Dollars and Cents of Dating

Audra: Today, we’re going to dive straight into the dollar and cents of dating in the city and later we’re going to talk to our moms about the importance of our girlfriend bonds. And a shocking new report is out about the baby boomer generation. But first, going out on a date can kind of give you a sticker shock depending on where you go and where you live. But Whitney Casey, the author of The Man Plan, stop by with the inside scoop on what cities are the most and least expensive when it comes to a night out of the town. So the question today is could your city be keeping you single or should you move? Should you go that much of a drastic change just to get a date, Whitney? Whitney: I know. You would think the movers are going to be pulling up right now because the economy is so bad. Match.com did a study, actually they’re going to do one every year now to find out just what cities were the least expensive to date in and the most expensive to date in. And not a surprise Audra: I know. I mean, a lot of the most expensive cities to date in are the most expensive cities to live in, period. They go hand in hand. Let’s talk about this. Number one, New York City, no surprise. Two Chicago then there’s LA, then San Francisco, Dallas was at number 5. Whitney: I never would have guess Dallas, that’s pretty interesting. Texas is usually pretty cheap every, even gas is cheap in Texas. Audra: We’ve also got Philly on the list, Boston, DC, Atlanta and Miami. I thought Miami would have been a little higher on the list for some reason. Whitney: Yeah, I would have thought it would have been third or fourth because you know, Miami is like the snow bird place it’s where all the New Yorkers go down south. New Yorkers live in expensive and they are paying $16 for a cocktail, you know, so you know a date is expensive. The key to this is to realize if you’re living in one of those cities, the best way to maximize your dating experiences is to minimize the amount of bad people that you actually go on a date with a trap. So you can do that if you’re actually are online dating because then you can actually meet and talk to the people and not waste that $16 on a cocktail. Audra: You’re narrowing them down, which is a good thing to do too. Because especially here in New York City, you got the cab, the transportation, like you said the drinks, it can add up really quickly. Whitney: Right. It can be more than it is to be $30 a month online dating. Audra: Yeah, that would make you bitter if you like the person you’re with. Whitney: Yeah, we don’t want you to be one day away from bitter or we don’t want you to have to move to these cities. These are the 10 least expensive cities to date in. Pittsburg, okay, Detroit, Sacramento, so California’s up there and that’s a high cost of living. Phoenix, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Orlando, Houston. So Dallas is in the top 10 most expensive, but Houston which is right down the street is the least expensive, number 9 and then Charlotte. Charlotte, North Carolina, cheapest place to date in. Audra: You’re not planning on moving to one of these cities though. And you do live in one of the expensive cities and you want to date, heaven forbid you want to go out on a date, there’s some things that you can do, you got some tips for us. Whitney: You got to recession proof your dating routine right now. You just have to. Okay, so the first one I would to say is you know, chi. Chi for free. Okay, it’s cute because there’s actually yoga studios, Lulu Lemon is one of them, I love Lulu Lemon, but they offer free yoga seminars and yoga classes on the weekends. So you can check your schedules and ask the woman to go to yoga, it’s not like you’re you know, running 8 miles together so it’s a good time to know if she even has a center. Audra: Find her center. You also saying museums, a lot of people starting to do this more and more especially with the economy. Whitney: Easy free museums, usually museums offer one night a week free. Find out when it is and take your date there. Free. Audra: Alright, a couple of other ideas you have on here earth dates, book signings and also the arcade which is fun you can kind of go back to your childhood. Whitney: Yeah, just throw some quarters in, play a little Pacman, you can see his competitive side you’ll get the pheromones flying. Earth day, bring him to a park, volunteer, I think it was 40% of the people surveyed on Match.com actually said that they would prefer if they’re going to have a cheap date to go to have a picnic in the park. So it’s a pretty good option. The other one that you mentioned? Audra: Book signing. Whitney: Book signings. Hello, I’m an author. Book signings are so good. Look, you know what, celebrities, sports agents, all these people come to bookstores right near you. Audra: And what are the most disastrous dates you said? Most people said the beach, so we’re not going to the beach. Whitney: We’re not putting on our bikini thing. God, winter is coming. Leave it for that. Audra: Go to the book signing instead. Thanks so much, Whitney.