Dating these days can be a bit on the expensive side, especially if you want to go all out. However, during tough times, no holds barred dates aren’t always feasible all the time.
Dates don’t have to be expensive to be fun, though. Free and cheap date ideas can also be a blast. Check out the list below for some cheap date ideas…
Cheap Date Ideas
- Get Outside! Mother nature may not always be the most accommodating soul, but she’s always free. Some of the best cheap date ideas involve the great outdoors.
– Pack some snacks and go for a hike.
– Pack a lunch and some wine and head out for a picnic.
– Grab a blanket and go midnight stargazing.
– Bundle up and have a snowball fight.
– Sit on a park bench and people watch.
– Go fishing. - Get creative. Here’s one of my favorite cheap date ideas! Become artists for a couple of hours.
– Use clay and recreate that scene from the movie Ghost. (Potter’s wheel optional.)
– Become photographers and take goofy pictures of each other doing random things around town. (Nothing too risque or illegal, of course!)
– Pick up some cheap paint and paint each other’s portraits.
– Heck – grab some cheap paint and paint each other’s bodies to look like rhinos! - Eat in. One of the cheap date ideas that always comes to mind is dining in. However, this can get a little boring after awhile, so why not spice things up a bit…
– Add a checkered table cloth, some candles in wine bottles, some red wine, and pasta and you’ve turned your kitchen into an Italian bistro.
– Make pizzas together and add all of the toppings that you don’t get when you order from a pizza place.
– Find a complicated desert recipe online and try to make it yourselves. The results – either tasty or disastrous – should at least be interesting.
– Strip the sheets, improvise a couple of togas, and feed each other grapes, Roman style.
– Load up on toppings and create massive ice cream sundaes. Challenge your partner to see how fast he or she can eat theirs. 😉 - Explore your own town. You’ve probably lived there for years, but have you ever actually fully explored? I’ve lived in a town with a world renowned lighter factory, and I only just went to the museum last year. It was actually pretty neat, and one of our better cheap date ideas!
– Visit local museums, gift shops, and visitor centers.
– Pay a cheap bus fare and just ride around to see where it goes. (Back when gas was cheap, we used to just get in the car and drive, but this is today’s substitute.)
– Pretend to be tourists and ask strangers to take your picture in front of local monuments. (This would work better in larger towns and cities, I imagine.)
– Check your local community theater for free or cheap shows.
– hit your local movie theater on a Sunday afternoon, when they offer free or discount tickets. - Get thrifty! What better way to top off a list of cheap date ideas? Get down and get thrifty! Each of you get a small amount of money, say $5 or $10, and see who can get the best deals with their share. Here are some ideas for places to shop…
– Thrift stores.
– Yard sales. (Don’t be afraid to haggle!)
– Clearance aisles at your local stores.
– Dollar stores.
So, there you have it. Romantic and fun entertainment doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg! I stole a couple of these from the 52 Great Cheap Dates cards, which can be found on Amazon. I highly recommend this deck; they’re great for those date nights when you just have no idea what to do…
What’s your favorite cheap date idea?
