Nowadays we associate dates with social norms such as bowling or going out to restaurant, it really goes to show that there can’t be one definition of a date, despite what Google tells you, considering it does give a dictionary definition. Regardless of personal beliefs, for the purpose of this article we’ll be associating dates with spending time trying to get to know, or to get closer to, your significant other or even simply a friend. With that established, what I’m hoping to shed some light on is how $5 dates are perceived; the mindset people might have in discussing a date for $5.

Does there need to be a cost associated at all? Does there need to be a minimum cost? Is a specific price point expected? Does effort really play a factor? I tried to get insight from our very own Thomas A. Edison principal Mr. Moses Ojeda. Oddly enough, rather than narrowing down the topic to a simple answer, the subjectivity of it really shined through and the conversation got wider and wider in scope as we went on, posing these questions.

“A number should not be put on a date, you don’t need to justify an amount because just taking a walk in a park, can be a situation where you’re having a conversation, you’re getting to discuss what you like, what they like, and so, to me a date is just getting away from all the noise, getting away from all the distractions, so it doesn’t need to end in a situation where you need to pay something,” said Mr. Ojeda, bringing up the several different aspects to this discussion.

It created more questions than it answered, and with bringing the conversation back to $5 dates in particular, his response was more along the lines of effort is the important part, that the person organizing the date can take the time to “get creative,” with my favorite line of the interview being “the $5, if you stretch it, can go a long way.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

At the end of the day, you will have those that value a number more than an experience, with a survey conducted on Survey Monkey by Money revealing that 41% of female respondents believe that $25 to $49 is appropriate for something like a first day, while 43% of the male respondents claiming that $50 to $99 is appropriate. In that case, they may see $5 dates as lazy, simply you not putting enough in, with many millenials arguing that you can’t even go on a date for that much considering the current economy, at least in the U.S.

On the other hand, there’s the prospect of comfortability. To take that “quality time,” as Mr. Ojeda put it, to get closer and get more comfortable with someone. To be able to confidently say that $5 can be all that is needed in order to have an enjoyable date says allowed about the mindset of the person organizing it, as well as how well they may know their partner, depending on the activity at hand.

For students, many museums are free, a date that is possible at a $5 or less budget, and one where it may represent where your relationship is at, at a point where you’re comfortable enough to not think about social norms or other pressures that dictate what you should spend on a date.