You assume the people I meet are living within a distance that makes it easy to “just get coffee”. If I meet them on a forum, Discord group, online gaming, etc., and not a dating website or app, they probably won’t be close to me. That doesn’t negate the possibility of a dating / romantic relationship.
Also, I personally wouldn’t meet someone without talking to them on the phone first (regardless of distance), so why wouldn’t I just video chat with them… FaceTime is just as easy as a phone call.
If you meet someone online and immediately want to meet them in person for coffee, good for you. However don’t act like someone else’s approach is wrong… because you don’t agree.
I spent all of 2024 tracking my spending and saving. I didn’t “budget”, just had a spreadsheet and wrote everything down week over week.
I would recommend it as a habit people may benefit from just to understand where their money goes.