$100 on the first date is expensive?? The average date costs $175 or so, so $100 is by definition cheap. She only gets half of it. In 2003 I took a girl for a small pepperoni pizza and beers (Pizzeria Regina in the North End of Boston) and it cost $100 for the date. I was so broke I had to borrow the $100 but that was not a lot then. Note she wrote to me a year later and said she still remembered how good that pizza was. Best in the world IMO. My date meanwhile won the WBCN River Rave Bikini Contest circa 2001. I called her "the ten".
Why would a girl want to go out with a man who can't afford $100? As Stefan Molyneux said on his recent podcast "Dating is about mating and mating is about resources. It's eggs for resources. People need to get over this". Women NEED resources if they want to raise children. It's not being a gold digger unless she leaves a guy with a boat for a guy with two boats.
If you can't afford to spend $100 on a date (drinks cost $14.99 at some nicer bars), you shouldn't be on this forum talking about women. First you get a better job, work harder, gather resources, then women will flock to you. Not only for the money, but for the fact the process makes you stronger and more interesting (after you pass the looks test, they ask what you do).
My first date last week cost about $170 (appetizers at one place and seafood dinner at another place, and yes, it was a highly rated restaurant). I only take women to awesome places, or places they request.
That said, I'm 46 and my last date will be 21 next week. (Though she thought I was 32). In that situation, of course I'm going to take her to nice places. One, I only go to nice places myself. Two, if you want to date young super models half your age: you teach them about the finer things. $100 doesn't seem like a lot to me. That's about 1% of what I am currently earning - per week. Note that I met this girl at a 4 star hotel where she worked, and our first date was meeting (in the lobby) of a 4 star hotel where I was staying, where we did a photo shoot as we walked to dinner (at one of the best rated restaurants in town). It took months to get this date and years to find a beauty like this. I'm not trying to save money on the date.