A while back, I wrote a post on some ways The Hubby and I enjoy cheap dates with free or really inexpensive activities beyond the usual dinner and a movie thing.
Since then, we’ve come up with plenty more, so I thought I’d do a sequel post. Here are the latest additions to our roster of cheap (but fun!) date ideas:
Nature hike and picnic. Nothing works up an appetite like a nice walk through nature, so we’ll pack up a picnic lunch (sandwiches, veggies and dip, etc.) and go to the local park, which is pretty big. We’ll choose a direction to wander off in, and we’ll keep walking until we find “the” perfect spot. We can people watch, enjoy the scenery, and get some fresh air and exercise, all for what it cost to make a lunch at home.
Apple picking (or whatever-else-picking). A day out in the sun, plus you get to bring your haul home and have fun experimenting with new recipes for pies, pastries, and whatever else you can think of.
Drive-ins. Movies are so expensive lately that we don’t even enjoy going anymore. Why pay $16-$20 for tickets and $20 for an enormous sugary soda and greasy bucket of popcorn when you could pay a fraction of the cost to see a double feature at the drive-in? You get to bring your own (healthier!) snacks, and if you bring blankets and pillows, you get to cuddle during the movies in a way that movie theater arm chairs just don’t let you. Win all around.
Game nights. We love having game nights with our friends, but they can also be a fun date night…especially if you’re super-competitive against each other like The Hubby and I are! We like to play trivia games like Trivial Pursuit and word games like Boggle and Scrabble.
Sports tournaments. Exercise and fun competition. Some have a small price tag (bowling at the local bowling alley), while others are totally free (taking your rackets to a public tennis court or racing each other on a bike trail). Be sure to treat yourself to something afterwards for all your hard work. (Ice cream cones are perfect.) J
Minor-league sports games. If your city has a minor league sports team, you can have a fun night for hardly anything compared to big-name team games. We have a minor league baseball team that often runs promo nights, so we can get tickets to a game, plus food and drinks, for no more than $20. And it’s a nice, relaxing way to spend several hours out in the fresh air.
Independent movie houses. We’ve recently discovered a few indie movie houses in our area that play things like black and white classics and cheesy sci fi movies for no more than $5 admission (often for a double feature). Some have little concession areas where you can get snacks, some have comfy couches you can relax on, and some serve actual (snacky) meals like pizza and sandwiches. Not only are they inexpensive, but they give us a chance to see all sorts of movies we’d never even hear of otherwise.
What about you guys? What other cheap date ideas do you do with your significant other?
~Heart,
Em
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photo credit: Craig A
When we lived in Chicago it was always really expensive to go to Cubs games. Now that we are in Denver we can get tickets for Rockies games for just $4
Isn’t it great? A day in the sun (or the stars, when it gets later), hotdogs and cotton candy, and cheering your team on while doing silly things like the wave. I consider that $4 well spent. 🙂