Hey RPW,

I saw this subreddit ages ago but never interacted (sorry) but I've had this thought bouncing around in my head and since it fits traditional gender roles, I thought the ladies here would enjoy it.

Several years ago, my mom had a guy over at the house. He was a nice dude who I enjoyed talking to. One night, he took us out to a restaurant where each order was in the $15-ish range. It was a nice mid-tier place.

Then, when he came over again, Mom cooked us all a very good meal. (We have home cooked food literally everyday.) He enjoyed the food and Mom offered to give him the leftovers. Then later she told me: "See Tempest? He took us out to eat and it's only fair to give him a meal back. Especially since he doesn't cook."

That really stuck with me. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If someone is spending around $15 on your meal, you either treat them to a meal or cook for them. Personally, I'd never buy a guy a meal. It feels too weird... like I'm in a guy's gender role. No thanks.

And when I mean cook, I don't mean popping something frozen in the oven. I mean, actually putting in the effort to prepare something good. If he spends around $15 on your meal and you spend around $5 on it but it takes 30 minutes to an hour to cook everything, it's evened out in my opinion.

My equation: Guy spends more money but no effort preparing the meal (ex: taking you out) Girl spends less money but puts a decent amount of effort in preparing

In my mind, it seems to break even.

What do you guys think? How do you "return the favor"?