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On Valentine's Day, Best Things in Life are Free"
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. -- Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but wives feel more loved when their spouses say "I love you" than when they hand over a tiny box of glittering rocks, say a whopping 91% of Americans surveyed by Reader's Digest and the Gallop Organization. Only 64% of the respondents feel loved a lot when they receive an expensive gift.In fact, giving an expensive gift ranked last on the list of the 11 best ways to make your spouse feel extremely loved, the survey found. The top 10 included small favors or acts of service that require little or no cash and just a bit of thoughtfulness and ingenuity -- like supporting your spouse's career, making a romantic meal, or writing a love note.The responses on love notes were particularly interesting. Receiving a romantic scribble from a spouse made 65% of those surveyed feel "loved a lot" -- yet 25% say they "never" get a romantic scribble from a spouse.The region where love notes are most scarce? The East Coast, where 31% of those polled say their lovers never write.Although TV portrays American couples bickering night and day, most people surveyed actually were pretty content with their spouse's behavior. Shown a list of 15 annoying or obnoxious habits-being moody, flirting and always having to be right included, nearly 40% said their partner had none of them. The majority (61%) of married men and women would forgive "shameless" flirting with a restaurant server, although 28% would kick their spouse under the table. Only 9% said they would simply get up and walk out. Proving there's an upside to almost everything, 31% said that flirting with a server would make them want to head straight home and make love with their spouse.The top annoying behavior is being moody, cited by about a third of respondents.Visit Reader's Digest: www.rd.com"