As the boyfriend, must you always pay the bill?

You should discuss this before the date. When you are married with children , it won’t matter.

Well, on the lesser things (dinners, movies, not $200 events) I’ve always worked well with the idea that whoever does the inviting does the paying.
For the big ticket items, I’d recommend discussing it ahead of time with her. Beggaring yourself for the sake of an outdated tradition is not really a good plan. If she wants to insist that you always pay, then rethink her motives for being in this relationship.

No you should not pay for it all if you can’t afford it. If she feels you must, then don’t go that simple. I assume you are young and at your age you should be saving for future things to come not spending it on $200.00 tickets.

You have to be very disciplined with your finances and stick to a budget that includes savings.

No, nobody should expect someone they are dating to be dropping the big bucks on them all the time. A $200.00 concert is not the same as being a cheapskate and wanting to split a $12.00 lunch ticket.
It’s nice when someone offers to pay your way for some special event but it is not a given based on a dating situation and the mutual parties financial ability. Sure, traditionally men paid, but they weren’t expected to go above and beyond their means.

Just my two cents… If you really want to attend the function and take her with you, then you better be willing and able to shell out the money for both of you. If you can’t afford that, then maybe it’s time to prioritize financial responsibilities. If the roles were reversed, I’d give the same advice.

If this is an event that you know she doesn’t want to miss either, then talk it out with her. If I were in her shoes and couldn’t afford it, I’d encourage you to go alone or with a friend. Why should you miss it on my account? Your happiness is what would matter to me.

The same is applicable if I had little interest in attending the event, whether you offered to pay or I could afford my own ticket.

Welcome to the double standard of dating. Everyone tells you it’s ok not to expect to have to pay but that’s not usually how it works. I have dumped dates for this, practically on the spot. The woman I married did not have any issues paying her share when we were dating. As a result I had zero problem surprising and spoiling her with trips and dinners all on me. If she can’t afford it that’s understandable but expecting you to pay by default and up front is something else. If that is the expectation of your girlfriend I strongly suggest you find another.

I think you should both pay for your own tickets, because its equal to do that.

When I’ve gone out with guys sometimes they’ve paid and sometimes (more rarely) I’ve paid but mainly we split it or take turns paying for things.

No. It is called going dutch. Or halfseys .

I have generally paid for things if I ask a date or a girlfriend to go; conversely, if they ask me I expect them to buy the ticket.

Most of the time it has been, “You pay for the movie, I will buy dinner.” My girlfriend will ask me to something and she will let me know in advance tan she is paying.

I dated a woman for a long time whose income was much less, in fact she was downright poor. We discussed this early on, because she knew she could not pay half or treat on an even basis. So when she said she would pay, she knew it was her way of paying what she could.

Most women I have dated have been very much wanting to pay their share. The ones that don’t are a huge red flag for me.

Matt and I split costs. I find that most modern women are more than willing to split costs; some prefer it (I know I do).

Seeing that I am hoping to be a stay at home dad, then she pays. Or we go dutch and split the cost.

If I ask you out, I should be (and will be) ready to pay. And vise-versa. But it’s not set in stone.

I don’t think you should cripple yourself financially to impress a girl. If you want to go to this event and can afford your ticket, be honest with her. Say you’d love her to be there, but you can’t afford to pay for her ticket. If she wants to come, she’ll have to buy her own. If she didn’t want to do pay for herself and expects you to, that says a lot about her.