Are You A Cheap Date?
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Money in the 20s is a blog about personal finance, investing, the economy and business school. |
My first date with my husband almost didn’t happen. We’d been following – all right, I’ll admit it, stalking – each other around campus for weeks, but every time we tried to nail down plans to get together, something came up. Actually, it almost always came up on his end. “I’ve got to make up a comp sci lab,” he’s inform me nonchalantly over AIM; or, “Coach called an extra practice,” he’d say, referring to his spot on our university’s football team. Getting him to commit to a dinner off campus was like trying to convince him to open a joint bank account.
Eventually, though, we made it out, but with one stipulation on his part: he would get to choose the restaurant. I figured he was just a very picky eater, so I agreed. It wasn’t until the check arrived at our table after dinner that I realized why he’d made the request in the first place – he had a coupon for buy one, get one dinner entrees.
Are You A Cheap Date?
Turns out, my husband isn’t alone. A new survey by CouponCabin finds that 26 percent of U.S. adults have used a coupon or other discount on their first date. If you find that statistic surprising, check this out:
- 73 percent of adults said they would have a positive reaction if their date used a coupon to pay, and if all went well, would go out with that individual again
- 12 percent said they wouldn’t say anything if their date used coupons to pay, but wouldn’t go out with that person again
- 3 percent said they’d tell their date they were offended by the use of the coupon
- 1 percent would walk out on their date if he or she used a coupon
And it doesn’t have to be your first date to use a coupon. The CouponCabin survey also found that while nearly three-quarters of adults thought it was appropriate to use coupons at any time, nearly a third thought it was only appropriate if you were married or if you were a student.
How I Responded
Spoiler alert: as you noticed in the first paragraph of this story, the guy who pulled out the coupon on our first date ultimately became my husband, so obviously, I didn’t storm off in disgust. As the daughter of a financial professional who is more than a tad frugal herself, I’ve been brought up to embrace budgeting.
Over the years, though, I learned that my husband wasn’t always the thrifty guy I’d assumed he was on that first date. Sometimes, he splurged on unnecessary electronics or didn’t think twice before choosing the more expensive of two adjacent gas stations. But on that first date, I saw a spark of his financial philosophy, one that was very similar to mine. It showed me that, in one very important way that many young couples overlook, we were actually quite compatible.
And, as they say, now you know the rest of the story…
Reader, would or have you used coupons on a first date?
