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5 Fun Dates Under 5 Dollars!
An inexpensive date is not necessarily a “cheap” date. In fact, a wisely planned date will show your mate that you’ve put a lot of thought into the time that you will share together. And that’s the point of the date in the first place: to spend time together.
Your time is the most valuable investment in your mate that you can make! If spent wisely, the return on investment will be astronomical!
Therefore, if the girl/guy you’re taking out will only feel loved if you drop a wad of cash on your date, he/she is not living in today’s reality. (And more than likely not worth your time or money!)
Whether you’re meeting for the first time, or desperately seeking to enjoy some romantic alone time, not all wisely planned dates have to involve a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and Dancing With the Stars. Check out these 5 fun dates for under $5 and begin investing in your happiness right now!
Date #1: Karaoke Bar.
Voice of an angel or not, karaoke can be seriously entertaining—and cheap, if you don’t need several drinks to unwind enough to get up and rock out. Most karaoke bars don’t charge cover, and the music doesn’t start until way after dinner. Eat at home, meet up, and party.
Price: $5 for a beer in the city. Or, if you choose the diet Coke route, you’ll even have some money left over to tip the DJ. Good karma, good fun, and no taxi ride home required!
Date #2: Sledding
Many Americans have snow during the winter. If you don’t, never fear! A grassy hill and a piece of cardboard can be just as fun! Don’t have a sled? Grab a tray from the cafeteria at work (you’ll give it back!), or grease up the bottom of a cookie sheet.
Race each other to the top of the hill and down. Try to fit the two of you on a saucer. Once you’ve had your fill of the snow, retire to a local coffee shop or to your house for some hot cocoa.
Price: $5 for two hot cocoa’s, if it’s expensive!
Date #3: Go for a Walk—With a Purpose
Walking with a purpose is the perfect excuse for lots of face time with your date. If you’re in it for life, take a walk around your neighborhood to see how many open houses you can attend. Or take a walk to determine how many “bank owned” homes are within a 1-mile radius of where you live. (Who knows, maybe there’s a good deal to be had, for the financially responsible couple!)
If you don’t already live with your date, there’s a walk for you, too! Try a local hike that ends with a great view. Invite your date to go on a long walk with you and your dog. (Dog= excuse for walk.) Walk along the beach looking for shells that would make great jewelry. Walk around a neighborhood advertised for its festive display of holiday lights. The reasons to walk never end—just get out there, and see what conversations follow.
Price: $0. Not a penny! (In fact, you might find a penny on your walk.)
Date #4: Bake a Cake.
Or cookies. Or bread, brownies, fudge, whatever! See what you can make from the ingredients already in your home. You’ll probably find you have just what you need for some scrumptious chocolate chip cookies. Bust out that reindeer apron your mom gave you for Christmas last year, and you’ll never want for a conversation starter!
Not only will you wind up with some tasty treats (you can give them to your date, or your coworkers if you don’t want them sitting at home, tempting you), but you’ll also learn about your date. Does he follow directions, or make it up as he goes? Is she a neat freak, cleaning up after every granule of sugar, or will she instigate a flour fight? Does he try to alter the recipe to make it healthier? You two will have to work it out together. Baking is truly a secret compatibility test!
Price: $0. (Or a few bucks for missing ingredients.)
Date #5: A Pint of Ben & Jerry’s and Dancing with the Stars
So maybe it’s not such a bad idea, after all! While this date might not allow time for long conversations, maybe all you want is time to hold each other.
And as simple as this date seems, it still provides some compatibility indicators. You have to agree on what to watch (Dancing With the Stars reruns optional), and what type of ice cream to buy. You’ll also see how good at sharing with each other you are, and how cuddly you can get with one another.
Price: $4
Whether you spend your time talking or touching, these five dates give you and your partner the chance to get to know one another better. They show you care enough to share your heart, mind, and time—compatibility indicators far more reliable and revealing than the amount of cash your date will drop on you. (And in today’s credit jungle, who knows if he really could afford that 5-star restaurant, anyway!)
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I was really excited to read this post, and you have some pretty good ideas. I really don't know about the ice cream and TV, but you're right; you don't need tons of money to have fun with your partner. I think the best idea here is baking a cake. =) That sounds like fun.
a picnic basket $0, blanket to sit on $0, 2 coffee's $3 spending time with someone special... Priceless
Great article, i totally agree with you. You don't need to spend a awful lot of money to have a quality time with your partner, simple things make a big impression! I like the Walk with a purpose point. Thanks for sharing.
Good ideas! I especially like the one about baking a cake together. There is something about food that is so basic, I love to cook for those I love, I would truly love to cook with them as well. I bet that would be very romantic.
These are fun ideas! Thanks for sharing! (I'll be trying the cake one this weekend )
I don't know many guys who are in to DWTS but you never know ;D
Also, it was awesome that you included married or otherwise LTR's here, not just new "dating" couples.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I especially liked the sledding and walking suggestions! People get so caught up in the monetary and material these days that it is refreshing to read something that is focused on the relationship and having fun instead! Thanks!!! I can't wait for the first big snow!
These were great suggestions. My first date with my husband consisted of dinner at an inexpensive restaurant in town and a walk on the pier (50 cents per person for the pier)! It was one of the best dates I ever had. Can't wait to read more of your writing.
Awesome suggestions! I like your sense of humor too. I'm always looking for another way to have an inexpensive date, since dating seems to be so expensive!
You have some good ideas. My husband and I would like to go out more, but we can't always afford to go out to dinner or a movie. Sometimes you just need to get away from home together for a little while, and any excuse will do.
For my birthday my fiancee and I made a cake. We went to the store and spent maybe $5 for supplies and we went hom and had so much fun baking the cake. Decorating the ugliest cake ever with him was the most fun we've ever had together (and believe you me it was UGLY). It really showed me how much he loved me!
Great ideas! My boyfriend and I are always looking for ways to save money on dates! We're both college students..lol. Little or no money is what we have! We've gone on all these dates and more. My favorite--baking together!!! hahahaha =). Not all guys are skilled in baking, so it's fun to see what they do. My boyfriend and I had a blast baking! It was a little messy, but the cookies (from scratch) came out delicious.
I am so in love with this blog. I've always been the type of person to appreicate the little things, and this blog helps people figure out what those little things are. You don't have to spend a lot of money to have a good time, and this blog further proves my point. Thanks for the new ideas for fun, little get-a-aways for my husband and I.
This was really cool to read. As a guy in college with bills, debts, and my own things that I like to enjoy money on, it's tough to take a girl out and show her a good time without breaking the bank. It feels like if I take a girl out a couple of times, I'm broke by the time we start really likin each other! haha. The only one that doesn't work for me is the sledding...southern california, not a lot of snow.
I voted yes on this blog because it offers a few simple ideas for great dates. To many people try and impress others with how much money they can spend on a date. When my husband took me on our first date it was inexpensive and should have been a total ruin. We went to dinner and hated the restaurant, a cute local place with horrible food, we saw a movie, and the screen messed up, we grabbed fast food because we were hungry and he took me to the park, because someone told him that I like the outdoors. Which I do, but by then it was late dark and cold. But I loved that date, he showed me not how much he would pay but what he would endure. Even when things go wrong they can go right.
I voted yes because I think people feel the need to spend alot in order to impress someone, almost to the point of feeling like they need to buy someone's love and intimacy. I think this is more applicable for men than women for some reason. I agree that it's more to do with the quality of the time spent with the other person than it is with how much you spend that allows you to build strong relationships. Take it from me - I've been married for over 15 years.
What good ideas! Having fun together doesn't have to equal lots of money. I think a lot of people will be looking for frugal dates with the economic down turn. Thanks for some fun ideas!
This is a great article! I actually have a date lined up for Saturday, and I think I may just have to find a Karaoke bar to go to. It's a great way to bond with that new person that you just met, and it's also a good way to loosen up!
Very interesting! From my experience, women tend to judge a guy by the "quality" of a first date, meaning how much money he shells out. I think that is an absurd way to go about looking for TRUE love. Thank you for pointing this out. Connecting with someone does not take a $200 meal. And I am totally suggesting a sledding date when we get some white on the ground in NYC!
I'm not sure about #1. going to a bar with the five bucks is no good, unless you're planning to share a beer and not tip the bartender. But I've done the sledding thing and dog walk thing, those are good ones.
I really like this post! Especially in today's economy it's very important to save money. And with a guy, it's definitely quality of the time spent over quantity of money spent.
One cheap date idea that I found really fun was going to Goodwill and buying a ridiculous outfit. Each person gets $5 to buy something silly for their date. After 30 minutes of searching, it's time to exchange gifts.
Karaoke is a great idea... although I have to drink alcohol first, so that date might be a little more than $5. Still a good article, tho!
Awesome post. Especially for hopeless romantics like myself who just so happen to be unable to afford those amazing dates and expensive gifts that women love so much. I agree with the general consensus that a karaoke bar might be more than 5$ but there are other a couple of other options. Go to a park. Hang out at a bookstore, or a record store, most of them don't care if you "browse" and you can usually have a pretty good time. Ice cream and her favorite tv show or movie is the winner for this I think.
I love this! It is down to earth and simple. People need to learn to have fun for less money! All the fun in the world can be had for free! Play games together, enjoy nature! Keep your eyes and mind open and you will have wonderful memories to share too!
These are some great date ideas! Nowadays, it seems like a date has to cost an arm and a leg, but your post proves there is fun to be had without spending much, if any, money. My hubby and I go on a lot of walks together, and I love the sledding idea. I haven't been sledding in ages. Simple, frugal dates like these are the recipe for many fond memories down the road. An additional idea would be to make sure to take your camera along on these dates. For an inexpensive but thoughtful gift, frame one of the pictures or make a small scrapbook or album out of the pictures for your future significant other's birthday or the next holiday!
great ideas!
As a New Yorker, I have a profound appreciation for these types of articles. Yes the cost of living here is sky high, but there are still plenty of things to do that won't empty your bank account if you take the time to do a little research and/or be creative.
Walking around has been one of my favorite date standbys. If you live in an area that has a lot to do it can be amazing what you'll stumble upon and you definitely get to learn about the other person's interests by what catches their eye.
Despite the economic climate of the country, I would rather someone take me out on an inexpensive date that was well thought out than have someone mindlessly dropping stacks in order to impress me.
This is my favorite blog, because money is an issue to everyone right now. I will definitly be takeing girls on walks for now on. Great tips. Just to bad I live in Florida, so I can not go sledding.
This is a great blog! My boyfriend and I are always trying to look for ways to make the most on our modest budget. Another great suggestion is to look in the local paper or online for any community sponsored events. We found a number of great free or low cost outings this way. One example was a Greek Festival. We shared one plate of food and spent the afternoon watching the free entertainment and walking through the booths.
These are some good ideas. My favorite is taking a walk with a purpose. You get to spend time together, get some exercise, and learn something. I'd love to hear even more.
Great ideas! I have another one for those who live near a river, lake, or ocean- go for a walk! We live near the Mississippi and love to take a picnic to the river- it's so realxing and free!
I wish more people would learn the appreciate the smaller things. I have never liked for my dated to spend a lot of money. I felt like if a guy can pull off a cheap fun date then he is perfect. More people need to get back into having fun and not worry about how much money is spent.
I'm really not into these ideas. If someone took me on one of these dates I wouldn't like it very much. I didn't find this post helpful.
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