21 First-Rate Cheap Date Ideas

Stay Home! If you’re married-with-children, send the kids out to a babysitter and just stay home. Order some Chinese take-out, leave the TV off and spend some really intimate time together.

via 21 First-Rate Cheap Date Ideas.

Kids Cater Your Romantic Eve

Let the kids in on the fun.

Have kids and want to celebrate a romantic anniversary together? Sometimes you can easily find a sitter and have the evening to yourselves. But sometimes you can’t– and sometimes it’s even more fun that way! Want to celebrate a romantic occasion with your kids? Put them to work planning and serving a romantic evening to the “special couple” (that is, you and your spouse)!

Explain the special occasion to your kids, and let them know you want their help. Then have the kids help come up with and create menus for you to use. Ask them to help set up a fancy table and assist with the cooking, if you like. Then have them wear their Sunday best and pretend that your home is a restaurant for the evening. When you and your spouse are ready for dinner, go outside and knock, and let the kids answer the door, treating you to a romantic night together. The kid will feel special, needed, and included, and you’ll all feel closer as a family. A romantic date idea the whole family can be part of!

Village Adventures

Check out the little towns in and around where you both live. Then for a different Saturday or Sunday afternoon, take a drive to one and explore the shops and check out the eateries. Choose a place to eat and have a meal. Take pictures as if you were in Europe and enjoy the adventure.

Train Ride and Camping?

I have to say that one of the best dates for truly getting to know someone is to start with a day-trip train ride to an old mining town. Spend the afternoon checking out the sites (museums, historic walking tours, the locals, etc…) before re-boarding the train. From the train station head to a camping site for a weekend under the stars with absolutely NO distractions. It is a great way to see the other person in their most uninhibited state, no make-up, clothes all wrinkled, totally natural experience. This date does take some thought such as packing for the great outdoors, i.e…tents, sleeping bags, skillets, coolers, water, food, bug spray, sunscreen, extra clothing, etc…. If you are lucky enough to be camping in the mountains and have access to a 4×4 Vehicle then the date can continue throughout the weekend with not just hiking but some awesome four-wheel action. Four-wheel driving can really test a relationship because it can get extreme (please don’t do this part if you are not experienced, it can be very DANGEROUS) when you are 12,000 ft. up the side of a mountain with not much of a road or room to drive. It’s almost as if you are literally hanging on a thread and that’s where the true test of trust comes in. All in all….this type of date is the one that my husband and I enjoy most. Romantic, exilerating, refreshing and all around fun!!!

Double “Workout” Date

Double workout Set up a workout date. You can hire a trainer to train you both. What a great, healthy date!

Married with weekly “Date Night”

I knew a couple that had been married only a few years but they set one night a week aside as “date night”. He would actually leave the house giving her a couple hours to get ready for their date. She would dress up, do her hair, her make-up, and put on an outfit he would like. He would go get the car washed, pick up flowers, champagne, a new CD, or a little gift for her and actually go up to the front door to pick her up. So romantic!