I met my current wife through pof.com, a free dating site. It took a couple of years of using pay and free online dating services. I also used a local dating service for $1200. I went out on an average of 1-2 new dates per week. 1 was the norm and 2 was maybe once a month. I ended up not liking most of the women and they didn't like me. After shelling out all that cash and spending all that time and effort, I ended up marrying a woman that made contact with me first through a free website!
If I could go back and do it over again I would just focus on what I liked to do to make myself a better person and let it happen on its own.