Budget-Friendly Date Night Ideas
Photograph by Vicki Bartel
I’ve really been feeling a calling to write blogs about saving money especially in the current financial climate we’re in… I know, life is expensive! BUT, that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice spending time with your loved ones, which is why I crafted this blog on Budget-Friendly Date Nights (or days).
So when I say “date” that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be with your love interest/partner, it can be a date with your best friend, a close-cousin, your parents, your dog, whoever you feel called to spend time with. These are activities that suit almost anyone so don’t feel like you can’t do these things with certain people because they don’t check the “typical date night” box.
Now, Let me set the scene for you on what brought this idea to my mostly clouded brain. It’s Friday night and my husband Steve and I just finished our busy work week. We’re both tired but also want to do something that isn’t work related or going to cost us a small fortune. So we sit there and start brainstorming ways we could spend quality time together but not go over our monthly budget… and thus our series of fun and inexpensive date nights was born.
We spend on average 5-7 hours a day together so we’re always looking for new things to do while we spend our time with one another. We want fun and engaging things that will keep us off our phones but still connected. We love to spend time in our home but also could stand to get out of there sometimes. Both of us also love a challenge and a chance to do something creative, and so on.
From the info shared above, we added more notes/ideas about what interests us and we started rhyming off things we could try doing together that fit the list. Then quite literally, Steve and I just started trying our ideas out (I don’t know why I’m explaining this to you because it’s not rocket-science but I guess it’s relevant to the story).
Anyways, since this blog is actually supposed to be about sharing those ideas, I won’t make you read anymore about the ultra-boring process of crafting this list and instead I’ll share just share the list of date night activities.
Ps. All of the ideas are all tested by yours truly, so I can really share how wonderful they are!
Board Game & Snacks Night - we love playing classic board games like scrabble, battleship, or even putting together a puzzle. We pair this with snacks we have like popcorn, charcuterie options or a classic easy dessert like an apple crumble with vanilla iced-cream. It’s a fun way to use your brain but also compete with one another. I like to keep score of my winnings and I’m so proud to say that I’m kickin’ Steve’s a** in scrabble HAHA!
Record Exploration & Beverages - We are big music lovers and we love to discover new artists, so we have started collecting records to play on our little record player while we just lounge around the house. Sometimes we will do a special cocktail or a fancy latte to serve ourselves while we casually explore new genres of music. If you don’t have a record player, use an app like Spotify to explore something new!
Small Painting Creation - I’m sure you’ve seen the Instagram trend of spouses painting a portrait of one another and while that can be fun and slightly offensive -- yikes, I like to paint things that we can then hang up somewhere or display in our home. We have painted different landscapes, different greens/flowers, pet portraits etc… and we try and use different media’s of paint to create something new and exciting.
Walk or Hiking Together - whether it’s a walk with the dogs or to a local shop (which Windsor has so many) or a hike on a nearby trail, this is a great way to spend time together and soak up a little bit of nature! We walk our dogs every night together and leave our phones at home. It’s a great way to recap our day or talk about new random interesting topics.
At-Home Spa Night - Why not pamper yourself in your own home? Whether it’s soaking in a bathtub, making a minimal ingredient facial or meditating/enjoying a slow movement workout together like yoga, these are all inexpensive ways to treat yo’self and your partner to a little self-care.
Gardening - I love to garden and luckily for me, Steve enjoys lending a helping hand. We sometimes will grab a cold beverage and weed our lawn or garden beds. I also like to go shopping for some small plants/plugs that we can then bring home and re-pot into our own decorative little pots creating our garden oasis (I set a budget before going). I also plant cut-flower beds from seeds so it’s fun to go out and water them nightly and watch things sprout together throughout the summer!
Baking/Cooking - Instead of going out for a dinner or lunch, we like to stay home and explore the cabinets to see what we can make that’s something new and interesting. Sometimes we will make cookies together or Steve will help me prep a new dinner idea so we can sit down and enjoy a new interesting meal together. This typically is all while really using our brains to try and use up items in our cabinets that maybe we haven’t cooked/baked with in awhile.
Book-store or thrift store shopping - Personally I love to read and I sometimes can encourage those around me to read too (ahem, Steve actually read a book this year hahaha). One of my fav activities is to pop into a bookstore and browse through books and pick one each out to read together. It can be the same book or different, dealers choice! I also have friends that go thrift store shopping together, you don’t need to purchase anything because sometimes the hunt for something cool is just as fun!
Home Improvement Project - nothing says bonding like completing something together and reaping the rewards! I’m very passionate about fixing up my home (obviously lol) and I find picking a small project to work on together can be so rewarding and fun. It could be painting your front door a new colour, organizing your kitchen or closets, cleaning out the garage and dropping things off at goodwill. There is so many things you can do at home that don’t require a bundle of cash but can really get the love for spending time in your home going.
Enjoy a Sunset or Sunrise Together - There is nothing quite like watching the sun go down in a cozy spot and just enjoying some good company. If you’re not a sunset person, aim for an early sunrise in a beautiful waterfront location. This costs almost nothing to enjoy and you can pair it with a coffee from a local coffee shop or ice-cream!
Now that you have a couple new ideas for your next date night, I highly encourage you to get dates on the calendar as I feel like that’s often why these fun days don’t happen.
So the recipe to make this happen is; pick your partner for your next adventure, pick some dates that work for you both and schedule it onto your calendar and enjoy!
Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this short blog, let me know!
Cheers,
Markie.