By Heather Sokol on February 8, 2010
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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.
Now, we want to hear your ideas for dating on a budget! The rules are simple: write about the given topic, mention MSM and link back to Inexpensively in your post, then come back here to add your permalink in the Mr. Linky. Be sure to grab the banner to let everyone know you’re participating! If you do not have a blog of your own, you are welcome to share your tips in the comments. Then, check out the great tips from
Team Inexpensively and our readers.
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?
By Heather Sokol on February 1, 2010
In less than a week, the biggest game of the year is on television, and the parties are on! Whether your hosting a small gathering, throwing a huge shindig or attending one of your own, we’re here to share tips & tricks for keeping it on a budget.
One of the best things about hosting [...]
By Heather Sokol on January 25, 2010
There are a variety of ways to lower the costs on utility bills you already have to pay—budget billing, comparison shopping and simple alternatives are some of the easiest. They don’t require you to reduce your consumption in anyway. You only have to work with your current provider or consider finding a new one. Real [...]
By Heather Sokol on January 18, 2010
One of the number one financial goals I’m hearing from people is to get out of debt. Credit cards, medical bills, student loans, mortgages—people are swimming in it and desperate to find their way out. Whether this describes your life or you have advice to help others dig their way out, we want to hear [...]
By Heather Sokol on January 11, 2010
One of the reasons I hear all the time for not using coupons is you can’t find deals on healthy foods. It’s just another coupon myth—my family eats very well, and we do it on a tight budget. I pay attention to sales, stockup when I find a deal and make seasonal choices to keep [...]
By Heather Sokol on January 4, 2010
Last week, we invited you to share your general New Year’s resolutions—it’s part of our effort to help you live the life you want, for less. This week, we hope to hear about your specific financial goals. Are you saving money to buy a house in 2010? Is it time to start saving money for [...]
By Heather Sokol on December 28, 2009
I hope everyone has had a fabulous holiday. We are still out of town, enjoying a relaxing Christmas weekend with my family. I’ll return this evening, and I’m ready to look ahead to next year. This week is often a time of reflection—what went well, what we could do differently next year and remembering favorite [...]
By Heather Sokol on December 21, 2009
It’s the final week of our Countdown to Christmas—4 days until Christmas.
Today, we’re inviting you to share your holiday own tips as we combine our holiday series with this week’s Money Saving Monday.
I am so much further behind than usual! Typically, by now, I am simply wrapping gifts & putting the final touches on holiday [...]
By Heather Sokol on December 14, 2009
Our Countdown to Christmas is going strong—11 days until Christmas.
Today, we’re inviting you to share your holiday own tips as we combine our holiday series with this week’s Money Saving Monday.
With less than 2 weeks to Christmas and only a few days until the school’s winter break, it’s time to start planning some holiday fun! [...]
By Heather Sokol on December 7, 2009
I am really loving the festive, frugal ideas everyone is sharing through our Countdown to Christmas. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am! Today, we invite you to share your own tips on inexpensive holiday decorations. Do you use homemade decor or display children’s artwork? We’d love to see pictures of [...]
