The second most noted reason for not dating besides the lack of a babysitter was the cost of dating. So here is a quick list of ideas for dating on a budget:
Have some cut of meat in the deep freeze? Find a recipe that has some ingredients you already have on hand and then challenge yourself to make a fab dessert for under $7. cooking together is prefered. Look at this recipe for Velvet Painting Pie from A Daily Recipe Blog. Um. yum.
- Two reasonably Tall Drinks at Starbucks.
- Three Redbox Movies (One guy movie, One girl movie, and one you can agree on…) 2 bags of popcorn and some Crysal Light.
- Four episodes of The Office on a DVD from Netfilx (this can be free if you finally return that once DVD that has been hanging around your house for a month.)
- Buying a small bottle of massage lotion from Bath and Body and give each other a 5 minute massage.
- Have breakfast in bed. The night before get a half dozen of donuts and the newspaper. Set the coffee pot the night before and wake up to the smell of fresh-brewed Columbian Roast and the funny papers.
I would love to have your creative ideas for saving money but still dating.
Q4U – What is your favorite date to do on a budget?
Bring a game to Starbucks, order regular coffee, or tea don’t forget refills are .50 cents. As long as your in the store… Less than 7$
we find new places to ride our bikes. We did Wilder ranch Santa Cruz. Ferried across the to the city and rode around. It’s always fun. We feel great afterwards. Play a Tennis.
Way to go!!!
My hubby and I are in Australia and things are significantly more expensive here than back in the States, so $7 presents a fun challenge. Thankfully, we are both outdoor types and we live near a lot of parks. A cheap date out for us is usually a picnic by the river (usually with some leftovers or sandwiches made at home), then going for a walk together & talking. There are also a few free museums near us, and some beautiful hiking trails and lookout spots. At home we will do dinner and a movie, we will do quizzes together, play games (Yahtzee and Scrabble are our faves), and once a month or so we will have a ‘kids night’ where we will watch 80’s cartoons or some movie we grew up with, and we will sit on the living room floor in our pj’s eating junk food and telling stories about our childhood. We also like to do ‘Bucket Lists’ and have dates where we try to check off some of the [cheap] things on our lists.
In some cities there’s at least one dollar theater around. They usually play new movies that have been in theaters for a while, but aren’t on dvd yet. My husband and I love the movie theater experience so we usually buy a few snacks at Target and then go see a night showing for $1.75 a ticket!
We also like to take advantage of what our little city has to offer like the zoo or going to the museum. You can sometimes find deals on entry fees… for example one of the larger museums has free entry every first Tuesday of the month. Most cities have websites where they post public information like this.
Other than that… the great outdoors always has something to offer! Walks, pinics, bike rides, even a scenic drive is nice sometimes!
We rent movies for $1 each at the DVD Play kiosk or Redbox, and either make a dessert at home or sometimes we get a couple hot fudge sundaes from McDonald’s, also $1 each. We also love to play Scrabble, so if we’re more in the mood for a game rather than a movie, we play Scrabble by candlelight while eating our yummy desserts! We call them “stay-at-home dates” and try to have one every weekend. I love dating my husband in our own living room in my pj’s. No babysitter or uncomfortable shoes required. 🙂
Work the deals and think outside of the box
A few years ago we lived in a neighborhood close to many restaurants and shops. On Tuesdays the movie rental place did $1 rentals. I pick up a movie we both liked and then go next door to our favorite taqueria. Since we were on a tight budget, instead of buying our favorite burritos, which tallied up a bill of about 12 bucks, I’d buy a container of black beans for $4. The place always threw in chips and salsa with the order. I’d go home, make a pot of rice and serve up a delightfully colorful and delicious meal of white rice with black beans on top complete with a dollop of salsa in the center of it. We indulged in a restaurant meal for two for $5. For under $7 – dinner and a movie!
I love to cozy up on the couch and watch Home videos! The best movie out there…!!!!
We love to watch the videos from just 7 years ago, imagine how much fun it will be when we’ve been married for 30 years!!!
It always brings up great conversations about our past and present and where we are going with our future.
Our favorite hole-in-the wall Mexican restaurant has $.99 taco night on Wednesdays. Four tacos, plus two sodas usually comes in right around $7.00. Woohoo!
We live near a outdoor mall that looks like an downtown of days past. It comes complete with music piped on the streets from the forties-Frank Sanatra, etc. It is one of our favorite places to take a stroll. There are many choices for sidewalk and eat-in dining, park-like areas with benches for quiet conversations, and occassionally, free entertainment from street performers. Along with our walk, we sometimes stop in for a piece of chocolate at the candy store. (At See’s Candies in CA you get a sample with your purchase-2 for1!) For about $2 you get the ultimate cheap date that’s satisfying and sweet. =)
I answered on facebook but I’ll do it here too. Our girls have AWANA on Wednesday night and that is our date night. 🙂 No babysitter required. We eat at home and go out for dessert. Our favorite place to go (Perkins) often has a buy one slice of pie get one free. He orders water and I order decaf coffee. Our total is around $6.
We live near a river with a good asphalt track. Rollerblading or bicycling along the river, especially during the fall when it’s beautiful, is totally free. You can stop for some ice cream and probably keep the whole thing under $7 dollars.
Also, if you’re looking for good movies, try checking them out rather than renting them and use your money for something yummy to eat.
Hiking on nature trails with a picnic in tow is an awesome date. We bring sketch pads, cameras, books, and frisbees depending on what we’d like to do if we go to a nature park (and depending on their rules).
Go for a drive to the beach and park. We just took our date to Santa Cruz on Friday and spent some of the time just watching the waves. This was by far my favorite part of the date.
I’d say add some chocolate fondue and strawberries to that list 🙂
Two buck Chuck wine is still cheap and tastes great. Just pick up a bottle at CostPlus to go with that special dinner you have in the freezer.