Can We Talk About How Expensive Dating Is?

For all of you new to the dating pool — including those 50-to-60-year-olds who make up the fastest growing demographic on dating website match.com — a few stats to consider.

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News flash! Dating isn’t cheap. Building a relationship and getting to know someone takes a lot of effort; and along with that effort comes a lot of money. Match.com reported that the average single American spend about $60 a month a dating. However, that number seems to be a little low, in bigger cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, you could easily spend that in a single night. For all of you new to the dating pool (here is great advice for meeting new people from a dating expert)—including those 50-to-60-year-olds who make up the fastest growing demographic on dating website match.com—a few stats to consider:

Check, please…

MEN

37% think they should pay for the first date

51% spend more than $100 a month on dates

29% spend more than $150 a month on dates

$103 average amount spent on Valentine’s Day

WOMEN

87% say they would pick up the check in some cases

46% say it doesn’t matter how much their date spends

66% spend less than $50 a month on dates

$51 average amount spent on Valentine’s Day

Percentages and dollar amounts from surveys of single adults ages 21 to 65-plus

Make sure you never post these things about your relationship on social media.

How to be a cheap date…

Keep the first date brief—meet for coffee or a drink instead of dinner, suggests Dale Koppel, author of The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Online Dating. You’ll spend less and have an easy out if no sparks fly. When you work up to a table for two, order something moderately priced, don’t complain about cost, and leave the leftovers behind, says etiquette expert Diane Gottsman.

A big night out…

What dinner for two, a bottle of red wine, and a movie cost across the country:

San Francisco $230

Atlanta $211

Columbus, Ohio $203

Kansas City, Missouri $193

Sources: cnbc.com, brides.commatch.com, money.msn.com, mint.com

Reader's Digest
Originally Published in Reader's Digest