Dating And Money Advice From A Fourth-generation Matchmaker

If you’ve ever looked for love online, you know exactly how tricky (if not impossible) it can be to find your person. Even after you wade through the pictures of creeps with their big fish, you simply can’t assess emotional and financial compatibility via a brief profile. And the frustrations in navigating the online dating minefield is exactly why many people turn to dating advice from a matchmaker. But while their service is top-notch, the price tag is, too. Some women are willing to spend up to $300,000 to hire them. 

Maria Avgitidis, fourth-generation matchmaker and author of Ask a Matchmaker: Matchmaker Maria’s No-Nonsense Guide To Finding Love sat down with Jean Chatzky on the HerMoney Podcast to talk all things dating and money. She says before you shell out that much cold hard cash to hire a matchmaker, there are other things you should consider doing first. 

Online Dating Fatigue is Real: Here’s What To Do Instead

Jean Chatzky: There are many women who date and date and date and are just not having a lot of luck finding their match. Why are they stuck?

Maria Avgitidis: One of the things that people are experiencing a lot in 2025 is extreme online dating fatigue. And so the thing that I always ask people is: “About how many hours are you using right now to swipe and how many hours does it take before you actually go on a physical date with someone? Can we reinvest that time that you are using online?”

Maria Avgitidis: Maybe we could take a break and utilize that time in a different way where we get to live our lives. We don’t want to be online. We want to be offline. So we can let the online dating app work on itself, but we also have to develop our offline tentacles. I really want you to do something that’s group-based that makes you have an adventure.

Is Hiring a Matchmaker Worth It?

Jean Chatzky: Eventually, many people will feel fed up with dating advice and try some sort of a matchmaker or a matchmaking service. Can you tell us how these things are supposed to work, how much they should cost, and what expenses do you think are worth paying for?

Maria Avgitidis: The matchmakers that I think are actually worth it, as it pertains to straight women hiring to find a man, typically cost $50,000 to $75,000, and I don’t think it’s for everyone. Let’s exhaust other things that are a little bit more cost-effective.

Maria Avgitidis: First off, everyone needs to go book some online dating photography. If you don’t want to spend that money, grab a friend and three outfits and be a tourist in your city for a day. The second thing is that you’re going to open up the Eventbrite app or the Meetup app, and you’re going to pick four things to do in the next six weeks. I want one of those four things though to become a weekly class. And then [finally], I want you to say hello to five people in the next five days. Just say hello, that’s it. It does build on your courage if you think to yourself, I have to say hi to five people every single week.

Money and Dating Advice

Jean Chatzky: There are studies that show that the more often we fight about money, the more likely we are to divorce. How do you assess financial compatibility in an environment where we are often raised not to talk about money?

Maria Avgitidis: One of the things that I like to tell people as they’re preparing to date is to actually talk about what financial compatibility is to you. To me, financial compatibility at the end of the day is what’s called lifestyle. And the formula that I like to use to measure your lifestyle is: How do you value the way you spend your time plus how do you value the way you spend your money? And that is what equals your lifestyle.

Maria Avgitidis: So if we’re going to talk about your lifestyle now and how are we going to have those money conversations as quickly as possible, it’s about asking yourself questions that you should not be reacting to, questions that you understand the answer to, and can actually have in-depth conversations about.

MORE ON HERMONEY:

• HerMoney Podcast: Dating Apps, Love & Money
• 7 Valentine’s Gifts That Will Help You And Your Partner Save Money
• How Couple’s Can Fight Fairly About Money

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