How many times have you been confronted with a checklist that asks you to define yourself as single, married, widowed or divorced? But what about those of us who don’t see themselves in these boxes? What about the women who are happily single but dating?

In recent years what it means to be a single woman has evolved. We’re no longer sitting at home, waiting for the phone to ring. Sure, we’re looking for love, but why should we take ourselves off the market in the meantime?

Today, we want to do it all, without necessarily saying ‘I do’: love affairs, casual flings, booty calls, internet dating, holiday romances, finding Mr Right, Mr Right Now and even Mr Wrong. We are open to the idea of marriage and true love, but are making the most of the #singlebutdating life while we have it.

#singlebutdating is not a set of rules and steps to help you bag a husband and walk down the aisle. It’s a single woman’s guide to life in a modern dating world and the tools she needs to survive and thrive in it.

Dr Nikki Goldstein is Australia’s modern-day expert on all things relating to sex, relationships and everything in between. And like the growing number of women in their 20s and 30s, she is also a #singlebutdating woman and proud of it.