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Being frugal and saving money definitely aren’t characteristics to shun. However, there are some people out there who are flat-out cheapskates, and they cut corners in every which-way possible. If you’re dating a guy who seems to be bordering the line between frugal and cheap, despite the fact that he has a decent-paying job, there are some definite signs that he is one or the other. Here are 14 ways to tell if your man is undoubtedly a cheapskate.

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By T. Hall

Black Twitter is good for a lot of things: answering un-Google-able questions (why does Prince have an Afro instead of a Dominican blow-out?), getting the latest headlines (“Mittens Romney Places Foot in Mouth, Enjoys Taste”), or learning about celebrity foolishness (Santa vs. The Snowman at the BET Hip Hop Awards). However, Black Twitter is also home of boundless stupidity and bald-headed logic, i.e. the $200 date. Before Twitter convinces you to drop two Benjamins at a played-out Ruth’s Chris, peep these eight dates that are cheaper than $200.

Wine Tasting – One of the most underrated date ideas, ever. You get to a) taste a plethora of wines for a flat fee, b) you get crackers, cheeses and chocolates to try them with and c) you get to learn the ins and outs of what makes a wine linger in your mouth (wood barrel aging). Best of all, you actually have something to do on your date – some states are chock full of wineries (Virginia, California, and North Carolina) and you can take a tour of the facility to see how it’s all done.

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I usually pride myself on being a straight forward person who isn’t into playing games. And while I like to think that I’m a good judge of character when it comes to the opposite sex, most men would argue that universally, all women do the same thing when it comes to getting to know a man and dating – the “test.”

I rejected this idea at first, because after all, not ALL of us put men through the wringer when trying to determine if he’s a potential boo or not. But then I started thinking that maybe it’s something we do subconsciously…an innate, primal instinct that dates back to the stone age where women wanted to procreate with only the strongest of the species. After all, who wants to have a child with a weak man? Putting a man through a series of “tests” is our way of knowing if the man that we’re thinking of as a potential mate is strong, confident and capable enough to “handle” us, take care of us and provide for his family. Besides, we can’t just take his word for it right?

While most women can argue that we don’t need a man to take care of us or our children anymore in 2012, the instinct to test a man may still lie within us, even if we’re not aware of it. Some women test men out of insecurity or fear of rejection…so that if he fails our “tests,” we can reject him before he rejects us. Some women test men just because they get a kick out of it and want to play games. Whatever the reason, this could be a good thing when selecting a mate, or it could blow up and backfire in your face. If you’re unsure if you test men, or if you do it for the right reason, take a look at some of these tests to see if they help…or hurt you in the long run.

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