Cheap Dates/Dating your Spouse

I am a HUGE advocate of married couples dating. I think it is really important to continue the courtship - but how can you do this without breaking your budget?

A few years ago I taught a dating class at church called - Re-discover your mate...go on a date! These are some of the ideas that I shared with the class (these are from coolestdates.com) - pick out a few ideas and have fun with your husband or wife or significant other. Enjoy!

Natural Scenery: The beauty of nature is all around us and it doesn't cost a dime. Whether it's a trip to the beach, a walk in the forest or a search into a cave, it can be done together for practically nothing. Take the time to find the natural scenic spots in your area and utilize them for your dates.

Sports: If you and your date are both athletic, sport activities together can be a great way to spend your time. Play a set of tennis, jog in the park, toss a Frisbee about, play catch with a baseball or football or shoot some baskets. Whichever you choose, you can spend quality time at minimal cost and get some exercise in, too.

Picnic: Picnics are great for dates because they can be taken along wherever you plan to go for the day and they cost a fraction of going out for a meal. They also can be made as casual or as romantic as you want. Take a casual picnic meal, add some cheese & wine along with a red rose and the picnic instantly takes on a romantic feel.

Historic Places & Buildings: It seems the only time people go looking at the historic landmarks near where they live is when visitors come from out of town. Many of these historic or culturally significant spots have no or small entrance fees and make a great place to go on a date. You also get to learn more about the area you live.

Meal/Evening At Home: Cook up a meal at home and spend the evening watching movies or some other activity such as a board game. The meal most likely will be better than at a restaurant and the evening will cost a fraction of what going out to dinner and a movie would cost. Cook the meal together to spend even more time together, or do it yourself as a special surprise.

Memory Album: Take your camera or purchase an inexpensive disposable camera and make a day of taking photos together. Make a theme for the day if you want or just take any crazy photo that comes to mind. Once finished, get the photos 1 hour processed and create a memory album together for the day that will live on forever.

Museums: If you have museums in your area, they can be an excellent place to enjoy an inexpensive date. Admission prices are usually reasonable and often they have discounts for those attending a number of events over the year.

Learn A New Skill: Gather some information on a skill you always wanted to learn and spend a day practicing it together. It could be a day of learning card tricks, learning how to juggle or learning to make bird calls. Any skill you have always wanted to try can make a fun and interesting date.

College Events: If you live near a college or university, utilize their resources for your dates. Guest lectures, music recitals, art exhibitions and plays are common and are often free of charge. The quality can be excellent and the variety enormous.

Hobby Together: You can set a regularly scheduled date if the two of you have a hobby you both enjoy. You can look in the local community newsletter to see if there are classes being offered in something that interests both of you. These classes are usually quite inexpensive and the two of you can enjoy a few hours each week together learning something new.

Local Thrift Shop Date: Plan a date someplace where there are a lot of people. Before going, head down to the local thrift shop together. Once there, specify a small amount of money to purchase clothing or accessories for the other and both head off in different directions. The goal is to find items the other has to wear for the rest of the day/evening within the price specified. The entertainment is seeing the reaction from all the people who see your new outfit as you wander the crowded area. Or just go to the thrift shop and see what you can get for a small amount of money - and who can make the most of the money.

Follow Them Date: As the two of you meet, you look around and pick somebody out on the street. The date is to follow that person where ever he or she goes. Once that person has stopped or you can no longer follow them, pick another person to follow. Your bound to have loads of laughs as you attempt to stay with your designated guide.

Scavenger Hunt Date: When your date arrives, have him or her make a list of what he or she considers to be 20 unusual items. Once the list is made, the date will be to try and find as many of those items as possible. We have done this with friends, but had a list of items that we had to take a picture of with our digital cameras - it was loads of fun!

Truth Or Dare Date: Pick some spots in your area to visit, but play truth or dare along the way. It doesn't really matter where you go since the entertainment is doing the various dares that the other gives in addition to telling all the truths.

Just sit in a busy bus or train station, airport, or park, and watch people. Occasionally say "hi" and be sure to wave. You will get responses.

Go to the children's section of a library or bookstore and read children's books to each other.Play hopscotch in a vacant parking lot or an empty school campus. Later return home for a bubble gum blowing contest.

Find a muddy area, dress in your grubbies and have a mud fight. For groups, take along a rope for a tug-of-war.

Make a couple of pans of brownies. Then drive to various friends' houses and deliver a brownie or two to each friend and visit for a while. When it becomes too late to be visiting people, go home and finish off the brownies.

On a sunny Saturday morning, travel around the countryside and photograph special sites and serene scenery.

Go to a free concert at a mall or local school.

Spend less than one dollar for dinner and movies. Go to the grocery store to sample free food items. Then go back to your house to watch a video. Snacks that you can scrounge from around the house don't count against the dollar.

Form a group of inner tubes of all different sizes, from tractor to car . Float down a nearby river.

Cheer on a mutual friend. If the two of you have a mutual friend who is playing in a game or a concert at school, attend the performance together to cheer your friend on.

Take a stroll around the block -- and hold hands as you walk.

Put together a puzzle on a rainy evening.

Spend an evening looking through your date's picture books and high school yearbooks. Find a comfortable place in the home free from distractions to sit down together. While looking at the picture books, try to guess what's happening, where the picture was taken, what time of year it was, etc., before looking at the description sentences. The pictures in these books will be lots of fun for the person showing them. This is also a guaranteed night of laughing together. You will learn a lot about that person as they tell you the stories and experiences behind each picture.

Clean an attic, basement or garage that no one has touched for a long time. Grandparents' houses are perfect places for this.

Lie on your backs on a grassy hill or meadow and pick out cloud formations.