Dating costs money. Wow, who knew this blog post would be so short. Okay, I’ll continue. Dating costs money, and therefore, you should not date if you can’t afford it. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Then why do people keep pushing others to date when it’s so expensive? If you want me to date so badly, you pay for it!
Economic times aside, we now live in a society where people can go Dutch, which is a strange phrase in and of itself. The importance of this knowledge, is the fact that dating does not have to be a wallet breaking thing. Men and women both are happy enough to share the bill of the fancy restaurant, the over priced movie (that I like to go to often), and the possible condoms afterwards. Okay, maybe minus the last part. But men, with their pride in hand, will often insist on paying for everything. They’ll pay for the gas it takes to get him and his date around, pay for the food, the entertainment, and everything in between. We’re content to do it, because we are men. That’s our job. And yes, those old ideas are being thrown away little by little, but we as a community still try our darndest to be the “man”.
The other day I was asked by an aquaintance, why I wasn’t dating. I told her blatantly, that I have a job that does not afford me to date. I have enough money to pay the bills and get some other things handled. But all in all, dating can be an expensive thing. With romance having a price tag in the form of small gifts and outtings, it’s hard to keep up in the dating scene if you’re not working and getting paid well. Yes, I just said that men and women are more likely to split the check, but really, that new age of thinking hasn’t permeated enough of the young minds to make a dent. For instance, if you recall Geek Love Radio from about a few months ago when Dani, the Universe stated, “I would date a guy as long as he had a job.” So now, just the prerequisite of a job is okay. I asked an aquaintance what she required in a good boyfriend, and her response was to the tune of, “As long as he loves me, I don’t mind taking care of him (financially).” These are two cases where you’d think, well, women’s thoughts on dating must be different now. Maybe I’m cool to date even if I can’t afford it. That’s where you’d be wrong.
Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.netI can’t speak for Dani, but in subsequent convesations with my acquaintance, evidence further shows that she would prefer a man who was independent, who did not need her money, and could on occasion, express his love with a gift. AHA! As you can see, with all this talk about a changing world, I think that deep down in the minds of women, they want to be spoiled. And we as men, like to do the spoiling. It may be an evolutionary thing, it could be just how we’re wired, but this is further proof that even if some things are okay, like the going Dutch thing, in the end…we need the money to keep the relationship going.
If you think about it, dating is an investment in the future. We pay into our dates in hopes that this person we are interested in will want to be with us, want to have sex with us, and maybe, want to have kids with us. The money we put towards wooing the beautiful women, is all towards a bright and…who am I kidding, it’s in hopes that we get laid. But in that we also hope to have a companion, a confidant, and someone who will be there with us through thick and thin. And also have sex with us.
I may have also mentioned this before, but Tom Lykis, a radio shock jock, has often stated the theory that the more money you had, the better looking the girl. I don’t think that’s entirely true, but your chances do go higher if you have a lot of cash around. It’s not that women are materialistic, but it does show stability, the ability to be taken care of, and they know their needs will be met. That means, the more money you have, the more choices you have in the dating pool, whether you’re good looking or not. Of course there are also other factors like whether or not you’re a jerk and whether or not women like that, but that’s another subject all together.
In contract, the less money you have to take care of a woman, the smaller the pool you can choose from. Now, this doesn’t mean that they get uglier, but there may be fewer attractive women who are willing to take the risk with someone who may not be able to take care of them. And yes, I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Also, this is all based on a theory. Who knows why people together and date, sometimes? There are some pairings that are just a mystery.
So if you’re thinking about dating, and you have not a penny to your name, you might either want to date someone who’s willing to take care of you (which, for men, is becoming more and more accepted), or climb that corporate ladder and find a career that can afford you to date. Because no matter how many times you two split the bill, there’ll be that lingering want and need to take care of them, spoil them, and most of all, impress them. And please, don’t do that all up front. Leave some surprises for later.
What are your thoughts on dating on a budget? Do you think you can successfully date and be unemployed? What’s your idea of the perfect dating scenario?
