Looking for cheap date ideas or maybe even some free date night ideas? Check out this list of 35+ fun activities you can enjoy on a budget!
There is nothing that will squelch the joy in frugality faster than pinching your pennies so hard that you never have any fun.
And if you’re planning to practice thrift for the long haul, it’s important to strategically come up with ways to keep life interesting, exciting, and fresh — while sticking to your budget!
35+ Free and Cheap Date Ideas
Thanks to so many great ideas from our frugal social media followers, we’ve compiled a list of really fun, frugal activities that work well for free or cheap date night ideas! (Or for the whole family!)
1. Coffee + Bookstore: We used to do this at Barnes and Noble back in our law school barebones budget days. We’d browse books, split a drink (often paying for it with a card I’d earned through reading emails and taking surveys!), and then sit and read and talk for a while. It made for a very relaxing evening that cost us next to nothing!
2. Coffee and/or Dessert: Sip your favorite coffees or split a yummy dessert. Or, if your budget is a little larger, get both and enjoy a relaxing evening with good conversation (either at the restaurant or at home after the kids are in bed).
3. Coffee + Devotions: We love to go for coffee dates and take our devotional books to read together. We get to really talk and we usually take the time to pray and dream about the future together.
4. Bonfire: Enjoy a cozy bonfire in your backyard — complete with comfy seating, cozy blankets, some music, and your favorite drink.
5. Fancy Dinner at Home: If beans and rice make up a large part of your diet, plan ahead so that one night per week, you can have a “feast”. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate – maybe something like meat loaf, a potato dish, some homemade bread, salad, and a dessert. Or if you can’t even afford that, add a dessert to your normal fare and bring out the nice dishes, a tablecloth, and add a centerpiece. A dessert and a candle can make you feel like you’re having a gourmet dinner even if it’s hamburger helper!
6. Progressive Dinner at Home: Decorate four different rooms with four different themes and then serve a coordinating menu item for each. This would be fun to do with other couples or with your kids, too. Have appetizers, a soup/salad, the main dish, and dessert as you travel around your home.
7. Bike Ride + Ice Cream: If you live near an ice cream shop, ride your bikes or walk together and order two cones (or split something fancier). You could also ride bikes or walk to a local grocery store and grab a pint of your favorite flavor to eat at a park.
8. Head to a Thrift Store: Take a small amount of cash and see who can find the most bang for their buck! You could also do this with yard sales, estate sales, etc.
9. Head to the Library: Go to the library, just the two of you, and browse different books that you usually don’t get a chance to look at. Sit and read for a bit, and check out a few favorites. You’ll feel like you went shopping without having spent anything!
10. Dinner and a Movie at Home: Order your favorite takeout and enjoy it in your bedroom or den while watching a favorite movie.
11. Movie Night at Home: Rent a movie with a free code from RedBox or Amazon Prime credit (or get one free at the library). Make some special snacks and watch the movie together under blankets after the kids go to bed.
12. Game Night at Home: Each choose a favorite game and play together, with your family, or invite a few friends over. Prepare some of your favorite munchie snacks and a special beverage.
13. Go For a Drive: Drive around your town and enjoy the scenery and just talk. This is fun over the holidays when lights are out, and also in the summer when it stays light longer.
14. Go Window Shopping: If you can control your impulse purchases, it might be fun to simply walk through some of your favorite sports stores, antique shops, home improvement stores, etc.
15. Plan a Loose Change Date: Take all of the loose change you can find in your house, purse, car, etc. and figure out a creative way to maximize it to have a fun date night.
16. Plan a CVS Date: Make a fun evening out of using up your extra ECBs. Purchase a few frugal treats and head to the park and share your goodies!
17. State Park Picnics: Check the State Park Pass out of the library and pack a picnic lunch. Splurge for some ice cream on the way home.
18. Plan a Scavenger Hunt: You could plan this around your home/yard, within walking distance, or something more elaborate around town. One suggestion is to go to your favorite places around town or places that have a significant meaning and snap a selfie together in front of the place. One could be a restaurant, one could be dessert or coffee, one could be an activity, OR they could just be landmarks that are special to you. Either way, you’re spending time together!
19. Bookstore Date: Each choose a book from different genres then bring it back to a table and share it with one another. For instance — find a book in the travel section that is a dream vacation you’d like to take together. Or, find a joke book with a great joke. It’s so fun and free!
20. Enjoy an Afternoon Date: Lunch prices are typically cheaper than dinner prices and matinee movies are always the cheapest, so if you can swing an afternoon date, you’ll likely save quite a bit.
21. Plan a Happy Hour Date: Capitalize on special offerings for appetizers during the happy hour time slot. You’ll save a bunch, beat the dinner rush, and have lots of fun together.
22. Bowling: Check if any of your local bowling alleys offer a “dollar bowl night”. When we were first married, we’d go on $0.99 night and rent our shoes for $0.99 each and play two games at $0.99 each. It was such a fun outing and it only cost us around $6!
23. Samples + Shopping: Head to Costco or Sam’s Club together, right around meal time, and enjoy lots of yummy samples while getting your shopping done.
24. Watch the Sunset (or Sunrise): Head to the beach, a local trail, or even to your own backyard and enjoy a sunset or sunrise together. Pack a favorite drink or snack and a cozy blanket.
25. Dream About Home Projects: One reader suggested going to your favorite home improvement store and designing your dream kitchen (pretending you have an unlimited budget!) Write down the products you would use (cabinets, flooring, counters, appliances) and how much everything costs. Then compare notes with one another. It is fun, free, and you get to learn each other’s tastes!
26. YouTube Paint at Home: Find a YouTube tutorial and enjoy an at-home paint night — either just as a couple or with friends.
27. Hike + Picnic: Get some fresh air and exercise while you enjoy the beautiful scenary, wonderful conversation, and a yummy picnic lunch.
28. Play Wii: Enjoy a fun night of video games with your favorite snacks.
29. People Watch: Grab a pizza and head to the mall or a local airport to people-watch.
30. Grocery Store Sushi: Skip the fancy high-priced restaurants and grab some grocery store sushi before heading to your favorite local spot and enjoying the sunset.
31. Fazoli’s: Split an Italian Ice and Sampler platter at Fazoli’s and enjoy the free bread sticks!
32. Have a Car Picnic: Keep a basket in your car with chips, water, cloth napkins, and a tablecloth. Pick up deli sandwiches or make an easy lunch. Get in the car and drive to a place that seems fun to eat, chat, and listen to music or a book.
33. Watch High School Sports: Go to your kids’ sports games to support your kids and get a free/cheap date night!
34. Use Discount Gift Cards + Coupons: Purchase discounted restaurant gift cards from Sam’s Club at up to 35% off. Then go enjoy a dinner date when you have a coupon or there’s a sale at the restaurant.
35. Do Daily Chores Together: Make dinner together, walk the dog together, clean the garage together, grocery shop together. You’ll chat while you work, you’ll finish faster, and you’ll likely enjoy it more.
36. Late Night Swim: If you have a pool or hot tub, or if you live near a lake, head out after dark and enjoy a late-night swim together.
Do you have any other free or cheap date night ideas you’d add to this list? Let’s hear!