Note: The author is a freelance writer in her 30s whose identity was verified by Insider. While some people consider sugar relationships a form of sex work , it's a label rejected by sugar dating sites and some members themselves. This story was originally published in as part of a series on the financial side of relationships; you can read other entries in the series here.
My reasoning was simple. I'd grown frustrated with dating men in my city — maybe I'd just had one too many Tinder dates end in mediocre conversation. My day job offers me control over my schedule, since I don't work a traditional nine-to-five.
I wanted to supplement my income and have some fun doing it, so I decided to try finding a sugar daddy. For the uninitiated, "sugaring" is a form of dating in which one partner financially supports the other, often in the form of cash or gifts.
As a woman in a major city with an appreciation for societal deviance, I figured the lifestyle might suit me well. Whether it was exhaustion of millennial swiping, or maybe the thrill of experiencing life outside my usual means, I found myself creating a profile on the primary website for sugaring connections, SeekingArrangement. In the half-year since then, I've met some highly interesting people — not to mention I've received thousands of dollars in cash, trips across the country, access to five-star hotels and restaurants, and expensive gifts like shoes and clothing I never could have ordinarily afforded.
As with regular dating, if you dive into the sugaring lifestyle without an idea of what you want, you're likely to be disappointed. Do you want a cash allowance, and do you have a set amount in mind? Is it certain bills you want covered?
