Whether you are celebrating Valentine’s Day with a sweetie or looking for ways to connect with your significant other on a regular basis, finances can often get in the way. Even if you are already married, a regular date night is a complete necessity. You need to spend time together without the distractions of daily life, away from kids & family, to enjoy one another.

In addition to stay-at-home dates, with a little creativity, you can enjoy budget date nights outside of the house. The hubby and I have been very proactive about dating for the last year or so. We have gone through a destruction and repair phase, and have placed a high priority on date night—even if it isn’t always cheap. However, we have utilized coupons and a few unique opportunities to fit the alphabet dating project into our budget. Along the way, we’ve discovered a few inexpensive (and often free!) ideas:

• Bookstores: In addition to the simple pleasure of walking hand in hand through the aisles of books with my hubby, bookstores often have added events such as poetry readings, local musicians or open mic nights.
• Coffee Shops: Neither of us are coffee drinkers, but hot chocolate sure is nice (and low cost) on a cold, winter’s night. You may also find the occasional event here, too.
• Museums: Our local art museum is 100% free! We have also explored the Children’s Museum—sans children—on our previously purchased membership.
• Local Parks: From trails to bird watching to scheduled events, your local park can be a source of free entertainment for couples, in addition to families.
• Geo-Caching: We had such a fun time on our geocaching date, that we’ve considered adding it into the queue again! If you don’t have a smart phone or gps, you can go treasure hunting together with a low-tech Letterboxing outing.
• Video Arcades: Not free, but we’ve spent hours on a single roll of quarters. It’s low key, sometimes competitive and a lot of fun.

We love to hear about your tips, tricks and frugal living ideas each week. Join us on Money Saving Monday to share your frugal tips for surviving winter—how do you stock up on winter supplies, hats, coats, gloves and what do you do when you’re stuck inside?

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