8 Date Ideas from Frugal To Fancy
My husband and I have been married eight years now, and we love to date each other. Even though money is tight and good babysitters are hard to come by, we really try to make it a priority to send time together, just the two of us. Here are some of our favorite date night ideas.
I received tickets to an event for this post, all opinions and ideas are my own.
Free
Because of busy schedules and living on a students budget, many weeks our date night ends up being an “At Home Date”.
“Faux-mantic Dinner” On these nights I try to fix the kids dinner a little early and we wait to have dinner after they have gone to bed. I don’t make anything different or fancy, we just wait to eat it until we are alone. It is amazing how much conversation you can get in when you are not monitoring food consumption and table manners! Throw some candles on the table and it feels just like you are at a real restaurant, you just have to get your own refills. To really make it special plan on your dates favorite foods and spend a little extra time in the kitchen.
“Healthy Competition” One of our favorite at home dates is Nintendo Wii night. My husband and I were best friends in high school, so settling in for a heated match of Mario Cart takes us right back to our early dating years. Halo more your style? Great! Whatever works for you! It is a great way to get some good laughs in with your significant other. Wanna spice things up a bit, make a wager on the game!
Practically Free
A few bucks can go a long way in dating!
“Movie Night-“ We love to grab a movie rental to watch after the kids go to sleep. With services like RedBox, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, getting a movie to watch has never been easier or more affordable. The catch? Treat your home theater like a real theater, no phones or interruptions! It is better than a movie theater though because you can cuddle!
“Ice Cream and a Stroll-“ I am a sucker for a good soft serve or frozen yogurt. We love to grab a cup or cone and head to a gorgeous park near our home. We could spend hours just strolling and talking. I think so many of us get wrapped up in our day to day lives that we forget how good it feels to really connect and chat with your spouse or significant other. No electronics, no distractions, just some good old bonding time.
Average
Sometimes we like to just head out on a normal date. One of our favorite ways to make dates like these happen is to swap babysitting with a friend. Then we can spend that money on our date instead of our babysitter!
“Drive In-“ When was the last time you went to the drive in movie? Do you have one near you? We do and it is one of our favorite date destinations. We love to grab take out on the way and fill the back of our car with pillows and blankets. For the price of a regular movie ticket we get to see two movies! It is a great twist on the typical dinner and a movie.
“Active-“ Going somewhere to be active can be fun too. We love to hit a rock climbing gym or driving range as part of a date. Maybe you have a local bowling alley you love or miniature golf course. Either way it is something different to do that allows you to talk and hang out, something movie theaters discourage.
Splurge
Occasionally we love to really splurge on our dates. Usually we are celebrating something, a birthday, an anniversary, or a special accomplishment.
“Eat, eat, eat-“ Is there a fancy or spendy restaurant you have just been dying to try, do it! Obviously this isn’t something most couples can do all the time, but every once and a while, go for it!
“Be Entertained-” If you ask my husband what my very favorite thing to do on a date is to go to some sort of live show. I LOVE concerts and any sort of live stage performances. Tickets to an event are the sure fire ticket straight to my heart. We are getting ready to celebrate our anniversary and I am checking a major event off my bucket list.
I have wanted to go to a Cirque du Soleil show for years!! I was so excited to find out that Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai, will be at the US Airways Center here in Phoenix February 18 – 22, 2015.
The word Varekai (pronounced ver·ay·’kie) means “wherever” in the Romany language of the gypsies the universal wanderers. Directed by Dominic Champagne, this production pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to those who quest with infinite passion along the path that leads to Varekai.
With amazingly talented performers and acts that include aerial hoops and straps, clowns, hand balancing on canes, juggling, Russian swings and so much more, I know we are in for an incredible night. We don’t get to really splurge on date nights that often, but I know that this will be worth it!
Are you looking for a special night our with your loved one? Tickets for this event can be found here and range from $40-$100. To see if this show is coming to a city near you check here.
Have you ever been to a Cirque du Soleil show before? What is your favorite kind of date night?
Great suggestions! Thank you!
Great ideas! My husband and I actually went to the Drive-Inn last summer and it was a blast! I would love to see Cirque du Soleil. That is on my to do list next time they come to town.
Great ideas! Our date nights have gotten pretty boring, so we are planning to take some weekend trips this year instead of regular nights out at restaurants!
My husband is huge on going out to any new restaurant that comes around. He likes to go out on payday too… just his thing. So it’s the perfect gift always too. 🙂
Great ideas. I love Cirque du Soleil.
What great pictures! Yeah the frugal part definitely interests me, ha! You’re right about making dates a kind of priority, keeping it fresh. Thanks for the ideas, if we can get a break from the kids we’ll try some.
I love the date night ideas you shared. You both are so cute together.
I have seen a few Cirque shows in Atlantic City, they are very good! Sounds like a great date night!
I love Cirque du Soleil. I’ve seen several shows and loved all of them! I’d go see another one in a heartbeat.
My hubby and I always love staying in and having a movie night. Our daughter goes out on the weekends so it ends up working out perfectly!
These are great ideas for a date night! I love how you included frugal ideas as well as fancy!
Have fun at Varekai in February! It’s nice to do special things together like movie night and ice cream time at the park. This was a nice post to read.
I love having a movie night at home. Still, nothing beats a live show I’ve been wanting to see. Varekai sounds so cool.
These are all great ideas. I’m actually a big fan of simple dates for Valentine’s Day. They’re so much more intimate.
Great ideas for spending Valentine’s. I would love to attend a Cirque du Soleil show. Maybe it is coming to the Milwaukee area.
Nope we have never been allthough I would love to see it hubby says it loos silly- go figure. I have been married 30 years and our idea of date nights are taking a drive and maybe getting an ice cream.
I have been to a Cirque du Soleil show and it really is quite fascinating! My perfect date night is dinner, something active (like go karting) or the batting cages, I also love miniature golf, but I also think sometimes staying home and be cozy inside is a perfect date night.
These are great ideas. We do a lot of movie nights at home for date night.
Some super idea to ponder when going on a date
I want to go to a Cirque du Soleil show so bad. We almost went once but had to back out.
Such great ideas! I love game night with my husband. We don’t do it much because we get sucked into playing and ended up staying up all night, and then we’re dragging the next day. Haha. But it’s fun to do occasionally!
I love this post! I think it’s great to get ideas that run the gamut like this. Thanks!