95 Cheap Date Night (or day) Ideas….

Today seemed like a good day to re-share my list of date night ideas because, although I don’t really ‘do’ Valentines Day as such, I do think it’s important to spend some time with your partner as a couple.  It’s so easy to focus elsewhere and prioritise other things ahead of your relationship but just a little time together every now and again will do you wonders.  Honest!

{Updated for 2018 as I was just going to write a similar post when I realised I’d already written one that I could just add too}

As much as I love my children and love being a parent, I think it’s also really important to remember that I’m also a wife and to keep in mind how easy it is to forget that I need to pay attention to Mr Frugal as well as the kids/dogs/work/housework/blog/Instagram! 😉

I’ve come up with a list of date night activities – some for date night at home and some that actually involve leaving the house without the kids which is something we seem to do less and less of these days. Now that the kids are old enough to be left on their own for a little while we’ve got no excuse not to work our way through this little list…

1. Have a come dine with me style dinner party with your friends where you’re all responsible for providing one course.
2. Cook a meal together and then eat it by candlelight.
3. Go for a walk on the beach, take your shoes off and have a paddle.
4. Eat fish and chips at the beach.
5. Go out to lunch while the kids are at school.
6. Go to a concert together.
7. Go to a football match together.
8. Go bowling together without the kids.
9. Go for a picnic together.
10. Watch films that each other chooses.
11. Visit somewhere local that neither of you has been before.
12. Find a game you both like to play on your games console.
13. Play board games together.
14. Have a casino night at home with your friends.
15. Go to a pub quiz.
16. Hold your own drive-through movie night with by downloading a film to your iPad and watching it outside or in the car somewhere.
17. Visit a local museum.
18. If you can get away for the night, go camping.
19. Learn massage (youtube) and practice on each other.
20. Go watch the sunset somewhere.
21. Relive your first date.
22. Take a dance class together.
23. Sign up for a night class together at your local college.
24. Treat yourself to a cheap photo shoot with a local photography studio – just don’t be tempted to buy all the pictures.  You can get them on Groupon for less than £10 usually.
25. Do some DIY together.
26. Check out your local comedy club.
27. Go the amusements and play on the 2p machines.
28. Pop along to your local bingo – its not just for Grannys you know 😉
29. Get your bikes out and go for a bike ride.
30. Try ice skating for the afternoon.
31. Play cards together.
32. Go to the car boot sale.
33. Take a tour of a local brewery or winery.
34. Go see a band in your local area.
35. Visit a local bookstore.
36. Head to your nearest zoo.
37. Go on a hike.
38. Have an indoor picnic.
39. Find a local gym who offers free one day passes to try the facilities and spend the day at the gym.
40. Fly a kite together.
41. Check your local newspaper to see if there’s any free events in your area.
42. Spend the night watching funny YouTube videos.
43. Try star gazing.
44. Volunteer somewhere together.
45. Find a Happy Hour in your area and go get cheap cocktails.
46. Go to the cinema – get a cheap 2 for 1 deal if you can.
47. Sit in the garden with a bottle of wine.
48. Go to Ikea (my idea of a great time – not so much Mr Frugal’s)
49. Go away for the night if you can get a cheap deal.
50. Have a wander around a farmers market.
51. Find a local karaoke bar and sing your heart out.
52. Look through old photo albums together.
53. If time is limited, just go out for coffee.
54. Go Geocaching.
55. Real aloud to each other.
56. Go window shopping.
57. Go swimming.
58. Find your local mini golf and challenge each other to a game.
59. Go out for ice cream.
60. Do crosswords together.
61. Take it in turns to YouTube favourite songs from your youth.
62. Support your local cricket team – especially in events like the T20 Blast like we went to last year which is much more fast paced than normal cricket.
63. Feed the ducks at the park.
64. Watch your wedding video if you have one.
65. Have a BBQ in your back garden and roast marshmallows for pudding.
66. Get your sketch books out and go somewhere to draw whatever catches your eye.
67. Bake cupcakes together and then eat them.
68. Play Charades.
69. Play truth or dare.
70. Make a model together.
71. Make each other a treasure hunt.
72. Go watch a play at a local theatre.
73. Watch old movies that you watched when you were growing up – we watched the Back to the Future trilogy a few weeks ago and loved them all.
74. Have a water fight.
75. Have a Nerf gun war.
76. Build sandcastles on the beach.
77. Find a good TV series on Netflix and have a marathon session watching it.
78. Go for a run together.
79. Write a bucket list together.
80. And then make plans how to achieve your bucket list.
81. Have a bubble bath.
82. Have a pillow fight.
83. Go shopping around your local charity shops for a piece of furniture to renovate.
84. Then work together to transform it.
85. Print out your favourite digital photos and make a scrapbook/collage with them.
86. Go look around some show homes in your area.
87. Turn the TV off, get rid of all distractions and just talk.
88. Write a list of places you would like to visit in your area.
89. Start working your way through your list.
90. Have a selfie date – take selfies everywhere you go for a day.
91. Treat your partner (and yourself) to breakfast in bed.
92. Using uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows, have a contest and see who can build the largest tower.
93. Building dens isn’t just for kids!
94. Have a de-clutter and hold your own car boot sale to pay for a special night away.
95. Let your partner share their hobbies and interests with you – even if you really don’t want to!

I did originally plan to write a 100 ideas but I ran out – if you have any more that will get me to 100 then please leave them in the comments and I can add them in…

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address here and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on Twitter, BlogLovin or Networked Blogs and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram