A cinema, an Uber, three cocktails… and there you have it, a simple meeting can end up costing the price of a weekend! This tendency to spend on dates has a name: “date-flation”. In other words, the inflation experienced during romantic dates. The good news? It is still possible to change the way you love and spend, according to our psychologist.
When going out becomes a source of stress
Today, a simple date can quickly turn into a real financial headache. Where to go without blowing your budget? Who pays? And if the other insists on making a good restaurant, what can you say? (without sounding like a cheapskate). So many questions that can add additional pressure to what are already often stressful beginnings…
“Yes, love is expensive. Well… dates especially,” confirms Amélie Boukhobza. “Between the price of a glass of wine, not to mention the cocktail, or even the slightest soda, restaurants where the bill almost looks like a consumer credit and the slightest “original” outing which is overpriced, romantic encounters can become complex…”.
Result ? Some people feel a form of guilt when they propose something simpler: they fear being judged, or even seeming stingy/not invested or attractive enough. However, in the first meetings, many still try to “perform” in front of the other person. And when the budget doesn’t follow, seducing can be even more difficult.
Love codes that evolve
Faced with this “date-flation”, habits are fortunately changing little by little. The traditional candlelight dinner is no longer necessarily the norm. And finally, maybe that’s not a bad thing! Not only because these romantic dates should not (always) cost as much, but also because “simpler” dates also leave more room for sincere exchanges. Because ultimately, in a meeting, what we should look for above all is a real connection (and not lobster snacked on the bottom of our plate).
“The codes of yesteryear, dinner, drinks, the cinema, going out… must change a little, at least for some”,
recognizes Amélie Boukhobza.
And this simplicity can even become an advantage in relationships. “A walk. A coffee during the day. A picnic on the sand or in a park. A free exhibition. A market. Or sport, that’s nice too!”, recalls the expert.
Far from dim lights and salty additions, these moments leave more room for authenticity, spontaneity, the true “self”. So why not give it a try?
What if inflation made dating more real?
Basically, this development also questions our relationship to seduction. Do we really need to spend a lot to create links? Wouldn’t a simpler meeting – away from the glitterati – allow us to see more quickly if the feeling is going well?
Amélie Boukhobza believes, in any case, that this transformation can have something positive.
“It will leave more room for meeting after all. Silence, conversation, embarrassment perhaps. In short, true compatibility!” she concludes.
Because when the setting becomes less important, the essential remains: two people learning to discover each other. And finally, this is perhaps where the meeting really begins…