the financial dynamics surrounding dating are easily some of the most salient issues for our (with “our” being “21-35 year old edumacated and employed cats“) demographic.

does the man always pay?

does the financial responsibility lie with the person who set the date?

dutch dating, yea or nay?

should a broke adult ever ask anybody out?

these are just a few of the issues that regularly accompany this subject, and in “cheapskate or creative romantic? inexpensive dating can be memorable or dicey“, cristina rouvalis of the pittsburgh post-gazette tackles one of them: the “cheap” date

rouvalis gathers numerous quotes about this subject, and the general consensus seems to be that inexpensive and thoughtfully practical dates are great…occasionally.

Dating expert Nina Atwood said a cheap first date is OK for people who are really young — high school, college students or just out of college — but otherwise a warning sign for women. “A cheap date is OK if it is sprinkled in after nice dates. Otherwise it is a turnoff,” said Ms. Atwood, a traditionalist on men paying and the author of “Temptations of the Single Girl: The Ten Dating Traps You Must Avoid.

But for the cash-starved there are always ways around spending little without appearing cheap, says Stephanie Steiger, 40, who runs a singles group in Butler. She advises male friends who are watching their money to take dates to an opening at an art gallery, where wine and pastries are free.

“You can’t look cheap,” Ms. Steiger said. “You don’t take a girl to McDonald’s. You take her to a gallery crawl, where you look like you are spending money but you really are not. You put a little culture into your life.”

***champs note: we’ve discussed this subject in the comments here ad nauseum, and, along with the whole chivalry factor, i think one of the reasons why it keeps coming up is largely due to our unique financial situations.  this (21-35) age range is usually the only time in most peoples adult lives where their potential income is just as, if not more relevant than their actual income, and this phenomenon definitely helps to shape our dating mindsets***

so, increasingly lascivious fine people of vsb.com, what are your thoughts? do cheap first dates work? should a broke dude (or chick) even bother dating? would a great first date make you reconsider romance with an otherwise mediocre potential mate, or is this question a giant oxymoron?

answer away

–the champ