I took my teenage son to the movies the other day. One of those rare times when it is just him and me, no siblings, no friends for either of us.
Total cost to get in: $12, for a matinee. Heck, it was 11 am. What is that, a pre-matinee?
Two Dasani waters, a large blueberry Icee, and a medium popcorn later, almost another $20. So we are at $32 now and we haven't even sat down yet.
Afterward we went to a steak and sushi place and splurged a bit -- total bill was just less than 50 bucks. Sure we could have gone to some hamburger joint, but I like to do nice things with my kids once in awhile.
He's at the age where he is starting to go on "group dates" with friends and we always end up talking about relationships. We got to talking about dating and how much it costs. When I told him that what we had just done is how most people do dating, and the total bill was going to come in just under $100, he got a little pale.
Which is what most people do when faced with the challenge of dating during the time of recession.
A colleague of mine, and a great relationship expert, Michael Webb has a great solution to dating in the time of recession. His best selling ebook "300 Creative Dates" is chock full of great dating ideas, many of which you can bring in for under $20.
Here is a recent date I created with inspiration from Michael's book.
We grabbed a board game and went down to a park on the river. Played the board game on a picnic table next to the river. She drank a glass of wine, I drank a glass of water. (I was driving.) Took a walk along the river and talked.
Total cost of date:
Board game -- already had it. By the way, you can learn a lot about someone from the way they play Monopoly.
Bottle of wine -- already had it.
Bottle of water -- $1.50
Walk along the river -- free.
Spending time getting to know someone on a beautiful day -- priceless. (You knew that was coming, didn't you?)
So my advice to you is this: drop the worn out "dinner-and-a-movie" dates and get creative. You will have a better time, save some bucks, and just might get to know someone a little better.
And to get access to "300 Creative Dates" by Michael Webb, visit http://www.GreatDatesDoneCheap.com
FYI: Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship.
Jeff Herring, MS, LMFT, is a marriage and family therapist. E-mail him at jeff@jeffherring.com or, for more tips and tools for living you can visit JeffHerringOnline.com. For information on great relationships visit AsktheRelationshipCoach.com.
