A quick and ideal date is simple:
How can you go wrong when food is involved!
Cheap Date Idea #1
Pay your local library a visit, and ask the librarian where you can read aloud. Choose an engaging mystery or steamy romance and spend the afternoon reading aloud to one-another.
Cheap Date Idea #2
Take two pads of lined paper, some nice pens and visit a quiet coffee shop. Order two cappuccinos, and write the stories of your lives. After one hour, read them aloud to one-another. Then ask lots of questions.
Cheap Date Idea #3
Take a digital camera, go to a downtown or busy area of town and make believe that you are paparazzi, gathering as many candid shots of interesting people as you can. Next date, see number four.
Cheap Date Idea #4
Upload your paparazzi shots which you took in number three to a computer either at home or at an internet cafe and write fantastic or crazy news stories incorporating the photos. Email them to a friend or post them on a free web site and send friends a link.
Cheap Date Idea #5
Take some nice watercolor paper or sketch pads with brushes, paints and pencils and go to a town square or park. Situate yourself at a table or bench and find something beautiful in your surrounding to paint or sketch. Sign and exchange your works and post them at home or work.
Cheap Date Idea #6
Here’s a romantic date idea for when you don’t know one-another well. Go to a cemetery where your relatives are buried, plant flowers and share with your sweetheart some stories about your family history.
Cheap Date Idea #7
Take bicycles or roller blades, pack a lunch and choose an easy trail ride or wander through some country roads. Stop often when you find something interesting to look at or just to rest and talk.
Cheap Date Idea #8
Visit an art museum, conservatory or botanical garden and pretend it’s your first date. Unless of course it is your first date, then you won’t need to pretend. Stop to sit on every bench, hold hands and kiss.
Cheap Date Idea #9
Get tickets to a local high school or college musical or drama performance. Ask the stars of the show for their autographs on your program. Afterward, go for a walk in the dark.
Cheap Date Idea #10
When in season, go to a strawberry patch or apple orchard and pick a few baskets of your own. Have a cup of coffee and enjoy some of your freshly-picked fruit. Finally, return home with your produce and create a special fresh-fruit-in-season dessert.
Cheap Date Idea #11
Visit an invalid or elderly person in your neighborhood, and plant some flowers in their yard or flower box for them. Stop in and share a cup of tea to brighten their day.
Cheap Date Idea #12
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.
Cheap Date Idea #13
Make a trip to the grocery store and pick up some creative pizza ingredients. Take your groceries home and assemble your masterpiece pizza together. Choose a CD of music from your youth, light candles and enjoy.
Cheap Date Idea #14
Check with your local parks and recreation for the schedule of summer dramatic and musical performances in the parks. Prepare a picnic supper, take in the concert, then go for a quiet stroll after the show.
Cheap Date Idea #15
Get your school district’s community education program literature and choose a class on a subject about which you know absolutely nothing. Attend together. You’ll be surprised at what you’ve been missing.
Cheap Date Idea #16
Check your yellow pages for the locations of two or three used book stores. Visit them together and unearth some literary treasures. Stop at a coffee shop and examine your finds over a cappuccino.
Cheap Date Idea #17
Pick up your Sunday newspaper and look up the local parade of new homes. Get in the car and visit three of the most expensive homes making believe that you’re really rich. Be careful that you don’t sign anything! Afterward, stop at a service station to pick up their 3 for $1 hot dog special and a Coke.
Cheap Date Idea #18
Call your local college or university and inquire about their film society’s schedule. Take in a screening of a foreign or art film and join the discussion group afterward. You’ll enjoy the departure from the usual theater and DVD fare.
Cheap Date Idea #19
Take your digital camera, choose 10 or 12 unusual or even bizarre locations and ask a stranger at each location to take a picture of the two of you. Go home and prepare an album of your day out or post them on a free website and send friends a link.
Cheap Date Idea #20
Go to a second hand clothing store together and select an outfit for each other without the other knowing what it is. Exchange outfits, and change into them. Go out for an inexpensive romantic dinner and find out how merciful (or not!) the other is.
Cheap Date Idea #21
Here’s our simplest, yet most traditional and romantic cheap date idea. On a hot August night, take a stroll to your favorite ice cream shop. Get a cone or sundae and stroll down the city street to check out the shop windows.
For guys that don’t normally cook, your best attempt at a home-cooked meal can be a huge treat and doesn’t have to cost anything.
Hide a note under her pillow the night before or little notes around the house on a random day, telling her what she means to you. Focus on the little things that you really appreciate. “
What men don’t realize about ROMANCE is that it doesn’t have to cost a lot.
1. Time in a bottle: Give your hardworking spouse a full day to do whatever he or she wants — or just to relax — no interruptions allowed. For him, that means he gets to engage in his hobby, watch the game, play 18 holes or do absolutely nothing. For her, that might means you feed and entertain the kids while she indulges in a good book, a bubble bath or a manicure. Announce your gift — along with your most heartfelt message of love and appreciation — in your best handwriting or play with various fonts on your home computer. Clean up an old wine bottle and insert the rolled-up message tied with a red bow.
2. Dining out: Sure, you can take your loved one out to dinner, but that can get expensive. Instead, eat out — as in outdoors. A picnic in a park or at the beach will fill the bill. In frostier climes, set up a picnic blanket and basket at the dining room table, on the living room floor or in the middle of that king-size bed. Add a rose or two rather than a dozen for atmosphere.
3. New adventures: Do something different. Go somewhere you’ve never been before, or “someplace you haven’t been in a while that’s special,” says John Gray, author of “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” The site of your first date, for example. When you vary your routine, “that’s what creates the memory,” he says.
1. Invite a few friends over for a potluck. Your delicious smorgasbord will be way more wallet-friendly than dinner at a fancy pants restaurant. Plus, you’ll have plenty to snack on while waiting for the ball to drop.
2. Order delivery and watch your favorite movies on DVD. If you and your beau are hoping for a more intimate way to ring in the New Year, call up your favorite delivery spot. Remember to place your order super early at least an hour before you’d like to eat, delivery times on big holidays can be pretty intense.
3. Have dinner at a diner or burger joint. If you’d really like to go out on Friday but don’t want to drop a ton of dough, head to a hole-in-the-wall spot you love. Your dinner bill will probably cost less than cover charge at a fancy club. And since most party-minded folks will go to dressy and expensive restaurants that require reservations, your no-frills dive shouldn’t be too crowded. If you’re feeling really festive you and your fellow could splurge and order a milkshake. With two straws.
4. Prepare a few fancy appetizers and drinks and have a romantic night in. Get in touch with your Iron Chef fantasies by whipping up your favorite culinary goodies.
5. Get your game on. Play one of your favorite board games together while sipping champagne. Slightly saucy Scrabble, anyone?6. Have sex. Ditch the party hats, streamers and noise makers and have a celebration for two in bed.
The coffee date, but with awareness tips included
This scenario is only plausible for the initial date. Use it more frequently than this and the girl will think one (or more) of the following: 1) You’re just interested in being friends, 2) You’re cheap, or 3) You are a caffeine addict.
Cafes are great for first dates as they’re casual and you’ll likely only be footing the bill for a couple of lattes and biscotti. Unlike a bar, where one drink can easily escalate into many if things are going well, a coffee date will likely never evolve beyond a single refill. If you can, choose a caf that is part of a bookstore. The added benefit here is you can position yourself as literati.
Estimated cost: $5-$10. Price may vary depending upon the number of refills and inclusion of biscotti or savories.
