The first date wasn’t all that impressive to you in terms of the extravagance of the activity.

And now, you are wondering whether he is cheap and a red flag.

After all, you were expecting him to do something more thoughtful and costly on a date.

Not that you want him to spend all his savings on you, but you believe that when a man puts in the time to plan a more elaborate date and spends a good amount of money that aligns with the activity, he is demonstrating that he is taking you seriously and has skin in the game.

Thanks to social media, many women have gotten the impression that a man has to take them on an expensive dinner or do something substantial to demonstrate that he values the girl he is supposedly about to start courting.

You see all these photos of women at expensive dinners with shots of their food or see them dressing up for an expensive first date.

With all of these images being fed into your social media feed again and again, it’s next to impossible not to be impacted by it.

All of a sudden, you start having expectations in your own love life of how a guy should date you.

You believe that he should immediately impress you on a first date and subsequent dates by taking you to expensive activities.

Keep in mind that a man’s genuine intentions about you aren’t dependent on how much money he spends on you on a first date.

Rather, it’s in him showing up, his conversation, and whether he wants to see you again moving forward.

A cheap first date isn’t a red flag and is in no way an indication that he is cheap.

As life has become overtaken with technology, where we can do just about everything with that minicomputer we walk around with called a smartphone, many men are in the loop of what is happening in popular culture in regard to dating.

Thanks to the popularity of dating apps and social media, many men are aware of how much attention women receive on these platforms and how many dates they are asked out on.

He knows that many of these women go out on dates with guys they have no romantic interest in.

Rather, they go out with these men, accepting expensive first dates so as to feel good about themselves and take some great photos for their social media followers.

The same photos you see often on your social media feed.

Sadly, these expensive first dates go nowhere for a majority of these men.

Even if this man isn’t one of those men, he learns.

He realizes that planning out an expensive and extravagant first date isn’t a good idea.

To him, a woman with this expectation on a first date is a red flag.

To filter out the women who are authentically interested in him from those that are looking to take advantage, he suggests a simple, inexpensive first date such as a walk, coffee date, frozen yogurt, etc.

Don’t be so quick to throw him under the bus for doing a simple, inexpensive first date.

He is still taking the time out to be with you in person, and the fact that he didn’t ask you to dinner or drinks is a strong indication that he doesn’t have ulterior motives after the date.

As in, asking to come back to your place or you coming to his.

Having set up and paid for an expensive activity on a first date, some men see that as a license to sleep with the girl.

On an inexpensive and simple first date, you don’t have to worry about him just wanting to sleep with you.

If anything, this should be a relief.

As long as you are fun and interesting on the first date, more elaborate and expensive dates are imminent.

Remember, the key on the first date is to find out whether there is real chemistry between you, not to determine how much he is willing to spend on you.

This is not the measure of a man with genuine intentions.