It’s more challenging to go on date nights with my husband since we’ve had children. And it seems to be even more difficult now that we have a newborn baby. My husband and I want to do better about going out on dates at least once or twice a month so I looked around and found 26 Inexpensive & Fun Date Ideas that would be enjoyable for us to do together. And most of these dates don’t cost a lot of money or anything at all.

1.  Go to a park and feed the ducks.
2.  Cook a nice dinner together and eat it over candlelight.
3.  Go on a coupon date where you only use coupons for your dinner and activities.
4.  Make homemade pizza together.
5.  Play a board game together until someone wins.
6.  Go to a bakery and choose a treat for each other.
7.  Take a drive and enjoy the beautiful scenery around you.
8.  Camp out in the living room with sleeping bags, camp chairs, flashlights and anything that will make it feel like a camp out.
9.  Exercise together by going on a walk, jog, or to a local gym.
10.  Volunteer at a local food pantry, soup kitchen, or retirement home.
11.  Have a video game night.
12.  Grab some quarters and head to an arcade to play games.
13.  Go for a walk together.
14.  Sit outside at night to stargaze and look at constellations.
15.  Make ice cream sundaes with your favorite toppings.
16.  Go to a thrift store. Give each other $5 to spend and see who ends up with the best item.
17.  Have a picnic indoors on the floor.
18.  See a play at a high school or local community theater.
19.  Build a snowman or have a snowball fight. Go back inside to warm up with hot chocolate and blankets.
20.  Choose a book you both are interested and read it together.
21.  Organize a scavenger hunt where you hide clues that take you around the neighborhood or town.
22.  Head to a local dealership and test drive your dream car.
23.  Play the Newlywed Game to see how well you know each other and have prizes for every correct answer.
24.  Visit a local museum.
25.  Create a homemade spa with scented candles, soft music, massages, and a bubble bath.
26.  Watch a no-drive drive-in movie in the car on a laptop with a movie of your choice.

Our Inexpensive Anniversary

When our third child was a 3-month-old baby, my husband and I decided to keep our anniversary simple that year. We thought about panning an overnight trip, but bringing a newborn baby with us just wouldn’t work. We had tried that when our second child was a baby and that was hard.

So for our anniversary, my husband took the day off work and his mother came to watch the kids so that we could go out on a date, which was awesome because it had been months since we had gone out on a date. We went to Romano’s Macaroni Grill, and we each ordered a lunch special that was really good. We had a $25 gift card that had been given to us as a present months ago, so we were able to use that to get our meal for free.

My husband is sweet and remembered that I had been saying I needed a new cardigan because my other ones have holes in them. I have a hard time buying clothes for myself because I always feel that we need to the money to get clothes for our growing family or to save for other things that we want as a family. We went to Old Navy where I was able to purchase a cardigan for myself with a $25 gift I had received as a birthday present. We even had some left over for my husband to get a new shirt. We then went next door to Famous Footwear where I splurged (yes, I do this sometimes), and purchased new black dress shoes for me. They were of course the ones on sale. This is probably sounds pathetic, but the last time I purchased shoes for myself was four years ago. Like I said, I just have a hard time spending money on me.

Before the day ended, we exchanged small gifts for each other. Even though we didn’t spend a lot of money for our anniversary and we used gift cards that we had saved, it turned out to be a really enjoyable date with my husband. I do want to be real for a moment and mention that even though we try to be frugal, our dates aren’t always inexpensive. Sometimes we pay full price to see a movie that both of us have been wanting to see, or we go out to eat without using coupons. The reason I save money here and there is so that we can splurge every so often on things we enjoying doing together as a couple and as a family. But I also want to point out that when you go on a date, you don’t have to spend lots of money to have fun. The thing that counts the most is being together, talking and enjoying each other.

What dates have you gone on that were fun, yet inexpensive?