15 Frugal Date Ideas

Most marriage and relationship experts suggest making date night a weekly ritual to keep the spark alive in your relationship, to encourage communication, as well as to continually add to your bond by remaining apart of each other’s current lives. But going to dinner and the movies each week could easily add $150 to your monthly budget, and most of the other traditional dating venues could add the same amount. I’d like to offer some fun and frugal alternatives that will keep date night in your budget (in other words, money should not be the reason to axe date night with your partner or spouse).

1. Antiquing: Map out a cluster of antique shops and window shop on a Sunday afternoon. This is delightful!
2. Beer Tasting and Wine Tasting: Find a vineyard, distributor, or restaurant that has wine or beer tasting, and you will be in for a treat! This sophisticated pastime typically is quite cheap, and even free in some cases.
3. Free Zoo and Museum Days: Most zoos and museums have one day a month at least that is free of charge (it may be in the middle of the week, in which case you can meet one another straight from work). Take advantage of this day, and instead of trying to cram in the entire museum or zoo, focus on one wing at a time over several months.
4. Reading and Book Signing: Check out ads at your local library, coffee store, and bookstore to find out when a favorite author is in town.
5. Pick Fruit from a Farm and Bake a Pie Together: Cooking classes are super trendy right now and a lot of fun for dates. But take it one step further (and cheaper) by choosing a recipe, locating a farm to pick and purchase fruits together, and then take it home to work on together. The end result is wonderful, and the intimate time in a kitchen will be worth it.
6. Meet at a Coffee or Tea Shop: On a rainy Saturday or lazy Sunday afternoon meet up with one another at a coffee or tea shop and order your favorites. You can chat, read each other tidbits from your books and newspapers, or even bring along a board game to play.
7. Outdoor Movie: Many cities and towns sponsor outdoor movies for free. If this is not the case, locate an outdoor movie theater (hint: scroll down once you get to this website). Bring your own snacks, pop the seat back, and tune into a fun night.
8. Dessert and Coffee: Who says you have to go out for dinner? Meet your partner for a piece of cheesecake, cupcake, or a shared ice-cream sundae and some coffee in the afternoon, or go out to your local cupcake boutique/cheesecake/chocolate factory after a homemade meal. Paul and I recently did this; we met each other after work at the Chocolate Bar, and had a magnificent piece of pumpkin cheesecake, followed by some great conversation.
9. College Theater Productions: Don’t have the money to shell out for the theater or symphony? Try your local college or university. You can call the school directly, or look for flyers and pamphlets around campus.
10. Witness Rare or Annual Migrations/Nestings: Whether it is the turtle nesting season in Florida/Texas, the bat migration, or the monarch migration, take the time to borrow some binoculars and experience these timeless acts in nature as a couple.
11. Placard Walk Through History: Drive to the historic district of a nearby city or town, park, and grab a map from the local tourist place. Walk around the area locating placards and read them out loud. You will learn the historical significance of buildings, walkways, and moments in time that you normally would just drive past.
12. Karaoke: True, there are not karaoke stations around every corner like in Japan, but you can certainly find them (bars sometimes host one karaoke night a month). This is a really fun activity, and certainly will help break down any barriers you may have.
13. Movie Tourism: Find out if any movies have been filmed around the area where you live or even a few hours from where you live. Rent the movie and watch it as a prelude to finding the various locations on a walk/bike/car trip. Take turns taking pictures of one another as you act out the various scenes.
14. Go Horseback Riding: This is such a fun experience! I have found many a farmer who wishes someone would take their horses out on regular rides. Find a local farm that has a trail you can follow on your own or with a group. For places that charge, prices are generally quite reasonable, especially if you want to muck a horse stall or two.
15. Dollar Movie Theater: You will be watching older movies, but it beats watching them on your small television at home! Do a google search for “dollar movie theaters”; I found one right on Westheimer called Windchimes Dollar Cinema 8 where tickets are $1.50 each.

Other Articles You May Enjoy:

Cheap and Fun Date Ideas
4 Great Ways to Save Money on a Date Without Looking Cheap
25 Cheap Ideas for Fun
Apart of the Festival of Frugality.