As a person who has done my fair share of dating, and even split or picked up some tabs along the way, I was thinking how much does it cost to find the real love of your life ?
For starters the place to begin is what it costs to go out on a date or dating in general. Even if you’re a woman who goes out on a lot of first dates expecting the man to pay there is still a cost. It costs money to buy outfits, get your nails and hair done and so on.
If we don’t get into the who picks up the tab discussion (a topic we recently wrote about) and look at just the actual cost, it may surprise you. According to Match.com’s most recent Singles in America survey the annual cost of dating for a man is $1,855 and a woman is $1,423. Not such a gender gap after all.
So that covers the cost of dating but how much does it cost to find the real love of your life ?
Believe it or not there is a company based in Toronto who actually studies this every year and you guessed it. The price tag goes up every year. The 2018 Cost of Love study from RateSupermarket.ca is $72,082.57 which is a whopping 8% higher over 2017. It does seem that inflation is definitely alive and well in the love business. Included in that number is the cost of a wedding. Bu there’s more ! This is in Canadian dollars so tack on another 25% in the United States so lets say approximately $90,000+
Now let’s get back to the whole process of what it actually costs to find that true love of your life in the first place. We know that dating apps are relatively cheap but what about the hours and hours spent getting to know someone or even first dates ? This may be a cost that is hard to calculate. For each of us our time has different value, but one thing is for sure, we can never get that time back.
For a growing number of people, especially busy professionals or people burned out over the whole online dating world (being catfished, meeting creeps, criminals, married people, etc) they now turn to dating coaches or professional matchmakers.
Dating coaches can very helpful to hone your skills at weeding out bad people or learning how to spot someone who is not right very quickly.
A matchmaker can really save time as they learn to understand you and your needs, so they in turn can potentially find a better match then you can. Or just as important, if time is valuable, save you time. But in major cities like New York City or Los Angeles a good matchmaker can be pricey. Out publisher works with a number of these companies and it’s not uncommon to see $25,000 in fees associated with the process.
Please don’t forget the value of your time or even your peace of mind. I have spoken to quite a few women, even friends, who have wasted so much time, money and energy in dating that the thought of an easier way, even with a hefty price tag, is welcome news.
We previously published a story on how low the number of people who actually found a lasting relationship from dating apps and it was in the single digit percentile (5% – 9%) compared to many matchmakers who claim 85% or higher success rates. Dating coaches are right up there with success rates as well.
The moral of the story here is when we ask how much does it cost to find the real love of your life ? I guess it depends just as much on how much you value your time as much as the actual monetary costs or your sanity for that matter.