10 Charming (and Cheap) Dates
I’m poor. LOL.
Okay, I’m not poor, but I pretend that I am. And for good reason. My husband and I are Dave Ramsey-ing the heck out of our budget so we can get our home renovations paid off quickly. So, we simply don’t spend extra.
But, we’re young and we like to go on dates. We want to build and maintain a strong marriage and stuff, so we make dating a priority. Dating is good for any relationship, and if you’re not dating your significant other, do better. Seriously, go right now and ask your significant other out on a date. They will say yes.
One of our goals is to have a weekly “date night”. Since we’re saving every penny, we have had to get pretty creative with our date ideas. So here I am, sharing with you my top 10 brilliant, penny-pinching ideas to spark romance or just have a fun evening with the love of your life.
Pumpkin Patch or Apple Orchard. I have to mention this one first because, well, it’s October. But seriously, a pumpkin patch or orchard usually has some kind of fall festival on the weekends that are either free or cost a few dollars to get in. You can pick apples and spend extra, or you can just check out the decor and the corn maze and most importantly, pick a pumpkin! Festivals are so much fun, and you can stay as long as you want. Then, you go home, put on a Halloween movie and set out to carve your pumpkin. You can roast the pumpkin seeds and make a fun and delicious snack together. Today, I became aware that not everyone knows that roasted pumpkin seeds are yummy as all get out, so here I am, sharing this nugget of information with the world. If you need instructions, I’ll add them to the end of this post. Sheesh. Anyway, there you go. A whole day-long date for as little as $20 for the two of you. Or a little more if you’re taking the whole fam-bam. My husband has taken me to an orchard every year we’ve been together and it is so special because I don’t even have to ask. He knows it fills my cup and plans to make it happen every single fall.
Cook a fun meal. My husband loves to cook, and PRAISE THE LORD for that. He actually went to culinary school, so he’s an excellent cook and can whip up some magic in like, 20 minutes. It’s INSANE. I don’t mind cooking, but I’m not a brilliant cook like he is, so we like to find new recipes and try them out. Sometimes, we have a “cooking date” where we put together a special, new or fun meal we haven’t tried yet. We get to hang out in our kitchen, drinking wine, laughing and working together to create a wonderful dinner that we share together. We have a lot of fun, and it only costs the groceries we need to make the meal.
Check out local museums. I’m a history nerd, so anything that is historical and interesting is something I am always up for. No matter where you live, there is bound to be some type of historic landmark or museum that is inexpensive and interesting. In Delaware, we have several museums (like the Hagley and Agricultural museums, in addition to the DuPont estates) and we are also close to several major cities. We have even taken a day trip to D.C. to go to the Smithsonian Museums, which are FREE. Ps- There is also a FREE Smithsonian Zoo, if animals are more your jam.
Walk your dog in a cute park or town. If you have a dog, you can take your dog to any state park or forest and do a nature walk, or you can find the closest cute town to walk around and maybe grab a cup of coffee. This particular date is completely FREE, and it provides a fun environment for some conversational quality time with your significant other. You can walk and talk as long as you want, and stop as often as you want, and you’re not leaving your furry family member at home. Plus, you get a little bit of exercise.
“Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t kill their husbands.” -Legally Blonde
If Elle Woods said it, I believe it.
Movie Night. Disclaimer: I do not think watching a movie counts as a date. You’re not engaging your partner and you’re not growing your relationship, so I don’t really encourage anyone to go to a movie theater and sit next to their partner for a few hours.
HOWEVER, there are a few occasions where a movie night is a fun date. In our house, its not a “hey it’s date night, what do you wanna watch?”. If we do a movie date night, it’s one of two options. It could be a new movie in theaters we both really want to see and its a Stimulus Tuesday deal, so we will do dinner beforehand and have our quality time then. OR, it’s a movie we both haven’t seen yet, and we prep for it. We decide on the movie and the date a week in advance, we make fancy popcorn and have our favorite movie snacks, and we put our phones away so we can both fully enjoy the movie together. It’s important to be intentional so it doesn’t get boring and turn into half an hour of scrolling through Netflix.
Bowling. My husband LOVES bowling. And its inexpensive. It’s a fun activity that requires zero skill to have a good time. Especially if you bring your best friend. Usually, we will go with a group and bowl a couple games. We can both bowl a few games for under $30 and have tons of fun.
Game Night. Apples to Apples. Cards Against Humanity. Spoons. Or your favorite classic board game. Whatever floats your boat really. Grab some drinks and a pizza (we usually just bake a frozen one, but obviously, feel free to order one if you want). Gather some favorite games and spend an evening of friendly (or not so friendly) competition together. You could even invite some friends and make it a double or triple date night. The more the merrier!
Ice cream dates. There aren’t many things that rank with a delicious ice cream cone, especially in the summer. We are big fans of Rita’s water ice, so there were several evenings during the summer months where we would finish our dinner and load up the pup and take a drive to the closest Rita’s or ice cream shop and sit outside, enjoying our sweet treats. Rita’s has also offered our pup a small cup of custard, so it’s fun for all parties involved. It’s refreshing to just sit outside and take a few moments to relax and be in the moment with the love of your life.
Brewery Tours/Wine Tasting. We LOVE breweries and wineries. Whenever we travel, we try to find a local one and try out some new brews or wines. It’s always a lot of fun learning about local craft beers and how they came to be (hello, history lover!) and we get some drinks at the same time! You always learn something new and its usually less than $20, and sometimes free!
Back Porch Dinner Date. This one is probably one of my favorites. We are blessed to have a small screened in back porch, and we love to just sit out there. If I’m off work on a beautiful day, I like to prep dinner and have it ready to go out back and have some wine and dinner with my husband. We just sit and talk until it gets dark out. We leave our phones inside, so the only measurement of time is the sun going down, and we will share about our day or week, and joke around and laugh and just be with each other. If it’s chilly, we can have some hot tea or apple cider and enjoy the nice weather.
One of my top goals is to have an exceptional relationship with my husband. It’s hard as all get out, but the first step for me is to date him. It’s how our relationship started, and it’s how I want it to go for the rest of our marriage. So I try to come up with some creative date ideas, and see what he likes. These are the tried and true ones. You’re welcome. I’m only one person (and a hot mess, let’s not forget that) and I clearly only have 10 decent ideas on the topic, so do a girl a favor and drop some of your favorite ideas in the comments! My husband will thank you.
For those of you who need assistance with the roasted pumpkin seeds…
What. The. Heck
Rinse off the pumpkin seeds and throw away the guts.
Spread out on cookie sheet (with or without parchment paper).
Drizzle the pumpkin seeds in oil (whatever kind you like).
Season with salt or whatever you like.
Bake for 20-30 minutes at 325 degrees.
Remove, let cool for a few minutes.
ENJOY. Let your life be changed forever.
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13