This post may contain affiliate links. Every link is hand-selected by our team, and it isn’t dependent on receiving a commission. You can view our full policy here.
Dinner, movies, bar, repeat. Certain dates are tried and true, sure, but after a while, they can start to feel stale. If you’re looking for something different (and affordable!), try these date ideas. And, when you’re done, leave a comment with one we should add to this list. Or seven. We’ll take ’em all.
- Get on the water: Go kayaking, canoeing, or paddleboarding for the afternoon. Pack a lunch. Feel like you’re living out that scene from The Notebook, until a mosquito bite snaps you back to reality.
- Set up a bonfire, roast s’mores, count stars. No bonfire? Light up the grill. It’s close enough.
- Reimagine game night. Let each of you make up a rule for a game you’ve played dozens of times to give it a fresh spin. If you don’t have any games, a deck of cards and snacks will clock in just under $10.
- Choose a cause and devote an afternoon to it. That old saying that the true measure of a person is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good is completely true. You’ll learn a lot about each other (and yourself) when you volunteer together.
- Hit up a discount museum night. Most galleries and museums offer discount admission (or free admission) certain days of the month. Hit them all up.
- Find an improv or open mic night. Give yourself permission not to sit in the first three rows, unless you’re feeling bold.
- Buy a cheap bottle of wine (or a nice dessert) and go through each other’s old yearbooks. It’ll spark some great memories — and conversations. Trust.
- Learn each other’s love language. Go to a coffee shop, treat yourselves to a drink and a snack, take the quiz (or any number of personality quizzes out there) and discuss your results.
- Go mini golfing. Or ice skating. Or bowling. Look for a discount night.
- Create your own dinner challenge. Write down a bunch of ingredients you currently have in your kitchen on slips of paper, put them into a hat (or bowl), and pull three at random. Then head to the grocery store and decide to make some sort of meal using those three items. You’ll be challenged to supplement those three random ingredients with $10 worth of groceries, but you’ll be surprised how those constraints strengthen your creativity.
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
