m one lucky girl!!
I think it’s much more romantic to contribute towards a common goal than to spend $100 on something that will cost $9 from the guy on the side of the road the next day.
Where’s the “like” button?
What a great idea!
I really loved this post. It’s fun to hear about fun/smart ideas to get out of debt and be wise with your finances.
I’d never thought of anything like this…kind of wish I would have thought of this idea!
I may have to use it next year.
Great idea to earn extra cash! I do participate in the sending of flowers on Valentines Day (I skipped one year and it wasn’t pretty). But this year mixed it up a bit. I sent an orchid that will last much longer than flowers and adore my wife’s desk for a long time, hopefully…if it’s watered.
Jake, I had the wife completely on-board before the big day. If she wasn’t completely behind it, I would have just done something more typical.
I think we both realize that being completely debt free, is far more romantic than flowers..
Jake, I had the wife completely on-board before the big day. If she wasn’t completely behind it, I would have just done something more typical.
I think we both realize that being completely debt free, is far more romantic than flowers..
I’d imagine they’d need extra drivers on Mother’s Day too. I had a friend who owned a flower shop and she was always asking for extra drivers for Mother’s Day.
It really grinds my gears how the markup for everything right before that particular holiday is ridiculous. And how much cheaper it is the day after. I have no problem with getting the chocolates the day after.
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Thank you for sharing your experience. I am manager offlowers shop in Ukraine and here we also have busy times on February 14th and March 8th. I can tell that some florists earn year income for March 8 holiday- it is holiday that came from the USA by the way, they call it International Women’s Day and they celebrate it in Ukraine and Russia a lot. Your life hack was interesting and good luck to you.
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