Any saving strategies for a guy who is going out on dates?

[QuarterMillionMan]

yeah, despite the whole "equality" thing, there are huge differences in the way the average man and woman views things. The average non-frugal daters views men as utilities, and the more he spends on her, the higher value she assigns to him, and the more willing she is to continue to date him. it's kind of a twisted society in that if a man brings a 50%off on 2 entrees coupon to a date or asks to split the bill, he'd be viewed negatively. Frugality is rarely lauded among the masses though, while spending in excess is.

hopefully I'm not opening a can of worms here, where people will take my comment personally. Note that I'm not saying ALL men or ALL women fit my example above.

This is very true indeed.

[Fishindude77]

First order of business is to not spend more than what you can afford. Nothing wrong with splurging for a night out on the town now and then, but don't get in $$ trouble doing it.

I don't like the ideas about coupons and splitting the bill. You could come across as a real cheapskate. Would rather see you do less costly things and have you go ahead and cover any costs.

Cook / entertain at home rather than dining out. You can get a way better quality meal and drinks at a fraction of the price doing it yourself -vs- going to a restaurant and buying it. Example - We had ribeye steak and shrimp with all the fixins and cocktails one night this week for ourselves and another couple. Bet we didn't have more than about $15 apiece in that meal & drinks. Would cost $45 apiece at a restaurant.

There are many things you can do for nearly free; hiking, bike riding, spend a day at the lake or beach, campfire, watch movies or listen to music, share your hobbies, etc.

[~bs]

^

Assuming typical non-frugal people, that strategy only work when you're pretty deep into the dating the individual when "nights-in" and cooking meals is acceptable. In that case, you're leaning heavier towards being a couple than daters (congratulations!).

If the concern is appearing to be a real cheapskate, my impression is that taking a date out to a steak place, and busting out a coupon isn't as cheap looking as telling her, lets go shopping to get our select steak and bottle wine from the grocery store, spend an hour cooking them up at home, mashing our own potatoes, and prepare our own veggies. That is perfectly acceptable for the average couple or perhaps daters that both enjoy cooking. But normally, for the average person, you aren't at that stage yet when you're still dating.

I do agree that outdoorsy activities are good for dates on the assumption that he/she and you are outdoorsy type people.