10 Best Wallet-Friendly Dating Ideas
You can have a great time with your significant other without spending a fortune. Whether you’re planning a Valentine’s Day picnic or a quality pastime any other day of the year, here are at least 10 cheap dating ideas that won’t make you look cheap.
10. Take a hike
Go outdoors in good weather. Depending on your partner, walking the trails can be fun, or you can just have a picnic in the park. Entrance fee: $ 0. Bonus points if you can feed the ducks in the park, rent a canoe ($ 10-20), or watch a free movie at night in the park. If you are near a national park even better. All these days this year you can visit the national parks free of charge ; plan your dates in the evening or in the afternoon around them.
9. Take a boat trip.
Boat trips can be invigorating and romantic, even if you’re just taking the free ferry to Staten Island to admire the Statue of Liberty (enjoy the bar and bring a pizza, trust me). New Yorkers also have access to free sailing on the Hudson River with the North River Lobster Company , but if you’re in another city, Google to see if there are free ferries or ferries near you. Otherwise, daily deals sites like Groupon and Living Social often offer discounts on boat cruises (while you’re near the water), often with food and drinks served. I got a few between $ 45 and $ 75 per person and have always been thrilled. Cheaper options are available if food or drink is not used.
8. Attending an amateur or minor league team match.
Tickets for local college games and your city’s semi-pro sports teams are much cheaper than tickets for major league teams, and you can probably find better seats for the money. Cheer them up and enjoy the live performances. The average ticket price for a Minor League baseball team is $ 8.05, so when hot dogs and beer or soda are included, we’re talking about $ 20 per person. Wikipedia has a list of professional sports teams that includes semi-professional teams.
7. Back to school
Colleges and community colleges often host events and classes that are open to the public . You can attend a free poetry or book reading, such as student music concerts or an interesting lecture. You can even enroll in refresher courses like photography classes, for both of you – a constant dating option that’s usually pretty inexpensive for each class. Check out the special events pages on college sites near you.
6. Go on an excursion
Watch the stars at night with your partner. Some observatories, parks and colleges offer these tours for free. If you have a nature center nearby, check for bird watching or other enlightening tours. You will most likely find a free historical tour in almost every major city. For a self – guided tour, visit WunderWalk for iOS and Android , which can plan a walking tour according to your (and your) interests.
5. Visit a strange museum.
Many museums have free museum days or payment options as long as you like. If you have a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit card , you can also visit museums for free. You should definitely use them, but for an even more interesting date, visit the less popular museum. There is a guitar history museum in my city, for example, in a three-story colonial house. Every state (and District of Columbia) has at least one weird museum , but probably many more. This is the International Banana Museum in Mecca, California, pictured above. Learn as much as you can about bananas for the $ 1 admission ticket.
4. Go to a free movie viewing.
Free advanced movie views> pay for a movie at the cinema. Visit multiple sites or check out posts that share RSVP codes for views or try other tactics such as joining a preview program or subscribing to extended movie views on Twitter accounts and you and your significant other will get a movie date for free – watch a movie earlier than everyone else.
3. Go to brunch.
Dining out is a classic date, but it can be very expensive depending on when and where you go. FTW Weekend Brunch! It’s cheaper than having dinner at the same restaurant, and many establishments offer unlimited mimosas or other alcoholic beverages. Alternatively, you can choose between breakfast and lunch. Brunch is the best dish of the day. (Also, check out other ways to save money when dining out .) If going to a restaurant seems too routine for you, perhaps take a cooking class together or go to a food festival (there are beer and bacon festivals, coffee and tea, festivals, festivals food trucks and all sorts of food-related activities you can attend). Not all of them tend to be cheap, but it might be worth trying and finding an excuse to eat out. Again, you can find some of these discounted events on the daily deals sites.
2. Cook a new dinner together
As an alternative to dining out, cook something together. Cooking is fun! We love making homemade pizza together, but any food (sushi?) Will do . You can also use a meal kit delivery service to send you meal ideas and date ingredients already prepared for you.
1. Stay for dinner and watch a movie.
It would be an oversight if we didn’t include this classic Dinner + Netflix option. Apparently, this is Valentine ‘s second favorite pastime after fancy dining at a restaurant. Netflix and Chill can have a different connotation these days , but it’s hard to go wrong with a dating movie at home – unless the two of you can agree on a movie. If this is the case, turn to Movies on a Date to find a movie that both of you will enjoy . No Netflix? This is not a big problem either. Now, if only we could figure out what to order .