There are so many things you can do with a partner that don’t cost money and will make permanent memories.

Why is anyone spending that much on a date? FFS, you can find plenty of great, cheap eats in NYC. You just gotta look. Husband and I routinely go into Boston to dine and have never broken 65 bucks for food.

Picnics are free. Especially if you Yogi Bear yourself the food.

That's like 30 minutes with a mid-tier escort.

You shouldn't spend any money on her until you've had sex, so she doesn't feel pressure to put out after an expensive dinner. Ideally, she should put out before the date even begins, just to make her feel more secure.

Holy shit. And here I thought that the price of a cup of coffee was less than $10.

Because that’s what you do on a first date - coffee and chat, either at the coffee house or on a walk near it.

Spending $$$ on a first date is a great way for any guy to get hosed, and just sets up unrealistic expectations. You don’t do anything expensive until several dates in, once compatibility and mutual interest have been confirmed.

Who is spending $200 on a first date‽

I used to go out to NYC restaurants frequently and I don't think I've ever spent $100 per person, including drinks. There are some very expensive restaurants out there but unless you're deliberately looking for them, even relatively nice places will have food for $20 to $40 and cocktails for $10 to $15.

(I don't go to the sort of restaurants where you have to dress formally, but then again neither does almost anyone going on a date, unless they're either rich or a celebrity.)

This article draws all the wrong conclusions from the design of the survey itself. That's the average date expense, for all single people, to include:

• Rich people who don't mind paying more for dinners out.
• People who have been dating a long time, on their later dates with someone they're already steadily dating and/or fucking.
• Other expenses of a date, to include hair and makeup and other styling.

Digging into one of the surveys discussed in the article shows that the cost of a first date has climbed to $93.

$93 is more in line with what I'd expect. And yes, that price tag can price a lot of people out of bringing someone they don't know well yet on a formal sit down date.

I went to look up the menu at the place where my wife and I had our first date, in an expensive city. If we ordered what we ordered that night, except with today's prices, I think we would've spent about $30 on food, $50 on wine, and 30% on tax and tip for a total of about $105. We also split the tab. And that's with someone who I had already met in person in a few places (friends of friends), had already established rapport over the phone, and already knew that we both loved the restaurant we were meeting at.

Obviously we need more cheap/free third places in the mix. And our society would benefit from better income/wealth equality. But while we live in this current situation, people should be generally be ramping up in closeness before spending real money on dates in places they wouldn't have otherwise gone to. I couldn't imagine spending real money before getting to know someone at least enough to know whether I like them and enjoy being around them.

Seriously, how the fuck are they measuring this? I just went out with friend to a nice spot downtown and spent about $40 for dinner and 3 drinks

Then stop going out for dates. Who convinced you that capitalism has to be a third wheel on your dates? Y'all too dependent on market capitalism to provide for you.

what? with my current girlfriend we had an ice cream and a walk. these americans are crazy.

depends on the date, some are super materialistic, expects one person to pay for everything.