21 Cheap Solo Date Ideas That Feel Like a Deep Exhale

Enjoy meaningful me-time with 21 cheap solo date ideas, including free and low-cost ways to relax, recharge, and feel intentional without overspending.

The Solo Date.

A time to refresh. To restore yourself. To see your world differently. To go deeper into something you’ve always wanted to do.

It can be life-changing to start doing these regularly – once a month, twice a month, even weekly.

And it doesn’t have to cost much at all – in fact, many of these ideas are totally free.

Solo Date Ideas on a Tight Budget (Still Fun, I Promise)

Solo dates are a way to right the world. To slow down and experience something. To explore.

To learn about yourself.

Do just that with any of these self-care date ideas below.

1. Try Sound Bathing + A Quick-Start Fire

There are so many sounds that we’re forced to hear day in and day out that sound bathing starts to seem almost like a necessity.

It’s intentionally pouring gorgeous tones into your ears and brain.

I recommend something like this free sound bathing video, paired with a no-fuss, quick-start log in the fireplace.

The crackling + soothing sounds could be life-changing.

2. Set Up a Puzzle Blitz Night

I call this the Puzzle Blitz Solo Date…and it’s so much fun.

You’ll be working on a puzzle (I found mine at the thrift store for $2.49 each).

Set a timer for one hour, or however long you’d like to do this (if you’re doing one hour, then I’d suggest a puzzle with 100 pieces or fewer).

Give yourself about 1/3 of the puzzle pieces to begin with, and put the other 2/3 of the puzzle pieces in two separate containers. You’ll have to earn them through games you set up for yourself.

For me, I had a deck of cards and had to actually win at Solitaire to earn one set of the puzzle pieces. Then I had to complete a game of match, matching all the cards before I could collect those puzzle pieces.

Start working with the first 1/3 of pieces, and 10 minutes in, do your first challenge. Complete the challenge before you move on to the 2^nd challenge to unlock those puzzle pieces.

See if you can complete the puzzle + the challenges by the end of the time you set.

3. Do a Labyrinth Walk

Find a local Labyrinth Walk and take an afternoon solo date to undergo the ancient walking meditation practice to ease stress and anxiety.

4. Create Your Dopamine Menu

Ever heard of a Dopamine Menu? It’s a written menu filled with things to do specific to you that stimulates your dopamine.

Without electronics/apps/or anything of the like.

Build yourself a Dopamine Menu (as a solo date!) to come back to time and time again.

Here’s a great video on Dopamine Menus.

5. Go on The Silent Solo Date

Our days are filled with endless noise.

Seriously, have you ever tried to find silence? I’m always baffled at how hard it is to do (there’s a dog barking, or cars in the distance, or a train whistle…always seems to be something).

I was so inspired to find silence that I am going on a weekend-long silent retreat at a local monastery.

You can recreate something similar at home.

Write down your intention of when you want to start and end the silent retreat.

Turn off all notifications on everything, ever. Appliances, your phone, alarms, and doorbell (if you can).

And bathe in silence.

Don’t speak. Just listen. Go about your day or evening. Journal. Write about how bored you are, or how weird this is to hear nothing.

But don’t break the silence.

It could be a life-changing self-date you repeat every few weeks.

6. Eat with Fine Silverware and Good Dishes at Your Dining Room Table

It’s time to romanticize your dinner for a good solo date.

Clear off your dining room table, breakfast bar, or “formal” eating area. Clean it up really nicely. Put some candles on it.

Make a nice dinner, light the candles, and sit down with no electronics to eat by yourself.

7. Pick a Book from a Completely Unfamiliar Genre (2-Part Date)

Go to your local library, and to a genre section that you would never normally be caught dead in.

Aliens, fantasy lands, true crime, horror, romance, fiction, historical biographies…whatever it is that you thought you would never, ever, ever read.

Grab a book, check it out. You’ve completed Part 1 of this Solo Date.

Part 2 is to set aside at least one hour to start reading it. You might be totally surprised by what you discover!

8. Treat Yo’self to Your Childhood “Can’t Have” List

All of us were denied many, many things as a child.

Junk food we really wanted (hint: all the junk food on the 90s snacks charcuterie board below is from Dollar Tree!). Movies we desperately wanted to watch. A piece of clothing we just couldn’t afford on our own.

Indulge your inner child by gathering whatever it is that you really, really want and having it.

For example, I once created an 80s charcuterie snack food board, and it was FILLED with all the snacks we were never allowed to have as kids.

That was so fun to munch on (and realize WHY our mother didn’t want us eating these snacks).

C’mon, let your inner child loose for an afternoon.

9. Read About Artist Dates + Plan Your First One

Julia Cameron is the first to coin the phrase Artist Dates, which is the idea that you should take a solo date every week to nurture your creativity in some way.

What better way to learn about this concept than using a solo date to read all about it?

Here’s her book.

And here are ideas to get you started:

• Linger around the art at your local museum on free day
• Pick something at a thrift store to revamp/renovate/reuse in some creative way
• Dangle your feet off the nearest dock to you

10. Go on a “Get Lost” Drive

My father used to take our family out on Sunday drives and intentionally get lost.

This was before GPS.

We would be gone for hours, and he would have so much fun finding his way back home.

I treasure these memories!

When was the last time you got lost on purpose and didn’t use your GPS to find your way back?

Set aside an afternoon to go on a solo date “Get Lost” drive, and see where you end up and what you discover.

11. Treasure Hunt at Yard Sales on a Saturday Afternoon

Take a Saturday afternoon, find in-person yard sales, and go to 2-3 of them.

Treasure hunt. Get lost in it. This can be SO fun!

12. Take Your Dog on a Doggie Picnic

This is one of my favorite picnic ideas – where you are pampering your dog a bit and just having fun together.

Bring some doggie toys, and stop off beforehand at a dog treats bar to pick up some treats for your favorite four-legged friend.

Oh yeah…bring something for yourself, too.

Bond with your dog! And take in some nature at the same time.

13. Hit Your Acupressure Points

I keep watching all these videos online of acupressure points that are, apparently, really important to hit on the body.

Like from this woman (actually…she does lymphatic drainage points).

An awesome solo date that would dub as a self-care act would be to watch a few videos, do the acupressure points.

You could also get one of these acupressure mats to stand on (I tried one out at my friend’s house – interesting to stand on them!).

14. Set up a Solo Board Games Night

Get playful in real life (no phones or apps!) by setting up one of these solo games.

Dig in for an evening of pure entertainment and try to beat your best.

Solo games include:

• Bananagrams
• Kanoodle
• Dimension
• Cat Stax
• Solitaire
• Etc.

15. Do a Free Trial Binge Date

Sometimes I see a trailer for a really juicy, right-up-my-alley show, but it’s on a streaming service that I don’t own (and don’t want to pay for).

Does this ever happen to you?

When my husband was traveling abroad for several weeks last year, I decided to time a free trial to a streaming service just so that I could binge-watch the show I was really, really wanting to see.

It felt like such a fun, solo date each night that I got to watch it (after putting the little guy to bed).

I timed it with a little treat, too!

Treat + juicy show = solo at home date night.

16. Get in Touch with a Childhood Hobby

We all used to do these totally creative things in childhood…and if you’re anything like me, then you gave up most (or all) of them as a teen and young adult.

Choose ONE thing you used to absolutely love making as a child, and dive into it.

Was it Shrinky Dinks? Gathering wildflowers and drying them/pressing them? Making really silly short books (where you actually create the illustrations, too)?

Think of something you used to be obsessed with as a child, and dive in with fresh, adult eyes.

17. Redo Your Closet and Wardrobe (This is SO fun!)

Honestly, I wish I were doing this all over again for the first time – it was THAT MUCH FUN.

I’ve never been good at dressing myself or making outfits, but I got a significant boost in self-esteem (and had a lot of fun) doing that when I got my hands on this free outfit guide.

It was like treasure-hunting in my closet and seeing my clothes/accessories in a totally different way!

Really great self-care routine I started about four years ago.

18. Create a Snacks-Around-the-World Taste Night for You

Go to several ethnic grocery stores and collect interesting snacks. Gather them in a basket and taste-test everything from one country or one region for your solo date night.

Bonus points if you only use chopsticks to eat the snacks with!

19. Complete a Donation-Only Yoga Class

Attend a community or donation-only yoga class for your solo date (typically much cheaper – I had a standing solo date with myself at a $5 yoga class in Houston for years).

20. Listen to Stand-up Comedy on YouTube

Grab a drink or mocktail, and look up several videos of a famous comedian you like or that gets you interested.

Sit through one or two of their stand-up performances.

Oh yeah, and do some serious, deep, can’t-breathe belly laughing! Let those laugh snorts rip – it’s just you.

21. Go on a Micro-Retreat with Yourself

Here are three great solo date ideas, and they are all micro retreats. I love this idea!

• A Noticing Retreat
• A Walking Retreat
• A Quarterly Reflection Retreat

Moving forward, I'm going to be scheduling these solo date ideas as part of my self-care routine. Once a month? Twice a month? We'll see what I can squeeze in, because I truly think I can't afford to ignore solo date time.