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These days, going on a date is expensive!

Before my husband and I got married, we often had very simple dates, like taking a walk around the city, chatting in a coffee shop, cooking dinner together, or going ice skating. This continued even after our wedding, and after we’ve had kids.

We still enjoy the adventure (challenge?!) of finding fun things to do that don’t break the bank. After all, one of the most important things to us is quality time spent together, not necessarily how we spend it.

Here is a list of inexpensive date ideas that should get your wheels turning if you’re not sure what to do without spending all your hard-earned money. These ideas can be used year round!

Whether you’re going on your first date or 500th…meeting a blind date or spending time with your spouse of several decades…here are 88 cheap date ideas you’ll want to try!

88 Cheap Date Ideas

1. Have a picnic (inside or outside)
2. Make a romantic dinner at home
3. Volunteer together
4. Go to an estate sale
5. Check out local thrift stores
6. Reminisce about your past by looking through old photo albums and yearbooks
7. Go to the driving range to hit golf balls
8. Pet animals at the local animal shelter
9. Jump from one restaurant to another, sharing appetizers as your meal
10. Go ice skating or rollerskating
11. Go to a community or high school play or musical
12. Build a snowman and then drink hot cocoa
13. Have a movie marathon with homemade popcorn
14. Play hide and seek in the woods or a cornfield
15. Take a long walk around your neighborhood
16. Challenge your date to a ping-pong, pool, or foosball game
17. Make a homemade pizza with personalized toppings
18. Ride bikes around the neighborhood
19. Fly a kite
20. Play “2 Truths and a Lie” and see if your date can guess right!
21. Work out together
22. Look into the local bus and train schedule to see if one will take you anywhere interesting
23. Window shop (take your time looking)
24. Visit a local hardware store and envision all the things you’d want in your dream home
25. Take photos of each other (and together)
26. Babysit together
27. Go hiking
28. Go camping
29. Go fishing
30. Go canoeing
31. Create a CD of your favorite songs
32. Build something together
33. Go dumpster diving for treasures
34. Forage for berries, nuts, and seeds
35. Take a painting class
36. Play board games
37. Search local coupon sites for an activity you wouldn’t normally do
38. Browse a local antique shop
39. Test drive an expensive car
40. Attend a food or wine tour
41. Teach each other a new skill
42. Climb a tree
43. Take a cooking class
44. Shop garage sales
45. Have a breakfast date
46. Work on a puzzle
47. Buy ice cream cones and enjoy them as you walk together
48. Attend a local high school or college sporting event
49. Find the highest point in your city to star gaze on a blanket
50. Go to an open mic night
51. Make a list of the qualities you like about each other
52. Do a seasonal activity (carve pumpkins, hide Easter eggs, decorate the Christmas tree)
53. Reminisce about your first date
54. Take turns planning dates for $10 or less (and make it a competition, with a prize for the winner!)
55. Train for a race together
56. Hold a book club (for two)
57. Take swing dance lessons
58. Talk/dream about your future together
59. Write each other a love note and then read them to each other
60. Draw each other…with your eyes closed
61. Play frisbee
62. Explore a new part of town you’ve never been to
63. Reenact your favorite movie scenes
64. Visit a local farm and pick your own fruit
65. Bake a cake or cookies together
66. Make each other breakfast in bed
67. Plan a scavenger hunt with a gift or sweet letter at the end
68. Take a relationship test (such as the Love Language assessment)
69. Watch as many episodes of one TV show as you can in one sitting
70. Pray together
71. Make a list of things you’d like to do (as an individual and as a couple) and then compare your ideas and plan if necessary
72. Try to break a world record
73. Create a dream home board on Pinterest and fill it with all your favorite things
74. Go to an arcade and play like a kid!
75. Watch YouTube videos all night
76. Cook out
77. Give each other a massage
78. Build a fort over the furniture using sheets, blankets, and pillows
79. Invite friends to a potluck dinner party (with a theme, if you want)
80. Have a spa day at home
81. Rearrange the furniture in one room for a new look
82. Take a nap together
83. Make a memory book with pictures of each other or places you’ve been together
84. Run an errand together (shop for groceries, pick up dry cleaning, or wash the car)
85. Have a dance party
86. Camp out in your backyard
87. Walk around a local farmer’s market
88. Make homemade fondue and enjoy with your favorite foods to dip!

Spending quality time with someone we care about doesn’t need to be expensive. No matter what you choose to do on your next date, make it memorable!

For many more creative and inexpensive date ideas, check out the The Dating Divas! They also have tons of valentine printable packs, themed date night printables, and more!

What are YOUR favorite date ideas?