Finding affordable things to do with your significant other really isn’t that difficult. After all, it’s time together that counts the most! Pick a great outdoor market, buy some great snacks, people watch, and if you’re really bold, visit a thrift store or costume shop and try on cool outfits!
Being on a budget forces you to make up in creativity what you lack in money, which means that often you create a more memorable experience. Read about how Christie celebrated her first anniversary with her husband:
It was our first anniversary. We were young and in love – and broke. Celebrating was important to us, but we had to do it without breaking the bank. With a little planning and a sense of fun, we made the day memorable. We started by making a trip to the local grocery store. While we were there, we picked up apples, fresh bread and cheese, and a bottle of cheap wine. It was a beautiful spring day, the kind that was made to order for young lovers. We grabbed a blanket, the food, and a kite, and headed to the hills of the local university, the same university where we had met and fallen in love. We walked along the wooded path around the small lake, hand in hand, enjoying the solitude of campus that can only happen after finals week was over. After our walk, we spread out our blanket, set down the food, and took out the kite. He slowly let out the string, bit by bit. Mother Nature even cooperated with us, blowing a cooling breeze just right to take that colorful bit of paper and string aloft. He put his arms around me as I held the straining kite. Paper kite for the paper anniversary – it seemed fitting to us. Later, we reeled in our toy, and sat, enjoying our fresh meal of wine, cheese, bread and apples. When the air got a little chilly, that was fine by us. It was a great excuse to cuddle closer, to share our bodies’ warmth. We’ve had many anniversaries since then, ones in which we had more money, others that we were scrambling to make ends meet. But that first one, when we planned a fresh air excursion, still is as fresh and innocent in my memory as we were on that day.
Planning a picnic date at the park is always a classic. Because picnics require things like advance planning and food preparation, they show that you care enough to invest time, thought and effort into your date. And, when done well, they can create memories that will last you and your loved one a lifetime. Read how Charlene created memories with her husband…
If you plan a date effectively, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Read about Mary’s fun, frugal date with her husband, which included discount movie theaters, street trolleys, and quaint local bars:
Does your significant other have a predilection for really bad science fiction or horror movies? Host your own film festival! Renting a bunch of cheesy movies and picking them apart makes for some great entertainment, is a great shift from the generic “dinner and a movie” date. Read about Kay’s fun Mystery Science Theater 3000 date with her boyfriend:
Veronica proves that a great date doesn’t have to be costly or flashy. Sometimes, the best dates are casual and fun – and centering a date around games or fun activities take all the pressure off!
If you’re looking for a fun, original date, try choosing a theme that will help you plan. You could start with a theme such as “new things” and structure a date around experiencing things, places or restaurants you and your date have never been, or you could choose a place such as Hawaii or Italy to give your date inspiration and a sense of cohesion. Shelby made a lot of great memories by choosing Mexico as her theme. Listen to what she did…
I will never forget the date I set up for my boyfriend in between his business trips. He had two destinations lined up and would only be able to return for the weekend in between each trip. Once he arrived home late on the Friday night following his first trip to Kansas City, I knew Saturday was going to be a rather dull day as most likely he would be somewhat bummed over having to do it all over again the coming week. Knowing that his next trip was going to be to Mexico and that he had missed out on Cinco de Mayo celebrations during his first trip, I decided to get him in the mood for Mexico a little and planned an entire Saturday date themed around Mexico. I first let him “siesta” as late as he wanted that day while I made him Huevos Rancheros for breakfast and put together a travel list of the “Top 10 Reasons for Loving Business Trips to Mexico” as well as a themed care package which contained spicy snacks and a few English to Spanish translations. Once breakfast was complete, I informed him that the afternoon’s festivities would include games with Mexican themes and my brother and his girlfriend surprised him by showing up to be part of the fun. The first game we played was a dominoes game called Mexican Train and the second was called Buenos Amigos, a game that my brother’s girlfriend showed us where you essentially set a timer and write down as many nice things about the person on your right as possible. Being that there were only four of us, each couple wrote a list for each other. However, I told him we needed to save our lists to read until he was in Mexico. We then watched an independent film with Spanish subtitles that my brother’s girlfriend brought over and we all made nachos and margaritas. By the time it was ready to send him off my boyfriend he was thoroughly cheered up and ready for his trip thanks to my day-long Mexico-themed, low-key date which I completely recommend to anyone, even if no trip is planned!
Today’s creative date idea is a little difficult to plan, but if you pull it off, it’ll be a really memorable day for you and your significant other. Visiting the zoo makes for a fun date, but it’s even more entertaining if you visit a private zoo!
If you’ve been dating awhile, it’s easy to get stuck in routines and lose the romance of dating. So spice things up with a surprise romantic date! It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy; just make sure it’s personal, like Katie’s boyfriend did…
Focusing on your significant other’s hobbies and passions provides all the inspiration you need for a creative date. It’s easy to spend money on taking someone out to a fancy dinner or a movie, but these types of dates are not particularly original!