108 Cheap or Free Date Night Ideas

How many couples have ever had this conversation?: 

"What do you want to do tonight/today?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Wanna watch a DVD?"

"Ok. That works."

This conversation is pretty common in the James household. Truly, this has occurred way more often than I care to admit. Something had to give! 

I have been saving date night ideas on Pinterest for awhile now, and I decided to create my own list from those. Here are our favorites:

1.  Plan a trilogy movie marathon.  Lord of the Rings, The Godfather, Mighty Ducks…some of the greats.

2. Create a playlist of some of your favorite music, and dance to it under the stars.

3. Draw each other’s portraits…wait for it…with your non-dominant hand!  Laugh at the results.  Then frame ‘em!

4. Sit down together and write postcards to some of your favorite people.

5. Go kayaking together.  For extra fun working on teamwork, double-kayak!

6. Visit a pet store and play with the puppies and kittens!  (Beware, you might bring one home.)

7. Food Crawl: enjoy an appetizer at one place, the main course at another, and the dessert at a third place!

8. Don your favorite 80s outfits, and hit the roller rink!

9. Write a list of 101 things you two are thankful for.

10. YouTube video marathon; share some of your favorites with each other.

11. Hit up the bowling alley…lowest score wins! 

12. Create a marriage bucket list together, and set a date for your first item.

13. DIY Duo: scour Pinterest for a project you’re both excited to work on.  Then, execute!

14. Go to a local orchard or farm and load up some bushels of fruit to bring home!

15. Visit a coffee shop together for some conversation over hot drinks.

16. Visit a “paint-your-own-pottery” place and create something for each other.

17. Enjoy some wine and cheese together as you watch the sunset.

18. Get up early to watch the sunrise; then, make a hot breakfast together and eat it in bed.

19. Attend a poetry or book reading together.  (Check what your local Barnes & Noble has to offer.)

20. Take a trip to the park and draw up blueprints of your dream home together!

21. Make homemade pizzas with wild toppings.

22. Build a fire in the firepit (or fireplace), and roast s’mores. 

23. Read aloud to each other from one of your favorite books.

24. Take a free factory tour.

25. Put on your bathing suits and have a water balloon fight.  Why not?

26. Prepare and enjoy a special fondue dinner together…followed by fondue dessert!

27. Tackle a volunteer project together through your local church, community center, or an organization like Habitat for Humanity.

28. Game Night!  Enjoy a tourney with some of your favorite board games. 

29. Create an audio recording of you each interviewing each other, a la Story Corps.

30. Bust out a deck of cards and play a game!  Poker, Go Fish…you get the picture.

31. Go Geo-Caching!  (What’s Geo-Caching?  Find out HERE.)

32. Sign up for a walk, run, or bike race together.  Enjoy several “date days” preparing for the big day! 

33. Go camping!  Borrow equipment from a friend if you don’t have your own, roast hot dogs over a fire for dinner, and completely unplug from technology.  Even if it just for a night.  Even if in your own backyard!

34. Hop in the car together and hit the open road for a memorable day trip.   

35. Visit your local frozen yogurt spot, and go topping crazy.

36. Childhood movie night!  Watch each of your favorite childhood movies while snacking on popcorn.

37. Mini-golf never gets old.  Especially Glow-Golf.

38. Recreate a memorable meal together from a special event or past anniversary.

39. Go to a thrift store together, set a budget, and choose outfits for each other!

40. Get up early on a Saturday and hit the garage sales together early for some new finds! 

41. Take an evening stroll together around your neighborhood and dream about your future.

42. Choose a new TV series to dive into together!  Watch way more episodes in a row than you probably should.

43. Create a mall scavenger hunt for yourselves.

44. Create an ice cream sundae bar at home for kicks.

45. Go to the nearest jungle-gym and swing on the swings like you did in days of old.  It’ll keep you young.  

46. Spa Night!  Give each other massages and exfoliate with face masques.

47. Research and then visit some of your town’s historic sites!

48. Pack a picnic dinner and enjoy an outdoor movie…even if it’s on a laptop in your backyard! 

49. Choose a meal you’ve never made before, go on a grocery run, and then cook dinner together back at home.

50. Visit your local library or bookstore together, find some good books, and then cozy up in a corner reading side by side.

51. Have a cookie bake-off!

52. Dye eggs together.

53. Go paddle-boating.

54. Go for an evening swim at your local pool or gym pool.

55. Browse Craigslist together for some amazing local deals.

56. Pick up some water-guns at your local toy store, and have a water-gun fight!  You can even invite neighborhood friends in on the date.

57. Toss around a frisbee in the backyard.

58. Research inexpensive ways to enjoy your city.  

59. Support the arts!  Get dolled up for a night of live theatre.  (You can often get discounts to see dress rehearsals, matinees, or rush tickets the day of!)

60. 10 Things I Love About You: set a timer for 10 minutes and each write a list of 10 things you love about the other person…then read them to each other.  Prepare for plenty of “Awwww” moments.

61. Attend a local sports game.

62. Explore a state park by car, by foot, or by canoe.  

63. Stroll through a farmer’s market together.  Buy fresh ingredients for your next few meals.

64. Visit the zoo, petting farm, or aquarium on discount / free days!

65. Fun in the sun: hang out at the beach or the harbor or the lake together for the day.

66. Build a fort out of blankets in the living room, and cuddle up to watch a romantic movie together.

67. Learn a new sport together!  Croquet, badminton, tennis…heck, you can event invent a sport together.

68. Take a class together: dancing, painting, cooking….

69. Go to an arcade!

70. Get a Groupon for a special night out on the town together.  You can usually nab some pretty sweet deals!

71. Visit your local science center, planetarium, conservatory, or botanical gardens.

72. Go to a community hall and play BINGO.

73. On a windy day, fly a kite together at the park.

74. Get in the car and just drive to get lost.  It’ll be an adventure!  (Just make sure you have plenty of gas, so it doesn’t turn into a misadventure.)

75. Plan out a dream trip for one of your upcoming anniversaries.

76. Visit a local festival together.  Many of them are free!  Just check out your town’s website for their calendar of events.

77. Bring your own lawn chairs for an evening of outdoor theatre or music.

78. Write letters to each other that you’ll open 20 years from now.

79. Challenge each other to a Wii/Kinect tournament.

80. Go to a coffee shop with a book or game.

81. Get together with another couple for a simple meal or dessert.

82. Hit a bucket of balls at the driving range. 

83. Test drive a car just for fun.

84. Go through all those old papers, clean-up your computer’s hard-drive, and find a place for all the errant items in your house.

85. Tackle a nagging task-This is one of Gretchen Rubin’s (author of The Happiness Project) super tips for happiness. The shower needs caulking, the windows need sealing so scratch those pesky tasks off the To-Do list once and for all.

86. Play putt-putt golf. Winner buys ice cream!

87. Take a cooking class together at a local parks and rec or community college. Have a friend who loves to cook? Ask them to teach you.

88. Go to a drive in movie.

89. Grab a few laughs at a comedy club or rent a funny movie.

90. Love Languages. Take The 5 Love Languages Test to see how to improve your relationship. End the evening with our Easy Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!

91. Reread a book you own.

92. Rearrange your furniture.

93. Try a new hairstyle at home-or give each other a temporary makeover

94. Plant some flowers in your garden.

95. Photograph local sights.

96. Pick out a new bottle of wine to try. Or go to a wine tasting!

97. Go frisbee golfing

98. Attend an offbeat happy hour.
Most workweek happy hours can become crowded super quickly, so head to a local watering hole on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for less elbowing and shorter lines.

99. Host a foreign movie night (with a twist). 
Pop in an international film but skip the subtitles. Instead, try guessing what’s going on just by watching the plot unfold (bonus points for narration).

100. Play bartender.
Skip the bars one evening and play cocktail master at home. Whip up seasonal beverages like apple cider margaritas or old favorites like mojitos and battle it out to see who makes the best drink.

101. Go to a trivia night. 
Is one of you an avid fan of Arrested Development or The Simpsons? Flaunt it! Many bars hold friendly competitions that focus on a specific genre or TV series, or just pop culture in general. Some even offer cash prizes.

102. Walmart bingo

103. Play "Would You Rather?" You will learn a lot about a person that you never knew when they are faced with a crazy question . . . you can find a lot of questions here.

104. Forget Wine and Cheese . . . how about a Chocolate Tasting night?

105. Have a "finger foods only" dinner and feed each other.

106. Invest in an ice cream maker or a bread maker (you can actually get some pretty decent ones for really cheap at a local thrift store or consignment store) and invent your own concoctions.

107. Take some personality tests and compare your results. Here are some good ones: Jung, True Colors, The 5 Love Languages, and The Color Code.

108. Go dancing

If you are stuck in a date night rut,  try out something on this list. There is plenty to choose from!

Sincerely,

Mrs. James

P.S. All sources for these ideas are listed here:

http://www.thinkingcloset.com/2014/01/31/101-creative-date-nights-on-a-dime/

http://www.4tunate.net/2013/07/30-cheap-date-ideas-for-married-couples/

http://www.stayathomesusie.com/77-super-fun-date-ideas/

http://andthenwesaved.com/things-to-do-instead-of-spending-money/

http://emmalinebride.com/planning/50-best-cheap-date-ideas/

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/01/32-stay-at-home-date-ideas-plus-links.html

http://www.organizinglifewithlittles.com/2013/09/11/date-ideas-on-15-or-less/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182576501099/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182573974753/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182577400554/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182573233325/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182578207903/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182578042087/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/59180182577799970/