99 Affordable Date Ideas

POPSUGAR Smart Living — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:00:36 +0000

Going on dates doesn't always have to mean draining your wallet at fancy restaurants. There are plenty of affordable and entertaining dates you can go on with your beloved. After all, it's really the time you spend with your sweetheart that matters and not how much you're spending on the dates. Here are 99 frugal dates for you to try.

Cook each other's family recipes for each other.
Nostalgia movie night. Watch your favorite movies from during your school years.
Watch a free improv show.
Go for a hike in a beautiful park.
Picnic outdoors and prep delicious foods to feed each other with.
Explore the farmers market together, and share some juicy fruits or tasty snacks to munch on.
Take a tour around a museum the both of you haven't been to (preferable on free museum day!).
Go to open mic night and sing your heart out.
Visit a board game cafe and play games to your heart's content.
Pal up with your partner for trivia nights in neighborhood bars.
Create your own city tour, and visit historic landmarks.
Pick a documentary, and discuss it after watching.
Have a book club date night. Choose a book to read together, and hold an intimate book club meeting for two when you're both done with it.
Volunteer together at the pound, homeless shelter, or your favorite nonprofit.
Go swimming together.
Stargaze and try to name the constellations you're staring at with the help of an app or book.
Watch birds and wildlife, and try to identify them with a book or app.
Pick fruit from a farm, and find recipes to cook the fruit with.
Plan a trip together, and share pretty pictures and hot-spot descriptions with each other.
Buy a travel book of your dream travel destination, and read it together.
Visit the library, and read books together.
Take a free meditation class together.
Bike around the city.
Bring $5 to the mall and see who ends up with the best buy.
Rollerblade together or go to a roller skating rink.
Try ice skating.
Go on a free factory tour.
Go bowling.
Play a sport together.
Make desserts for each other.
Become a kid again, and play games at the arcade.
Throw a fondue night, and experiment with unique ingredients.
Go fishing.
Watch a movie in a drive-in theater, and make a sundae or a root beer float to consume at home before going.
Visit the zoo.
Go to a jazz bar.
Build a jigsaw puzzle together.
Go to a local festival.
Visit a flea market or thrift store, and try to find things you can restore together.
Walk around Ikea, and get a meal there after exploring.
Miniature golf.
Attend a tasting of your favorite liquor.
Check out an art exhibit.
Paint together.
Try to fold challenging origami pieces.
Design mugs for each other.
Go to a playground, and exchange childhood memories.
Visit a dog park with your dog.
Attend a pet show or meetup in your area.
Make a scrapbook of your best memories together.
Practice photo shoots if one of you is into photography.
Attend free lectures.
Go to a book signing.
Doing crossword puzzles together.
Take a dance class.
Go to '80s or '90s night at a club or bar in your city, and dress up in clothes from that era.
Paint ceramics together.
Take a scenic road trip.
Play video games from your childhood.
Go to an airport, and watch planes take off together.
Make and experiment with cocktails. Come up with your own names for the concoctions.
Take a ferry ride.
Camp in your room, and make blanket forts. Make s'mores with your microwave. Tell ghost stories.
Fly a kite together. Perhaps even make the kite together before flying it.
Play truth or dare with each other.
Go on a coffee date.
Visit movie locations in your city, and watch the movies after your tour.
Go to the beach, and enjoy activities like building sandcastles and skipping rocks.
Do a spa night at home, and give each other massages.
Learn a new skill together from YouTube tutorials.
Start watching a TV series together.
Start a blog together.
Go to the rooftop of a very high building and enjoy the view. Bring some sparklers to play with.
Tackle an upcycling project. See this list of 111 suggestions.
Write out your bucket list with each other.
Admire the architecture in your city.
Watch a play together. There are plenty of affordable plays hosted by colleges and local community groups.
Pet-sit together.
Go to a dive bar, and challenge each other to a game of pool, darts, or shuffleboard.
Go open-house-hopping together.
Check out an indoor rock climbing gym.
Play in the snow. Make snow angels and snowmen. Start a snowball fight, and slide down a hill on a sled.
Check out a local band.
Redeem a daily deal together.
Visit a candy store or ice cream parlor, and spend time talking and enjoying sweets.
Watch a sports game together.
Attend a poetry reading.
Participate in a Nerf war.
Attend free mixers in your city.
Explore a haunted house.
Go on a bus or train and get off at a random destination; then spend time exploring that neighborhood.
Make a pizza together with all your favorite toppings. Get creative, and attempt to make a dessert pizza.
Watch a high school or college sport together.
Go to a foreign film night. They usually host one at a school or the library.
Volunteer at an archeological dig.
Attend a Home Depot workshop.
Learn a language together.
Go geochaching together.

Dinner and a movie maybe be classic, but it also gets expensive. Instead, try one of these 99 awesome, inexpensive ways to spend time together.

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From $5 to $30+, Date Ideas for Every Budget

Meg Favreau — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:48:17 +0000

I'm happy to say that I'm a cheap date. I don't mean that I have a low tolerance for alcohol, but that I'm happy doing free or cheap things in the company of someone I enjoy. Sure, sometimes I enjoy a fancy date as well — putting on a dress, getting a nice meal, and so on...especially if it's done in a frugal fashion.

If you're looking for date ideas on a budget, open up your wallet, see what you've got (and want) to spend, and find something to do in the appropriate category below. And remember, the costs of these dates are estimates and might vary from city-to-city. (See also: Classy Dating on a Budget)

$0 Date Ideas

Go for a walk, hike, or bike ride.
Introduce each other to your favorite music.
Go to an author reading at a library or bookstore.
Offer to babysit a friend's child together (if you don't have one of your own, that is).
Make up a walking tour and play tour guide for your date.
Volunteer.
Go on a brewery tour.
Teach your date a skill or one of your favorite hobbies.
Sit in a park and people watch.
Check out shows or lectures at a local college; many list events open to the public on their websites.

$5 Date Ideas

Go get ice cream.
Visit a museum that suggests a $2 donation for entry.
Go sledding, then get a mug of cocoa.
Buy a used book — serious, silly, whatever — and take turns reading to each other.
Have an at-home movie night complete with indulgent snacks like popcorn and candy.
Meet for coffee or tea.
Go back to film — buy a disposable camera and fill it up.
Make s'mores (if you can sit around a campfire, even better!).
Have a game night with just card or dice games.
Visit a cupcake shop — or make some yourselves!

$10 Date Ideas

Pack some good sandwiches and sweets, and go for a picnic hike.
Visit a farmers market, buy ingredients, and cook a meal.
Play pool or darts.
Pick your own fruit (be careful how much you pick, though — this could get pricey!).
Buy and put together a puzzle.
Go to a show at a coffee shop.
Go to yard sales or thrift shopping (and buy silly gifts for each other).
Enjoy an inexpensive bottle of wine.
Do a morning date with bagels and coffee.
Indulge in milkshakes and fries.

$20 Date Ideas

Go to the movies.
Go ice skating or roller skating.
Instead of going out for dinner, just have drinks and share a dessert.
See a local band.
Attend open mic night at a comedy club (the cost is usually a two-drink minimum).
Go bowling.
Get tickets for a not-as-popular professional sport like lacrosse.
Visit a county fair.
Host a double-date dinner party.
Take a guided tour.

$30+ Date Ideas

Get two standing-room-only or nosebleed tickets for a professional sports game.
Go rock climbing at an indoor rock gym.
Drive to a nearby town you aren't very familiar with, get lunch, and explore.
Enjoy a fixed-price meal (many restaurants offer $20 fixed-price menus on off days).
Get a Groupon to try a nice restaurant.
Savor some fancy, well-made cocktails.
Go camping for a couple of days.
Take a class.
Buy a new video game you can enjoy together.
Go canoeing, try surfing, or do something else adventurous.

What budget date ideas did I miss? Share in the comments!

This article is from Meg Favreau of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: