"Cheap" Dates

Credit: David Castillo Dominici

So I was talking to a buddy of mine (who happens to occasionally read this blog), and he was complaining to me about how expensive it is to take a girl out. He was telling me about the restaurants he had taken girls to, the expensive chick flicks he had suffered through, and the amount of money he had spent on flowers and gifts. He then made the comment that it was “too bad I couldn’t write a blog on cheap date ideas that actually work.” I couldn’t, could I?

Now I’m pretty much the opposite of tall, dark, and handsome (well at least the tall and dark parts), but I’m going to give my friend’s joking request a go. You see, my friend is a great guy and I have no doubt that he will one day find that special lady, but what he doesn’t realize (that I now do after being married for a little over two and a half years) is that you should never really stop going on dates. So today, we’re going to take a look at some less expensive date ideas that could simultaneously serve mingling singles and couples well in their relationships and wallets/purses. Better still, some of the ideas below (you’ll have to guess which ones) are based on my own personal romantic escapades over the years!

• Go for a hike
• Watch the sunset
• Play board games
• Play Frisbee golf
• Go for a swim
• Make a picnic
• Play putt-putt
• Go to the farmer’s market
• Go bowling
• Make a bonfire (sneak in a starter log and she will never know!)
• Go to a karaoke bar
• Volunteer somewhere
• Watch a community play/musical
• Go to a flea market or thrift store
• Go ice skating
• Give each other a massage (date for a while first!)
• Tour a winery or brewery
• Go to one of those parking lot carnivals
• Put together a puzzle
• Go to an art show
• Go to a museum
• Go to a local sporting event
• Work out together

So the next time you’re sitting around wondering whether to hit up that same Mexican restaurant on a Friday night or watch The Hunt for Red October for the eighth time with that special someone, I hope you will remember this list. The next time you finish an enchanted evening that will take you a week’s pay to financially recover from; I hope you will print out this list and put it in your billfold!

Don’t get me wrong; you can, and you should, have really nice dates with your significant other from time to time, but you shouldn’t always have to break the bank for a good time. In my case, I found a girl who was as happy to be with me having a Frosty at Wendy’s as she was when she had a filet mignon at Longhorn’s. I asked her to be my wife!

-Tom