Sticking to a budget and going out on dates don’t really go hand in hand. Even something as simple as going out to dinner and getting a glass or two of wine can really add up fast. Luckily, date nights with your significant other don’t always have to break the budget. Here are some cheap date night ideas you’ll actually enjoy.
Cook Together
Eating out or ordering takeout isn’t cheap. Like I said, a simple dinner and some drinks can be $50+ easily. Find a yummy recipe like one of these slow cooker recipes that are perfect for a cozy date night. You’ll be spending some quality time together, learning a new recipe, and will be saving money. I call that a win-win-win!
At Home Movie Night
Movie nights are a staple date night that just about every couple enjoys from time to time. But if you tag on the cost of dinner and snacks on top of the cost of tickets, your simple date night turns into a pricey outing. Break out the microwave popcorn and watch a movie from the couch. If you pay for a streaming service, choose a movie from there and put your money to use. If not, see what’s available on OnDemand or utilize the totally free options and dig through your old DVD collection and watch a forgotten gem.
Have a Picnic
Obviously nice weather is ideal for this one, but what’s stopping you from laying down a blanket in the living room and having a picnic indoors? Go old school and make sandwiches, cut up some fruit or make a fun little cheeseboard.
At Home Wine/Beer Tasting
This is a fun one. Hit up the aisles of Trader Joes for some cheap wine or ales and have yourself a little tasting. You can literally find bottles for as little as $2 making this a super cheap date night option. Make it a game and try to guess the notes in the drinks for some added fun.
Indoor Camping
Who says forts are just for kids? Gather all the pillows and blankets you can and set up camp in your own living room. Set the scene by playing this lakeside campfire video to help bring the outdoors in. Make your favorite camping food, bake some smores and enjoy each other’s company.
Bake Together
Bring out grandma’s cookie recipe and make some memories on a budget or even for free. Chances are you own ingredients like sugar, salt and flour already so this is a super cheap date idea. Not only do you get to spend time with the one you love, but you also get some treats in the end…assuming you don’t burn them!
Make Candles
I may or may not have spent $40 making a candle at a candle place once. It was such a fun date but wasn’t something that could become a regular outing due to the cost. You can find candle kits like this one for a pretty good price. All you need is a cute jar to put the wax in which you can find at a place like Hobby Lobby. This is such a fun, inexpensive and unique date idea that won’t break the bank.
Game Night
This cheap date idea works better with a group date but couldn’t be cheaper! Assuming you already have the games, it’s free entertainment. Whether it’s Cards Against Humanity, Scrabble or Uno you’ll have an absolute blast no matter what.
Themed Date Night
So maybe you don’t have the money to fly to Italy and have a romantic dinner in Rome. But, you can cook some pasta, sip some wine and play some Frank Sinatra. Get creative and have some fun!
A Day of Their Favorite Things
If all else fails, you can’t go wrong with planning a day doing your significant other’s favorite things! And no, this doesn’t mean having to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets to see their favorite sports team or band play. Instead, think about their favorite everyday things that they love and plan a date around those. Things can include making their favorite meal together, watching their favorite movie, playing their favorite game, going to their favorite place for ice cream, etc. As you can see, none of these things cost much money, but it still includes enough activities to makeup a fun little date together.
Want even more cheap date night ideas? Here are an additional 20 budget friendly date ideas that are anything but boring!
These are some great idea. I like the indoor camping idea. We already do some of these as we usually always cook together but baking could be fun too. Thanks for these.
Glad you enjoyed! Baking always makes for such a fun activity.
I just did a movie night! Having popcorn and movie theater candy made it just as much fun as going out to the theater. I love the idea of an at home wine tasting. I’ll have to try that!
Yes! At home movie nights are the best! So much fun and way cheaper than going to a theater.
Love these!! I think we are going to do indoor camping soon with a picnic as well! Xx
Glad to hear! They are both such fun low cost ways to spend time with your loved one.
yes! love this! cheap and at home date nights are a staple here! we actually try to stay up late on Friday nights and hang out after the kids go to bed. sometimes we watch a movie, or have a treat. sometimes we just hang out, and we are talking about doing game nights some times! also love when we can get a babysitter to take the kids to their house and we can come home and make dinner together and watch a movie! Love this so much!
I love that! Doing something as simple as dinner and a movie way at home is such an easy way to spend time with your loved one. You will definitely have to plan a game night soon!
I love these ideas! I will definitely be trying out these ideas!
Thank you!
Yay! I hope you enjoy!
Love movie night, game night and wine tasting ideas! Don’t currently have a boyfriend, but I think all of these can be done with friends. Thanks for the great post!
Yes! These ideas work perfectly for hanging out with friends also. It can be so hard to find budget friendly things to do with friends so I hope these ideas helped!
Love these ideas, especially since Valentine’s day is coming up! We may have to try a few of them, thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed! Hopefully you can have yourself a budget friendly Valentine’s day date night!
Great ideas. Camping indoors as well as game night are my favourite. I’ll be adding other ideas from this list
Camping indoors is such a fun one! It’s so fun to gather all the blankets, pillows and sleeping bags in your home and just camp out in the living room.
This is a great list! It can be hard to have a quality date night on a budget, but you’ve shared some great ideas. My husband and I have been cooking together lately, and it’s a great way to slow down and have quality time together!
Thanks, Erin! It can be a challenge to fins fun things to do for date night that don’t cost a ton of money, so I hope this post gave you some inspiration!
These ideas are amazing!! Thank you for writing this, saving these ideas for later.
Thank you! So glad it was helpful for you!
I clicked on this hoping to find some original ideas and I’m glad I did! I’ve never thought about the at home wine and beer tasting, and I know my boyfriend would love that. I also love the candle making kits I think that’s so creative! Thanks for sharing.
Aw thank you! I’m so glad you found it helpful! And yes the best part about the candles is that the kit gets you through so many uses so you really get a good bang for your buck.
These are great ideas. We love cooking together. When we were first dating, we had a guacamole competition and had his mom judge. Now we like to work together on meals. Thanks for the date night tips.
I love that! Glad you enjoyed!
Nice ideas, thank you. Although it’s my husband’s idea of HELL to be cooking together in the kitchen… 🙂
hahah! Movie night it is then!
Great ideas thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed!
Hey Emily, I just wanted to say how much I loved your post, I thought I commented the other day, but I came back again to check out your lovely blog, and I wanted to let you know that I provided a backlink to your post. I have a blog post I created a few months ago similar to this one, and I provided a link to this post on that post I created. I hope that’s okay and you have given me some ideas for my fiance and me to try like an indoor picnic and building a fort. We’re big kids at heart and I know he would love to get creative with date nights too.
Hi Kaitlyn! Thank you so much! I’d love to check out your post and include a backlink 🙂
We are always looking for new date night ideas! Definitely adding the indoor camping and the candle making to our list!
Yes! They are both such fun date night options and are a great way to switch things up!
Great post! I love the picnic and wine tasting ideas. Will surely try them out.
Both are such fun date nights that are cost friendly!
Great ideas! My husband and I love at home dates since we have a toddler! We are huge movie fans so that’s definitely a go to for us.
Yes you can never go wrong with a movie night!
Cooking together plus a movie night is my all-time favorite date night with my boyfriend!
Ooooo love the idea of pairing them together!
Love the idea of an at home wine/beer tasting!
Thank you! It’s so fun and can be so cost friendly!
We’re constantly doing Board Game Nights, my boyfriend is an avid player! It’s always fun, I recommend it!
Board games are the best!
These are all great ideas! And, they are pandemic friendly. So many people are looking for ways to have fun and still stay safe! These are awesome suggestions for doing both.
Great point about them being pandemic friendly!
Love these ideas! At home movie nights are some of my favorite date nights.
Me too! You can never go wrong with movie night!
Love this! I am all for cheap dates, they are so fun! My husband and I love to have movie nights and he is also the best cook so he makes homemade dinners often. Great suggestions! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed!
This is something I have definitely been struggling with during quarantine! Cannot wait to give some of these a try! Thank you so much for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed!
Really love all these ideas!!
Thank you!
Love the indoor camping idea. We can even do that with the kids!!
Great idea, I’ll be they will love it!
At home movie nights is one of my favorite dates! There is nothing better than snuggling on the couch eating snacks.
I couldn’t agree more!
Such great ideas! Definitely going to try some. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! I hope it gave you some good ideas!
Great ideas! We haven’t had a date night in a while, should probably try some of these 🙂
Yes! I hope they help!