Love can hurt — your bank account

AMY SAYS...

The first date is just the start of what may turn out to be the largest spending spree of your life. With the average courtship before a marriage lasting about two and a half years, dating is an increasingly expensive venture. Flowers, presents, dinners, and movie tickets are just the start of the list of items single men need to factor into their budgets, dating and relationship experts said. And don't even get us started on the costs of maintaining a long-distance romance.

By the time you head down the aisle, you can easily have spent more than $40,000 on vacations, jewelry, wedding expenses, and meals out, according to our calculations.

In extreme cases, some people are so intimidated by the cost of dating that they avoid it, said Pepper Schwartz, a sociology professor at the University of Washington who also serves as an adviser to the dating Web site Perfectmatch.com. "I've had men say to me, 'I just don't want to get into a relationship because it's going to cost me a tennis bracelet,'" Schwartz said. "But I don't think most people think about it. They feel true love is worth what it cost to get there."

Return of the cigs

GARETH SAYS...

After two months off the nicotine wagon Amy has fallen back on it. Bugger.

But all credit to Amy she is smoking significantly less than she used to - between 1 and 4 a day down from 20+

I'm still keen for that to be 0 but for now 1- 4 is pretty awesome. As a non-smoker i find it hard to understand why anyone would smoke. It takes everything and gives you nothing.

I want to grow old with Amy and spend as much time with her as possible. There is truck loads of information about how smoking significantly reduces the chances of this happening. That's why i want her to stop.

WARNING: SMOKING CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE TIME YOU SPEND WITH LOVED ONES IN LATER LIFE

OPRAH

AMY SAYS...


AMY SAYS...

OPRAH FUCKING HELP US!!!!!!

I didn't spend the money on stupid fucking clothes -- I WENT TO SCHOOL!!!! We need a MIRACLE!!!!

The ring

GARETH SAYS...
Here is a bit of a belated update on the proposal and the ring. Back in December (yep i decided i wanted to marry her that long ago) I found a jeweler in New York who helped you make your own engagement ring. Perfect i thought. As Amy is an artist i thought i'd arrange for her to make her own ring afterall who am i to tell her what the engagement ring should be like?!?! I thought it was a super plan. I got the jeweler to give me a box with some little lumps of white gold in and a precious stone. I stuck them into a blob of blu tac and presented Amy with this 'Do-It-Yourself' ring kit in the restaurant. I thought it was a great idea, Amy wasn't so sure....

AMY SAYS...
Gareth's idea for an engagement ring was very thoughtful. But, I know that if I made my own ring, I would think of myself every time I looked at it. I'd wonder if I had done a good job or not, if I should have made it differently etc... Ultimately, I would NOT be thinking about Gareth and I've always wanted an engagement ring, not necessarily an expensive one, but one that every time I looked at it, I would smile and think of my future husband - not question my jewlery making skills.

So we've decided to make each others wedding bands - super sweet!

GARETH SAYS...
So that is why Amy is currently wearing a $20 engagement ring from the market! Not the one in the picture! She wanted it but it didn't come in her size.

Sleepy's

AMY SAYS...

Yesterday I found myself walking into Sleepy's. My back was incredibly sore. I've been on a couch for 5 months and then on an air mattress for 5 months - I walked in and priced out a double bed with a pillow top. I sat on the bed and the sales woman said, "Go ahead, put your feet up." I looked at her with a crooked smile and hoisted my feet up on the bed. Oh my god it was so comfortable! My back sank in and I asked the woman, "Do you think sleeping on an air mattress for 5 months can hurt your back?"

She replied with a look of pity, "I can give you a deal on this full, I'll take off $50!"

"Ok, but I have to talk it over with my fiance."

I walked out in a hazy daze, day dreaming of the moment we would again lie down together on a real bed.

Maybe during ONB I can just take power naps at Sleepy's, after all their slogan is "We take good care of you" ;)

We are not alone...

GARETH SAYS...

I just found hundreds of student debt stories on the Student Loan Justice website - it makes for depressing reading.

Student Restaurant

We have found an interesting restaurant that we might go and splurge on one night. It’s a chef school where the students have to cater for paying guests each Friday. The menu is a set 4 courses and dead cheap - $36. But the best bit of all is the fact that it is BYOB!!!

If you are ever in new york you might want to book a table for yourselves.

Here's the menu for September 16th

Mushroom and Roasted Fennel Soup
Roasted Beets, Baby arugula, Toasted walnuts, and Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad
Lemon-Thyme Tofu, Sauteed Brocoli Rabe with Garlic, Rosemary Quinoa with Grilled Eggplant and
Kalamata Olives, Carmelized Onion Sauce
Apple Cake, Cinnamon Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce, Maple-Pecan Tuille

Whilst searching for this restaurant i stumbled across the this interesting article about student chefs having their dreams crushed by student debt...

"In the way that the work of directors like Martin Scorsese flooded film schools with students in the 1970s, and the television show “L.A. Law” packed law schools in the 1980s, the rise of celebrity chefs has been good for culinary schools. But would-be top chefs face a challenge that most lawyers, engineers or nurses do not: few jobs in their chosen field pay enough for them to retire their student loans."

Read more of the article here.