For some, the thought of using a coupon on a date is taboo, but with sites like Living Social and Groupon, it isn’t even just a matter of saving money—these are online marketplaces where there are a plethora of date options available that happen to have savings opportunities built into them.
Granted, most people may not want to whip out a coupon on a first date. OK, let’s take first dates almost out of the equation. Many people do have some budgetary restrictions that may keep them from doing all the things that they would want to do on a date, so coupons are a good way to go for dates two or three and up. No one wants to seem cheap, but using coupons are an intelligent option. Why pay more than you have to even if you can?
Now, to explain the “almost” taking coupons out of the picture for the first date or three. If you are not in a relationship or on at least an upward trajectory of dating someone, getting tickets for something or getting a two-for one dinner option could be a good way to break the ice and ask someone out. All you need to do is let them know that you bought this deal because you didn’t want to miss it and would love it if they could join you. Fess up. Say this event or restaurant sounded great and you want them to enjoy it with you. It is honest and may get you a date, especially if you share the same interests and your schedules line up. Most of these kinds of coupons aren’t too time specific, so you could also give an open ended invitation and say something like, “I want to try this in the next week or so, and I wanted to know if you would like to join me?” Give a specific date option, but be open for a counter. And if it is a not, and the date of the activity is flexible, you may get motivated to try asking someone else out.
If you are getting more serious and aren’t with a gold digger, having a conversation about using coupons on future dates do not need to be awkward. You can just say, Hi, I was looking around Living Social and found this awesome coupon for two to do X, Y, and Z. Do you want to do this with me on X?” Easy peasy.
When it comes to using coupons on dates, the sites Groupon, Living Social and others like them usually have their coupons set up by categories like Events, Activities, Health, Food & Drink and of course, they also have a marketplace of fun things to buy. Many of these categories contain items that are great for dates and they even have some gift items that you can get on your own without the person ever knowing that you saved a bundle and got them something that they will love.
The Events and Activities sections are great to go for dates, without needing to worry about bruising your ego by using a coupon. These can be bought in advance and usually are good for up to four months, but this is where can discover some really great dates. Sometimes you will need to do this far in advance, maybe before you have a date in mind, but you can find cheaper tickets to concerts, comedy, conventions and food festivals.
You can type in what you are looking for on coupon marketplace sites and get some great options. Say you want a couple’s massage, but don’t know where to go and your wallet isn’t as powerful as you would like, you can explore and find some suitable options. Still, use common sense, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Rely on customer reviews and places like Yelp to double check and see if this place is worthwhile. If you save money and have a terrible time, then the savings aren’t worth it at all.
Now food and drink coupons may be regarded a bit differently. It is more conspicuous to pull out a coupon in a restaurant than it is if you have one for an event, but if using a coupon gives you the ability to go on more dates or explore places you typically cannot afford, then using these valuable money savers could be worth it to you. Also, foodies love to try new places and using coupons may broaden your palate’s horizons.
With restaurants, the coupons fall into three categories: places you frequent often, places you want to try and places that are so local that trying them out with a coupon is a good idea so you can see if this is a place you would like to patronize again.
Now with restaurant coupons, in addition to exploring the discount marketplaces like Groupon and Living Social, you can look through circulars or browse online or on social media to find other deals.
Just avoid awkward moments by confirming your plan in advance. It gets rid of the stigma if you casually say you wanted to try this place with them and saw this deal and thought it would be worth a try.
Using coupons gives daters more option for activities and saves so much money. By saving money when you can, you will be able to save up for a special date where unfortunately no coupons are allowed.
End the stigma and explore coupons and improve your options, the trick is to let your date know about the coupon in advance.
