It’s time we all admit it: Galentine’s is way better than Valentine’s Day

As February approaches so does the sometimes loved, but more often dreaded, occasion of Valentine's Day. Some of us prep ourselves for this by upping our library looks – I just spent £80 in Urban Outfitters on a backpack?! Or, hitting the gym to see how quickly we can go from a 6 to a 10. Usually, my personal favourites include liking memes about being terminally single, coming up with imaginary romantic scenarios in my head that will literally never happen, and staring at the Instagram's of guys I fancy until they pop up – so far not so good.

After extensive research- messaging all 3 of my single friends- I have come to the conclusion that the pressure of finding a Valentine's date vastly outweighs the benefits of securing one. Spending the day with your friends comes with none of the risk and all of the reward, so empty your ASOS basket of the lingerie items you know you can’t afford and stop asking your friend what their Netflix password is so you can watch Bridget Jones’s Diary, because I’m here to tell you the top five reasons why Galentine's is FAR superior to Valentine's.

ALL of the Netflix, NONE of the chill

Nowadays, Netflix series’ bang so you don’t have to. Gone are the days of having to “entertain” each other when Netflix gets boring, and the only way to fully enjoy all the crime documentaries it has to offer is with your friends. This saves you from having to see the awkward disappointment on your date’s face when they realize you meant chill in the most literal sense of the word.

Having a Netflix night with your friends means you can watch things you actually want, and when they invite you round to watch Peep Show they’re not expecting you to also be performing one.

Instead of trying to look like a snack, you get to eat all the snacks

When you go out to eat with your friends, you don’t have to pretend to be full half way through your meal. No real friend will ever expect you to be full without making it through at least two courses. There will be no trace of judgment in their eyes when you say yes to seeing the dessert menu.

Better yet, when your friends ask where you want to go for dinner, you can actually give your opinion instead of replying "don’t mind, up to you…" otherwise known as the universal symbol of look how low-maintenance and not like other girls I am! You can also eat as much as you want since you don’t need to worry about the impending doom of having to slip into anything slinky later. Yes pls.

You don’t have to fake smile your way through opening gifts

The only time you say "aww you shouldn’t have" and actually mean it is when you are making your way through the minefield of opening Valentine's presents, desperately trying to do the math of why you now own 23 Pandora rings when you only have 10 fingers.

When friends give you gifts it’s things you genuinely want, because they care enough to spend more than one minute thinking about it. Their presents also come with zero obligation to put a Snapchat story of the gift accompanied by the caption combination of "him though" and some sort of monkey emoji.

You’ll get one million pics… and then maybe just one more…

As the Bible puts it, an outfit that goes un-photographed is an outfit wasted, and if you’re planning on going out, no one can take the perfect mix of horizontal and portrait pics quite like your best friends can. The mixture of different backgrounds and different props my friends suggest has my photo library looking like the royal variety show… you’ll be lucky to get a pic of your dates hand holding an overpriced pint if you swap your Galentine for a Valentine.

Whether you’re spending this Galentine's single or loved up, blackout drunk or with a beer-goggled hunk, your friends are there for you 365 days of the year so make sure you leave some time on February 14th for the real loves of your life.