My husband and I do not go out much. Between having 3 children under the age of six and having no money, there is not much room for variety in the dating department.But on Saturday, my sweet husband decided that we needed to go on a date. I, being increasingly aware of frugality and its benefits for life, tried to come up with some cheap options for the evening. My husband is very wise with our money and also concerned with frugality....but when it comes to going out for the evening, he likes to spend the money and enjoy it. We came to a compromise of sorts....
-We ended up going to see "Get Smart" (which is very funny, if you have not seen it yet):
$20 down the tubes.
-We split a 3 entree meal at Panda Express in the food court: $8 also down the tubes.
-We then completed our evening with an ice cream treat from Dairy Queen and a walk around the mall: $6 and $free :-)
-Add on the babysitting: and you still have a $50+ evening!!!!
It was fun, but the amount of money spent just kills me.
So the rest of the weekend I contemplated cheap date ideas. I know there are numerous options, but I had never sat down and planned them out. In hopes of helping others in the same "financial boat" as us, I decided to type them all up and share them here for Mommy Monday. What better way to help out my fellow mothers than to provide them with some fun (and cheap) date ideas! Enjoy time with your best guy...and let me know if you do any of them.
(And please--add to the list if you have cheap dates of your own!
"Heavy on Romance, Light on the Pocketbook":-)
1) Find a free movie or concert in your area. Take a picnic dinner, and enjoy a free but relaxing evening with your sweetie.
2) Look for B1G1 coupons for local restaurants in the mail or newspaper. Enjoy dinner for half the cost, and then take a walk around a park afterward.
3) See if your area has a dollar movie theater. Go see a film (that may have been out for awhile) and splurge on an extra-large popcorn since you saved money on the movie. :-)
4) Find a free weekend festival in your area. Eat before you go, and just buy dessert or a drink as you walk around and take in the sights.
5) If you have bikes, take a long ride on a local trail. (Or hike if you don't have bikes.)End the ride with lunch at a sandwich shop.
6) Take in a "Parade of Homes". Go out for coffee beforehand, complete with a scone or muffin for breakfast.
7) Send the kids to a friend's house and make a nice dinner for the two of you. Curl up on the couch and watch a movie before they return.
8) Spend a few hours at a bookstore. Find several titles that you are both interested in, and look through them together. (We like to look at home improvement books.) Enjoy a coffee and cookie afterward in the cafe.
9) Go bowling or mini golfing together. Pack a picnic and eat at a park afterwards.
10) Walk around the mall, window shopping--then eat in the food court.
11) Take a scenic drive (many areas even offer maps with key spots on them)--stop at a small cafe on your route and eat lunch.
12) Go to a local sporting event (sometimes you can find tickets for 1/2 price), and eat hotdogs at the game.
13) Finish up a home improvement project together (or clean the house) without the kids, and go out for pizza afterward.
14) Go grocery shopping together once a week, and pick up fast food on your way to the store(s).
A few extra tips :
~Find another family to swap babysitting with. This will save greatly on babysitting costs, and thus leave more money for your date!
~Look on http://www.restaurant.com/ for restaurant certificates. You can search for local places, and save tons of money! We usually buy the $25 certificates for $10. But make sure you buy it through Ebates.....if you don't have an Ebates account, sign up here through my referral link--we will both make $5 and you will save money for buying stuff you would normally buy anyways!
~ Plan ahead! This saves you money because you can research free events and pick up coupons, etc.
7 comments:
Yes! We went to see Get Smart on our anniversary! It pains me to see how much movies cost . . . ugh. Good movie, though. :)
Just had to say I really enjoy the music on your blog! A great mix.
I enjoy reading your blog, too! (smile)
We sometimes have an "at home" date. We put the kids to bed a little early and then one of us goes to pick up Taco Bell or a pizza, along with a movie from the rental store.
It doesn't get us out of the house, but it does give us some time together while the house is quiet!
play a game at a coffee shop together. Date night doesn't have to be on a Friday...go out on a week night, when there is something FREE going on in town, like a concert i nthe park...sure the kids would like it...but there will be other times to go...
Since we don't have kids, date nights are a lot easier for us. However, our most recent cheap dates have been at our local minor league ballpark. Chris' boss has season tickets, and Chris gets them for free. We go as often as we can, and it only costs us the amount of $ for supper for Chris and drinks for both of us (Chris meets me there when he gets off work!) I know some women wouldn't be thrilled with the idea of a ballgame, but the seats are good, the weather is usually REALLY nice, and it's 3 hours of pretty much one-on-one attention, since Chris isn't really TOO interested in the game (NOT like watching the Red Sox!) :-)
Jill--we were planning to go to the "Elvis Theater" and watch Prince Caspian for $3.50 instead, but it wasn't playing early enough. :-(
Jen--thanks! I like it too. :-) (The music and my blog-ha, ha)
Dawn--we have been doing those kind of dates more often too. It is nice to plan a date time, even if you are still at home.
G-knee--That is a fun idea! We never play games anymore and I want to get back into it.
Heather--I think that sounds fun! I like sporting events bc Josh gets so excited about it. Plus it is relaxing....
Those are some good suggestions. Our 16th anniversary is coming up and a friend offered to watch our kids. We'll probably have dinner out at a restaurant a step up from Subway, which was my hubby's choice for his birthday.
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