Eight tips for the cheapest online dating experience

Are you interested in online dating but wondering if it’s really worth your time and more importantly your money? It’s true that online dating can be of great help when you’re looking for that significant other but it’s also a fact that it can cost you a pretty penny. We’ve put together a list of tips to get the cheapest online dating offers while looking for love online.

1. Read up

The best thing that you can do before you sign up anywhere is to find out whether this site is really for you. Do they have enough members in your area? Is the site user-friendly? Would you find like-minded people there? Is it a trustworthy site? How much does it cost? What’s included in the price? What kind of extras are offered on the site. A lot of this information is included in our dating site reviews here but if that’s not enough you can also sign up on a site as a free member and shop around before you decide to pay for anything. There’s no point committing yourself to a site if you’re actually not going to use it because you don’t really like it.

2. Calculate the costs

Even though there might be dating sites that initially seem cheap, the long-time subscription might not turn out to be that cheap after all. If you think you might be in for the long run then it’s perhaps worth investing in a good quality dating site that will work out best for you over several months. Even Match.com which is generally considered to be quite expensive works out as only £12.99 per month if you join them for six months.

3. Go for the cheapest dating sites

If you’re sure you don’t want to commit for a longer period than a month there are even a few dating sites where you can buy just one month subscription for less than £20. There are even some sites that let you join for three or five days for less than a tenner so that you could get a feel of the place. Have a look at our cheapest dating sites that have a monthly cost lower than £20 and decide for yourself if you’re interested or not.

4. Look out for freebies

Occasionally we advertise different dating offers right here on our blog so keep your eyes open. Occasionally pages even as big as Match and eHarmony have free communication days when you can talk to anyone on the site for free. If you’re quick, you can maybe make a few acquaintances in those three days that are free for you. If not, at least you know what’s on offer.

5. Pay attention to the offers

Even if there aren’t free communication weekends, there are still different offers that dating sites have every now and then – usually something like 50% off 6 month subscription. Keep your eye open to those because sometimes they really DO pay off. For example, as we’re writing this article Match has a 56% offer off six-months subscription and Guardian Soulmates givs you a 20% discount on any of their standard rates.

6. Be clever

Recently we discovered a hidden way how to get a free Match subscription for one month – and you can read a detailed tutorial there. This is a nifty way how to cut costs when using online dating and it helps you to save up quite a pretty sum.

7. Use a mobile app

There are quite a few smartphone mobile dating apps these days that are much cheaper to use than the proper online dating websites. Sure, some of them aren’t as extensive and handy to use but they’ll do the work. For example, you can get Match app for only a fiver for a week or £15 for a month.

8. Use a free site

Let’s face it – most of the free sites aren’t as good as paid sites. People who are there know that they can just stop using the site at any given moment without this costing them anything so some of them have joined up just to kill time or relieve boredom. If you’re looking for a real thing it’s not very nice to stumble upon someone who only joined up to have something to do at lunch hour. At the same time, surely there are also those people there who are like you – serious about dating but not able to afford the dating site costs. If you’re patient, open-minded and willing to put in some work you can get a very good dating experience on a free site as well as a paid site. Have a look at our TOP 10 UK Dating sites article, it mentions a few free sites too, which are the best in our estimation.

Cheapest Online Dating Tips: Conclusion

These are our top tips for you if you’re looking for a way how to save money when using online dating sites. We hope you succeed in finding that perfect site for you without having to pay more than you can afford. While it’s only logical that if you want to have a good service you have to be prepared to fork out some money – as they say, there are no free lunches – you can still look out for cheaper options. We wish you the best of luck.

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About the Author

Aet Suvari has been reviewing and writing about the world of online dating since 2008 and the launch of Online Dating Help. A stickler for promoting ethical practices within the UK dating industry she champions the sites that get it right while highlighting those holding it back. You can follow her on Google+