If you’re anything like us, you probably used to have fun and expensive dates before you became parents. All that free time! All that money to splurge on your relationship! All that freedom to do what you want, when you want!
And then came the children…
All of a sudden, a simple dinner date meant either going to McDonald’s play place, or coordinating childcare.
Babysitters can be expensive. Spending $50+ on a date and then another $50+ on child care just doubled our date night cost…
When your budget for date nights just won’t stretch that far, here are some ideas. There are many ways to save money on a date when you’re already spending the date budget on babysitting. Or you could even have a date night at home after the kids are in bed!
Free or low cost date ideas:
- Picnic by the lake
- Hike or a stroll through nature
- Board game house cafe (or take your own board game to a cafe)
- Library date – find a book and a cozy quiet corner to read together
- Local sports – find an outdoor basketball court or a soccer field and play a little one on one
- Geocaching – if you don’t know what this is, check out geocaching.com
- Beach day without the kids!
- Volunteer together – find a soup kitchen or food bank to serve your community
- Tour your own town – find a few statues or landmarks that you haven’t seen before
- Find a community event – a high school play or concert, or even a high school football game
- Work out together at the gym or at a park
- Go to the swimming pool
- Check out local garage sales and have a competition to find the most random object you can purchase for $1
- Find a local place to play pool or ping pong
- Go to a hardware store and find a project to do together for your home
- Find coupons for local places you’ve never gone before and try them out
- Make a list of local cafes to try out and judge the coffee at each one
At home dates for those nights when the kids actually go to bed on time:
- Movie night
- Board game night
- Build a fort and cuddle or sleep in it – fun for the kids to wake up to a fort the next morning!
- Order in a fancy meal
- Eat dinner in bed and pretend it’s room service in a hotel
- Backyard date – cuddle under the stars
- Give each other massages
- Pick a new recipe to try together – perhaps something sweet like a giant banana split
- Spa night together – foot scrubs, bubble bath
- Comedy night – find some comedy on youtube
- Romantic candle lit dinner – order in or cook together
- Work on a home project together – for example build a headboard for your bed or plant a mini herb garden in your kitchen
Do you have any great money saving tips or stay at home date ideas? I’d love to hear ‘em!
great ideas! we have two little ones and getting out of the house for date night is a novelty.