The first date can make or break a potential relationship. But does that mean that you should just throw in all your chips on a fantastically expensive date?
My opinion on that subject is NO! Not because I’m a miser, but because it’s a waste of your financial resources.
Think about it, it’s a fail-fail situation if you’re just an average guy making average wages.
If you spend a bomb on a fancy dinner date at a Michelin starred restaurant that lands you a second date – but you’re broke for the rest of the month, you fail.
If your date enjoys the fine dining but doesn’t enjoy your company, you fail.
So how the hell can you win?
Well, you can win by taking your date out to some fun places that will still leave you with plenty of cash in your wallet for more dates!
Here are 3 such places:
1. Take Your Date Ice Skating
Price for Two: $50.00+
Unless your date happens to be a fantastic ice skater, chances are pretty good that this activity will probably be a pleasant surprise for your date.
If your date is scared, even better, it’ll give you a chance to hold her hand while you skate so you can come off as the protective and comforting guy that she’ll want to date again!
Even if you don’t know how to skate, you and your date can still have fun laughing at each other when you both fall while learning. The point is to have fun (without going broke) after all!
Here are several ice skating rinks in Singapore you can visit:
- The Rink – Located at JCube in Jurong East, this skating rink offers two-hour sessions for you to skate with your date. Plus, this rink even has “Disco Night” on Friday and Saturday evenings. Even better, if you want to catch a movie, there’s a Golden Village (GV) theatre at JCube too.
- Marina Bay Sands Skating Rink – Located at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Shopping Center, this rink is great for skating, but if you’re looking to save money on dining out, it’s probably not somewhere you want to be.
- Kallang Ice World – Located at Leisure Park Kallang, this rink is a standard, no-frills place to get your skate on. But a great think about this place is that it offers 50% off entrance fees if you skate after 9pm! Plus, there are plenty of affordable dining establishments at Leisure Park Kallang.
2. Take Your Date to the Art Science Museum
Price for Two: $50+
Right next door to MBS Shopping Center is the Bloomin’ Onion – I mean, the Art Science Museum (sorry, the damn building looks so much like Outback Steakhouse’s “Bloomin’ Onion” starter!).
If you’ve been there, great! If you haven’t been there, great! The point is that it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been there or not.
The Art Science Museum features numerous travelling exhibitions each year, which means you’ll get to visit some new artsy or science-related exhibit every two or three months.
To give you an idea of what kinds of exhibits you can expect at the Art Science museum, here are some previous exhibits:
- Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb
- Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
- The Art of the Brick (Lego Exhibition)
- Dali: Mind of a Genius Exhibition
- Harry Potter: The Exhibition
Currently, the exhibitions running at the Art Science Museum are Dinosaurs: Dawn to Extinction and Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life 1990-2005.
I know, some of you might be scratching your head because you think museums are “boring.” If that’s so, take her ice skating. But if you want to have engaging conversations with your date over an interesting exhibits, you can’t go wrong (or broke) with the Art Science Museum! Also, Singaporean residents get a discount on admission so you can save a little more on the trip.
3. Take Your Date to the Trick Eye Museum
Price for Two: $50+
Resorts World Sentosa is definitely not a place you want to visit if you’re looking to keep from going broke. But there is a place there that’s not as expensive as Universal Studio Singapore (USS) and definitely not as depressing as Fort Siloso (again, not disparaging Fort Siloso, I’m a history buff).
That place is called the Trick Eye Museum. No, I’m not trying to troll you – that’s really the name of the museum! It’s a new museum that’s located near the Waterfront part of RWS right next to the “Malaysian Food Street” food court.
Now, this is a place that’ll probably blow your date’s mind, especially if she’s a creative type that loves art and trippy-ass movies from directors like Tim Burton or Darren Aronofsky.
Basically, this museum revolves around going through trippy “scenes” that are painted on a wall that showcases 2D images with 3D elements – creating optical illusions that make it appear like you’re participating in the scene itself!
It’s definitely a place that’ll induce more than a few laughs or “wows” from your date. Just don’t forget to bring a camera with you to capture the “scenes” yeah?
Final Note: You can still take your date on the “classic” dinner and a movie outing you don’t like any of the suggestions above. It’s a tried and true dating method that has been leading to second dates for generations – and it won’t leave you broke (most of the time).
Just make sure that you check out your credit card benefits before deciding to pay with cash though, as some credit cards offer great entertainment rewards such as discounts on RWS attractions, 1-for-1 drinks, 1-for-1 dinners, and 1-for-1 movie tickets!
If you don’t already have a decent “entertainment” credit card, you can find a great one by clicking here.
What are some other fun places for a first date that won’t leave you penniless? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook! For even more useful information on everything personal finance, visit MoneySmart today!
Images:
Mattew Stockman / Getty Images, Xeero, Today Online