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Valentine's day: bottom line or over the top
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January 30, 2002: 12:02 p.m. ET
On Valentine's Day, will you save or splurge?
By Annelena Lobb
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - How deep in love are you? Dollar-wise, that is. Does your love burn so hot that only a plunge into the sea of credit card debt could begin to quench it? Or is your love so pure that it would only be cheapened by some crass attempt to express it through ostentatious overspending? (Or maybe you just haven't got that much money to blow this year.)
Whether you're looking to spend your heart out or keep the gifts cheap and let your lips do the talking, there's an array of suitably romantic options out there for every budget. To keep things in perspective, almost half of consumers plan to spend up to $50 on Valentine's Day gifts, according to the National Retail Federation. But there are ways you can show your love for a lot less - or a whole lot more.
Baubles, bangles and beads
If you plan to buy your loved one jewelry, and money is no object, go for the gold (or platinum, or diamonds, or rubies) provided you've got the green. At Tiffany & Co., a diamond and 18-karat gold bangle bracelet by Etoile will cost you $2,850. A platinum and diamond garland-style necklace will cost you $15,000. A matching pair of earrings in diamond and pink sapphire will add $1,350 to the bill.
Not ready to spend four digits on your cutey-pie? No fear. You can get away with spending less and still show up with that little blue box in hand. A Tiffany open heart pendant -- designed by Elsa Peretti, made of sterling silver -- will cost $80. They also a silver teardrop for $70, and a silver bean for $95.
Sweets for the sweet
If your loved one has a weakness for chocolate, consider taking the gourmet plunge. "If you want something with strong aromas, many layers of flavor and a taste that lasts in your mouth, shop around and educate your palate," said Maricel Presilla, author of The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes. "You won't usually find that complexity in a $1.99 candy bar."
For a gourmet chocolate gift, Presilla recommended several brands. Chocolates El Rey, a Venezuelan company, sells its goodies throughout the United States and uses up to 73.5 percent cacao in its darkest chocolates. They sell a sampler package of twelve 2.8-oz bars for $27. And Seattle-based Fran Bigelow, who Presilla recommended for those looking to buy truffles, sells everything for Valentine's Day from a red velvet chocolate heart for $28 to an assortment in a "Chocolate Lover's Box" for $65.
You might think gourmet chocs are all well and good -- but there's also something to be said for a box of Russell Stover or a big heart full of Whitman's Sampler. Those were probably the chocolates you bought at the drugstore for your first Valentine, after all. Cost of a one-pound box? About $7, at your local drugstore or grocery store. (Cost of wearing your heart on your sleeve? Priceless.)
If you're good in the kitchen, pull out all the stops and make something delicious, sweet and full of chocolate. Martha Stewart Living (an AOL Time Warner affiliate) suggests molten chocolate cakes with a truffle center, accompanied by Earl Grey tea ice cream. Along with your basic cake ingredients (eggs, butter, sugar, etc.); you'll need some high-quality semisweet chocolate, Earl Grey tea, chocolate truffles and cream. The total bill for the recipe could range from $30 to $40.
If you don't feel like putting on the Ritz, streamline the operation. Duncan Hines brownie mix, Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough, and Pillsbury frosting (add red food coloring for some romance) can be yours for the $15 or less. In fact, you could probably throw in some conversation hearts or red hots and still come in under budget.
For more holiday color, you can order M&Ms in bags by color at www.colorworks.com ($3.99 for each 8-oz. bag). The Valentine's Day medley consists of four 8-oz. bags - red, pink, dark pink and white.
Smells good
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a scent is worth that ten times over. Nothing reminds people of love like their sweetheart's cologne or perfume. On a day for lovers in love, what could be a more appropriate gift?
"You can buy the bath oil, the perfume, the sachet and the soaps - you could do it with Jo Malone, for example, or another designer, for a Valentine's Day gift," said Betty Halbreich, a personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, NY.
Following her advice to the letter, Jo Malone Red Roses (the scent goes with the season) cologne would cost you $75, the bath oil $100, and the lotion $60 (Bergdorf Goodman). If you want to buy your Valentine a French scent, consider products from the Annick Goutal's Grand Amour line. The eau de parfum will cost about $160, body cream $75, and shower gel $38. Take the plunge at eluxury.com.
If you don't want to shell out the big bucks, you might want to try a different avenue - an imitation scent that mimics your sweetheart's favorite. A bottle of Intensity (copying Calvin Klein Eternity) will cost you $18, and a bottle of Simple Beauty (aping Estee Lauder Beautiful) will cost you $25 (imitationperfume.com). Still too much? You can purchase Parfums du Coeur Raspberry, Pear or Freesia shower gels and lotions at your local drugstore. Gels cost $4.49 and lotions cost $6.39.
Toast the one you love
Maybe you'll choose to cap off the evening with a bottle of bubbly champagne. If purse strings are tight, you'll only have to shell out about $10 for a bottle of Freixenet, $14.50 for Korbel or $17 for Chandon, said the folks at 54 Wine and Spirits, a wine vendor in New York, NY.
But if you intend to pull all the stops out, you can spend several hundred dollars on a bottle - a bottle of Dom Perignon will cost between $130 and $160, depending on the year, and a bottle of Cristalle will cost about $200.
Get no kick from champagne? A bottle of Welch's Sparkling White Grape Juice has all the bubbles, without that light-headed feeling, for about $4. 
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