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Selecting a bottle of wine at a restaurant is the most stressful part of dining out. When you’re staring at the oversized wine menu looking at a bunch of words you can’t pronounce, you try to find the staple words that will get you through – normally, they’ll be simple like sauvignon blanc, merlot, chardonnay, pinot noir, and cabernet. Once you’ve nailed down something you think is acceptable, you have to figure out a way to relay that information to the waiter without simply saying, “The cheapest bottle on the menu.” With hesitance, you choose the second cheapest bottle on the menu which is probably anywhere from $7 to $10 more expensive than the cheapest. You bite the bullet and realize that no matter how hard you try, you’re in for an expensive night.
Dating goes nothing like it does in the movies. No, you’re never going to run through a secret park in New York City together. The Cranberries never play when you’re skipping down the street. And no, not every guy looks like early-90s Tom Hanks or mid-2000s Matthew McConaughey. Largely, dating is a time and money suck that most people get so fed up with that they just get as drunk as possible and hope for the best. While that method is respected nationwide, it can also add up.
Match.com did a survey of a shit-ton of singles across the country analyzing their spending habits finding that the average person spent $1,596 in 2016, with men spending an average of $1,855 and women spending $1,423. Obviously, singles in major metro areas spent more than those in rural areas, with Washington D.C. ($1,788) and New York ($2,069) coming in as heavy-hitters.
When I first saw these figures, I thanked my lucky stars that I’m not currently single. That is, until I started adding things up and realizing that single people actually have it great. It should come as no surprise that hitting the bars in hopes of getting in a conversation with someone you deem acceptable can get expensive weekend-in and weekend-out, but that’s child’s play when you think about everything you don’t have to pay for. Gifts for every holiday, birthday, and anniversary with dinners included? I’ve probably spent my share of $1,855 on those select nights alone. Hell, I’d love to be exclusively spending my money on vodka-sodas served in plastic cups and once-a-month dates that include cheap bottles of wine like the ones mentioned above.
The average number Match came up with include “bar tabs and dating site memberships, but also includes haircuts, manicures and new date outfits; entrance fees to dating events and money spent on matchmakers.” And honestly, you probably shouldn’t be spending any money on memberships or matchmakers (see: here) because dating is just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Stay on the path of bar tabs and the occasional date.
And a pro tip? Just go with the cheapest bottle on the menu and point to it if you can’t pronounce it – chances are that it doesn’t taste any better or worse than the bottles below it. .
[via The Washington Post]
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Will
Will (Twitter / Instagram) is the host of The Sunday Scaries Podcast.
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What’s worse, spending all of your money trying to find a girlfriend or spending all of your money because of your girlfriend on things that you normally wouldn’t spend any money on?
Second is worst. In my opinion.
In an ideal world, the second is much worse.
In reality, you’re going to spend more money with a girlfriend anyway because you can’t sit around in PJs and watch Netflix 24/7 and need to actually go do stuff. And doing stuff costs money.
Had a girlfriend all of last calendar year and my yearly expense at restaurants/bars came to ~$7500 according to the panic-attack inducing “year-end summary” Chase sent me. If that isn’t essentially paying for sex then idk what is
Those year end summaries would go straight in the trash for me. Yikes.
I am both poor and single yet loving life, perspective man.
Full disclosure, I legit couldn’t think of a title for this news write-up and just did this. It really doesn’t relate to the content of the column at all.
Kick us while we’re down for some extra clicks? I have feelings, you know.
Ha I think my title actually made this less clickable than everything else I toyed with.
I’m disappointed, I expect nothing but the clickbaitiest of clickbait titles.
Being poor and divorced is no way to go through life either, Will.
The second cheapest bottle is always the worst on the list – restaurants know that nobody wants to order the cheapest bottle and order their prices accordingly.
Last paragraph.
Counterpoint: Yes it is.
How much Todd spends on his relationship each calendar year?
At least 3 grand, his dignity, and his independence.
Does that 3 grand include retail therapy or just dates?
That seems wildly low to me…a glance at my Mint account tells me I drop about $400/month on restaurants and bars, so ~$4,800 a year. I get that it’s an average but still, guess I need to slow my roll
Honestly, the math makes sense on your end.
$400/m = $100/week, = $15/day.. it’s just expensive in the wild.
This article made me feel less bad about spending 1/3 of my pay on vices and eating out
” Largely, dating is a time and money suck that most people get so fed up with that they just get as drunk as possible and hope for the best.” Story of my dating life.
Get out of here with that name
Just @ Duda, Will jeez
Come on. Duda spends about $65 a year on dating at best. $0 on condoms