Rainy Day Pennies | Debt Free Living and Personal Finance

Ahhhh love and money.  Apparently people have a little more time on their hands to find that special someone.  Maybe they’re looking to settle down with someone to split the rent?

The Economist: A Boom in Online Dating

When I first moved to Seattle, I found the dating scene to be a little – odd.  It was a city full of professional, successful singles.  Maybe too successful.  Too many seemed more interested in staying single.

Maybe I was especially unlucky, but I seemed to get all the commitment phobes.  We would have a nice date, say we would go out again…then we never went out again.  Hmm.  I got to the point where I figured it was some sort of polite local lingo that “I had fun!  Let’s go out again!” meant, “We’ll never go out again”.  I felt like a country gal – I didn’t get it.  Didn’t having fun with someone mean you should hang out again?  I found out later there was a name for it – “The Seattle Freeze”.

Yep, yep.  I bought the book He’s Just Not That Into You while I tried to figure it out.

In my utter state of confusion, one of my friends made the observation that singles life in Seattle is good.  Very good.  There isn’t a whole lot of incentive for people to make lasting relationships.  Singles here are usually successful, career oriented people who can afford the singles lifestyle, the house and the car without the messy stuff that goes into relationships.  They can avoid the possible disappointment altogether.

What’s your take?  Why is online dating enrollment up during the recession?  Why the newfound interest in finding a partner?

Filed under:
Recession Living by Cathy