text BECKY BERGUM
Thepart-timers/compartmentalisers got two nights in theconceptof
Morefrugal
‘foodiecall’(as in‘bootycall’), coined after a 2019
in this economy I’mma take it.”
studyfoundnearly25%
ofheterosexualwomenhave gone on a date with a guy they wer-
en’t interested in, just for a free meal.
We’ve all seen viral stories of this ilk – like the woman who went on six dates a week for two years so she didn’t have to buy groceries
– but most are clickbait. New app DineMe lets you test this method out awkwardness-free,
though,givenitsentirepremiseisdecidingwho pays for the bill ahead of the date. Think what you will, but “nothing tastes as good as free food feels” (Becky Burgum, 2024). As Hallie, 25,
puts it: “If there’s a chance to get wined and dined,
Themoneysavers theslowandsteadylonggame.
messages are answered within 24 hours.
Back when I was dating, I could only bring myself to engage with the app between the hours of 10pm and 12am. There were a few times I was berated for replying over a year after someone’s first message.
Obviously,Iwashugelyunsuccessful.Accordingto
Tinder, 77% of users reply to messages within 30
minutes, 40% within five minutes and over a third replyimmediately.Hingedatasupportsthis,showing a44%higherchanceofreceivingresponseswhen yourlifeandsapyourfragilesouldry?Appslike
But what if you don’t want dating to take over
Thursday, where you can only match and chat once a week, prove it is possible to be a more successful part-timer than me. For London-based Matt*, 29,
it’s the only app he’s managed to keep up with.
“I’m a chilled guy, some would say too chilled,” he says. “I’m an awful texter, so cutting out the days-
long preamble has been a lifesaver – I still get in troubleonceweswapnumbers,though.”Whether you’re~protectingyourenergy~orjustcan’tbe arsed,thepart-timecrewaremarathonersleading get more bang (not literally) for your buck.
Many of us feel like our bank accounts are being ripped a new one when dating, but there are certain savvy daters not letting meet-ups dictate weeks of beans on toast dinners. This can be as innocent as daytimedateswithoutdrinking,AKAthe‘daylight savings trend’, and using oddly timed happy hours to
Josh*, 26, from Manchester, estimates he’s saved with discounted cinema tickets. “I’m sure it was a hundredsbyonlyeverdatingduringhappyhoursand turn-off for some,” he says, but his girlfriend of two years took it in her stride – they’ve even extended thismiserlyapproachintotheirrelationship.“We’ve even been on Groupon mystery holiday packages and
Milanfor£99each.”
stillis the
“Meeting on the internet has become our default. AI is just the next frontier” Artem
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