Monthly cost of dating exceeds 4,000 liras

ISTANBUL

The minimum monthly cost of dating and engagement in Türkiye exceeds 4,000 Turkish Liras ($214), a research conducted by a shopping website has revealed.

A shopping website asked its randomly selected 1,000 members, aged between 27 and 35, about their spending while they hang out with their partners.

During the dating and engagement period, which lasts for two years, couple meet 10 times on average a month to attend various events or to go out for dinner, the results revealed.

In the first year of the relationship, as the average cost of each meeting is 400 liras ($22), the participants stated that the minimum monthly cost of a serious relationship is 4,000 liras.

The money spent on meals eaten and gifts given on special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day, birthdays and New Year’s Eve, reaches 13,000 liras ($693) per year.

With other expenses, dating couples spend 55,000 liras ($2,900) in the first year of their relationship.

According to the participants, as the relationship starts to settle down in the second year, the meeting costs decrease.

Each meeting in the second year costs 250 liras ($14), while 10,000 liras ($532) is spent on gifts and special day meals.

The average cost of the marriage proposal ritual during this period is some 3,000 liras ($160).

According to the results of the gender-related questions about account payments in the relationship, the first month of the expenditures are predominantly made by men, while women also contribute to the payments in the following months.

Some 20 percent of the participants reported that men paid the bill on dates after the first months, while 75 percent stated that couples “go Dutch,” which means sharing the cost equally.

The rate of women paying the bill alone is 5 percent.

Sevda Köseibiş, an official from the shopping website, said that spending during dating and engagement periods is not limited to meetings, and men and women spend serious money on clothing, skin care, hairdressing and sports in order to look charming to their partners.