If you’ve been married 50 years, together for 6, or just getting ready to go on your first date don’t worry about how you’re going to afford all that “relationship stuff”. There are a ton of fun, cheap date ideas!

98 Cheap Date Ideas…

1. Play in the snow, build a snow man, then drink cocoa

2. Go to a community play, a dress rehearsal, high school or college play

3. Do an inside or outside picnic 

4. Work out together

It’s fun to subtly flirt with each other at the gym because the other gym patrons don’t necessarily know you’re together.

5. Go roller skating or ice-skating

6. Movie marathon with ice cream sundaes

Pick a genre, queue up some movies, and make the biggest, most obnoxious sundae you can.

7. Play hide and seek in a corn field (or the woods)

8. Go on a very long walk around your neighborhood at night

9. Go to a real- live movie store, pick out a movie together then pop homemade popcorn at home 

10. Go to estate sales together

11. Spa night together

Spoil each other with home treatments like bubble baths, exfoliating face and body scrubs, foot massages, etc.

12. Make a romantic dinner at home

13. Play ping-pong

Ping-pong is very inexpensive.

14. Bowl

Most bowling alleys have specials and fun things like black-light bowling with loud music.

15. Go yarn-bombing together

Channel your inner rebel.

16. Go on a midnight bike ride together

17. (Mom cover your eyes) Practice Kama Sutra 

18. Go to the hardware store

Wander around, and dream of everything you would do to your house if money was no object. $2,000 chandelier? No problem!

19. Build something together

20. Go canoeing!

21. Go camping!

22. Go hiking!

23. Go fishing!

24. Find the best happy hours in town and make the appetizers your meal

My husband and I go to a place in town that has a happy hour where you can get a burger, fries, and drink for $5. Then, we split it.

25. Take advantage of coupon sites to get great deals on things you wouldn’t normally do

26. Go to a trapeze class!

Seriously. They have them in my city and they just might have them on your city too. For only $10 each it’s a steal.

27. Have friends over and play board games 

28. Go to an antique store and talk about the past lives of old objects 

29. Get some thrift store tennis rackets and go to your city’s free courts

30. Go to the neighborhood pool

31. Fly kites!

32. Test drive an expensive car

33. Go on a tour beer, food, etc. 

Find out what tours businesses in your city offer and try one out.

34. Go thrifting or garage sale-ing together

35. Do a breakfast date

Breakfast is the least expensive meal option (and tastiest if you ask me).

36. Make a new recipe together

37. Play strip poker

38. Find a free (or very cheap) class and take it together

39. Go for an ice cream date. then walk and talk with your cone

40. Find cheap sporting event tickets or go to your local high-school or college games

41. Drive up to the highest point in your city, spread out a blanket, and then gaze up at the stars

42. Go to the animal shelter and pet the animals

43. Teach each other something 

You probably know something your partner doesn’t and they probably know how to do something you don’t. This is the perfect opportunity to teach each other

44. Take photos of each other

Maybe your social media profile pictures are out of date. Spend an afternoon photographing each other.

45. Research your local train and bus lines

There just might be a train that goes right up to the mountains or a cheap bus ride might get you to the beach. Either way, it’s definitley worth looking into.

46. Open Mic or Improv nights

I feel like this one shows up on every list but there’s a good reason why. It’s fun!

47. Volunteer together 

48. Babysit together

49. Make a time-capsule

50. Take advantage of the season

Maybe it’s carving pumpkins, decorating the Christmas tree, or hiding Easter eggs. No matter the season there’s usually something fun happening.

51. Go through your old yearbooks 

Tell your partner all about your high-school days.

52. Reminisce about your 1st date

53. See how creative you can get

Take turns planning dates that have a $10 limit.

54. Train for a race together

55. A book club for two 

Select a book, check out a copy for each of you from the library and then discuss it as you go.

56. Paint a room together

57. Take swing dance classes together 

58. Make a pizza at home

59. Write out the story of how you met

60. Talk about your future together 

61. Write love letters to each other than read them to each other

62. Do a puzzle together 

63. Wash the car and flirt with each other

64. Draw each other 

Close your eyes and draw each other. Yes, eyes closed.

65. Yoga

Most yoga studios offer free yoga. It’s fun to go together, and see how funny you each other in the poses. The worse you are at yoga the more fun it is;)

66. Play frisbee

67. Pretend you’re in a movie

If it rains, go outside, get soaking wet, then run to each other, embrace, and kiss passionately (of course) for like 5 minutes, at least.

68. Pick fruit

This is a good one for the spring and summer months.

69. Go to a friends art opening

70. Bake a cake together 

71. Make each other breakfast in bed

72. Be a tourist in your own city

Roam around like you don’t know what’s going on and try to really see your city in a new way.

73. Experimental food

Pretend you’re on a food show and pick out ingredients for the other person (use as many ingredients as possible that you already own). Then you each try to cook something edible. Sweet and sour corn muffins? Sure!

74. Scavenger hunt 

Spend some time planning a scavenger hunt either around town or just in your house. Leave something (like a sweet letter) at the end of the trail for your partner to find. Take turns doing this for each other.

75. Take online relationship tests 

The Love Languages one is specifically good.

76. Pick a TV show and then watch episode after episode

Any Dexter, Breaking Bad or True Blood fans out there? (I’ve heard Homeland is amazing too!)

77. Get to know each other even more

You might think you know each other really well but if you’e been together for any length of time some of the answers from the beginning of your relationship might be out-of-date. Don’t assume you know your partner so much that they’re not allowed to grow or change their minds.

78. Pray or meditate together

This will make you feel very close and can also be intimating and make you feel vulnerable. But humor me and give it a try (easier said than done, I know). Plus, I’ve got real-live proof that this works! Get this, I know of a couple and they are each 92 years old, and they’ve been married 70 years! Their secret? Transcendental meditation for 20 minutes at least twice a day!

79. Tell each other why you like/love each other so much 

This is another thing that’s easy to take for granted in relationships. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course we love each other! But, really telling each other? Worth a shot.

80. Make life lists

Create lists of things you’d like to do together and separately and then share them with each other and get some of the plans in the works!

81. Break a record

Look at the Guinness Book of World Records and see which record you two should try to break together. Even if you don’t break the record it’d be fun to try.

82. Dream about your dream house

Look at Pinterest and dream about what your house would be like if you had no limit on money! (This is my dream home board)

83. Be a kid again

Remember when $5 seemed like SO much money? It can still go pretty far in an arcade. Go to the arcade to play skee-ball, air hockey, and video games.

84. Hit golf balls at a driving range

85. Go to a midnight movie

86. Pretend you don’t know each other, get dressed up, and meet in the bar or at an event

87. Make a mix tape together

88. Play basketball

89. Go look at dream house status real-estate 

90. Find a cheap psychic and get a reading

91. Give each other haircuts

Yep, I went there. (Still trying to convince my husband to let me try giving him a homemade hair cut)

92. Make wishes in a fountain together

93. Watch YouTube videos all night

Prank videos or kitten videos for hours?! Yes. It’s amazing.

94. Stay up all night talking or “talking”

95. Climb a tree 

96. Go to a bar and cheer for a team 

This one could get expensive so either don’t drink, drink beforehand, or bring a flask.

97. BBQ

98. Ask around

Keep your ears (eyes) peeled on your social media sites for free events going on around town or ask your friends if they have any ideas.

Want more ideas? Check out this post: How to be a Cheap Valentine Without Being a Cheap Valentine , and this post might help too: 56 Things to do Instead of Spending Money.

What are your favorite cheap date ideas?

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