Dating in college. A reason why some people go to college. Yes this is true. Dating life is often a criteria used by many when it comes to deciding between a few schools. Dating in college is also one thing that we’ll always remember. We won’t remember the exhausting early morning lectures on a Monday or that guy with the really long hair sitting in the front row. The nervous feeling at the beginning of the first date followed by the new found confidence a few weeks later, meeting a life long partner, staying up until the late hours of the night when you have an exam the next morning– these are all memories that we will take with us from college.

For those of you that love down to Earth advice that is free of judgment, let’s look at a few ways you can date in college when you have no money:

Stop relying on liquid confidence.

You will go broke beyond your wildest imagination if you’re constantly relying on alcohol to fuel your dating life. The greatest expense by far for most college students when it comes to dating is alcohol. I’m not going to be a hypocrite here and tell you not to drink. However, there are many ways to save money in this area and I want to touch upon a few of them.

  • Realize how stupid you look. Getting a social buzz is fine. Being the guy that’s puking in the middle of a bar is embarrassing. You may feel confident with all of the beers in your system but trust me my friend, girls can tell that you are drunk beyond any belief. How cool is that?
  • Drink at home. Drinks at a restaurant will kill you. Honestly. A beer at a restaurant can easily go for $5. Six beers mixed in with some food and there goes your budget for the week.
  • Stop buying girls drinks. I don’t know who started this trend but it needs to end. It’s perfectly acceptable to treat your girlfriend to a drink. It’s flat out dumb to be buying drinks for every girl you see in the club just to gain their attention. You not only instantly devalue yourself, but you also spend unnecessary money.

Enjoy the day time.

Most college students wait until the night time for dates or to go out to meet someone. Why? What’s so bad about the day time? Going for a coffee can be much cheaper than going for martinis. There are plenty of people out during the day. Instead of waiting for the sun to go down, enjoy it while it’s still up.

Movie nights.

Once you get past the first impression part and get comfortable with each other, you can begin to start having cheap nights. There’s nothing like a movie night. The only challenging part is concluding a movie that the both of you will enjoy. My only tip here is to accept the fact that you’ll likely never agree on the same movie. Just rent two movies.

Escape early.

Gentlemen, if a female you’re trying to court is expecting expensive 5 course dinners and $12 martinis in the first few weeks then run away! You have nobody to impress in college, but your professors and future employers. I know that it’s easier said than done, but do you really need to be spending money that you don’t have on those that don’t matter?

So the answer is yes. Yes it is possible to date in college when you’re broke.

Please let me know what you thought about today’s post. I would like to cover more “college life” related topics in my articles here at Financial Highway. Is there anything in specific that you would like me to write about? Please do share any feedback that you may have.

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Martin Dasko

Martin Dasko