Two Becomes One

Dating on a Budget

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Two Becomes One

Dating can be a financially draining venture.  Dinner and a movie used to be a cheap way to spend a Saturday night with someone special.  Nowadays you almost need to take out a personal loan just to afford the overpriced popcorn.  While a satisfying relationship with an amazing person is certainly worth the investment the financial fallout can leave you scrambling to make ends meet in other areas of your life.

You don’t want to limit your dating frequency, especially if you are in that intense period between “just dating” and “committed”.  You also don’t want to look cheap.  So what do you do?

If you’re lucky, you’re with someone who is happy with McDonalds and bowling.  Then again, maybe “lucky” isn’t quite the word.  Sometimes  you really do get what you pay for.  Fortunately, it is possible to economize without having to sacrifice the quality of your dates (and your romantic interests).  All it takes is a little bit of imagination.  So put away your wallet and put on your thinking cap.

If you are smart, you can find ways of turning otherwise lame dates into something special without increasing their cost.  For example:  staying in together, renting a movie and ordering pizza can be fine every once in a while but if you do that more than one weekend in a row then you might as well start measuring your relationship for a casket, because it’s in its death throes.

On the other hand, you can turn a lame dinner at home into a really special date if you are willing to put down the phone and pick up a pan.  For less than the cost of a pizza you can get everything you need to make a first-class meal at home.  Even if you can’t cook, a rotisserie chicken from your grocer’s deli section, and some heat-and-serve sides will beat a pizza any day.  Buy a couple of 50 cent candles, through on some classical music or some light jazz and you’ve turned your dull staying-in night into a romantic candle-lit dinner.

It will also serve you well to investigate local happenings.  While we don’t suggest hitting up live music performances at bars (unless you don’t plan to spend money on drinks), most communities have other free or low-cost activities year-round.  For instance:  look up your local community theater(s).  Tickets can often be had for a fraction of the cost of movie tickets and there is a certain enhanced quality that live theater has over the movies that makes it a much more special date.

If you think outside of the realm of your standard date activities and find inexpensive ways to spice up your low-cost activities,  you can save your credit and your relationship.  Of course, there’s no harm at all in putting some of the money you’ve been saving through frugal dating and putting it toward a pricey night out on the town.  Just remember to take the bus instead of a cab.  It’s much cheaper!

Check out Two Becomes One