I've asked this question before, but as I'm drawing to the end of my 52 weeks, I thought I'd ask the question to myself. So I tabulated memberships and event costs and here's where I stand. I must give a disclaimer before I start. Some of the dating websites (i.e., Match & Christian Café offered me free membership for 6 months because of my own website), so I didn't come out of pocket for them. But I counted all 12 months anyway because my own website cost (which I'm not figuring in), so I think they balance out. I also calculated payment based on a monthly subscription. There are huge discounts if you pay months in advance, but some people don't want to risk it should they not like the service, so I steered my calculations in that direction. Also, I didn't take part in some of the online dating the entire time. Here are the totals: Match.com - $39.99 X 12 = $479.88 Christian Café - $34.95 X 12 = $419.40 Eharmony - $59.95 X 3 = $179.85 BlackPeopleMeet - $18.90 X 3 = $56.70 Plenty of Fish – Free Speed Dating total - $145.00 Grand total: $1275.83 It seems like a large chunk of money. It's actually not too far off from what some of the lower end matchmakers want to pay, which is between $1200 - $1500. My method feels like it hurts the purse strings less because it's spread out over months, with the option of canceling at any time. But it requires much more effort. It would be nice to know what the matchmakers success rates are - or do a comparison between self-initiated dates verses and matchmakers. From all the friends that I personally know who tried matchmakers, I'd say fewer of them ended in a relationship, but perhaps having to do as much "leg work" makes it more valuable. So would you spend $1300 in one year to find love? What's the most that you've spent in a 12 month period?
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