50 Cheap Things Couples Can Do On “Date Night”
Every marital therapist I know (as well as any other sort of couples therapist) talks about “Date Night” as a way of restoring a couple’s intimacy. Date nights are supposed to be a time off with just you and your partner. Dinner, movies, and trips are common types of “Date Nights” prescribed. This economy overwhelms couples when date night is suggested. “How can we do that? We don’t have money to go out to eat or go to the movies. We cannot even pay the babysitter.” I have put together 50 cheap possible dates that may help. These work best if you find a babysitter so you are alone, but if your kids are small, some date nights can be done at home after the little one is asleep.
Go to a play in the park.
Wash the car together.
Take a walk in the park.
Go to a restaurant, and only order dessert.
Have a wine tasting night, trying several different kinds of wine.
Blindfold each other and massage each other.
Make chocolate covered strawberries together.
Take a hot bath with new bath bubbles.
Go to the book store and find books for each other.
Give each other pedicures.
Go to a museum.
Sit outside at a park and sketch each other.
Choose one room of the house and clean it together in your underwear.
Go for a bicycle ride and pack a lunch, dinner, or snacks.
Have a picnic in the dark (this can be done in the backyard).
Build a Lego house.
Put a 1,000 piece puzzle together.
Draw your dream house together.
Go to a paint store and pick out a new color to paint your bedroom.
Go to a marriage enrichment course.
Go to an athletic store and purchase running shorts that match.
Play a game on the computer, and whoever wins gets a foot or scalp massage.
Play a favorite CD and dance.
Take out a tablet and take turns writing down what you love about your partner.
Write out a vision for your marriage. Each person writes down an area they personally want to improve in the relationship.
Pick out clothes for each other to wear to work the next day.
Pick out clothes you want each other to wear to bed that night (they must be clothes you already have).
Make the biggest ice cream sundae ever in a huge bowl with both of your favorite toppings. Then eat it together.
Have a heart-to-heart conversation in regards to what is missing in your relationship. Identify at least two things you can add that will help fill it.
Go to a Karaoke club.
Try to begin every sentence with, “Because I love you” (at least through dinner).
Take the dog for a walk and go where the dog wants to go.
Go out for coffee and sit outside the coffee shop while you sip the coffee (tea works too).
Try to talk only about the relationship, not work, and not kids.
Identify at least three things you want to change about yourself, and tell your partner how they can help you achieve them.
Tell each other what you like the best about your sex life.
Take videos of your partner answering the question, “What I like best about my spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend is…”
Write your own obituary. This makes it very clear what is important to you. Share it with your partner.
Read your favorite poem to your partner. Discuss it over a glass of wine or hot tea.
Read a chapter from a steamy novel that you like and change the names to you and your partner. This is really fun, and leads to unexpected feelings.
Do a workout tape together. Yoga is especially nice as you are relaxed and it feels good.
Look through old photos of the two of you. Try to put yourself into where you were during that photo.
Write each other a love story. Begin by thinking of five things you love about this person.
Play catch in the back yard. Something about the rhythm of the ball going back and forth makes us relax and we begin to talk. It makes us feel closer.
Sit on his/her lap and just kiss. Kiss his/her neck, and smell her/his hair.
Wash each other’s hair. Use a fragrant shampoo and conditioner and massage the scalp. Turn it into an experience rather than a job.
Shoot baskets. This is good exercise, and makes you feel more vibrant.
Go to a pool hall and play a good game of pool. It’s fun to see the people who hang out at a pool hall and it is cheap.
Sit in a church. There is nothing as calming and assuring than to sit in a church with no organized program. Hold hands, or just sit next to each other and meditate and pray.
Look at your planner and plan your next date night, reassuring your partner that you live for date nights. It is your commitment to the importance of this together time that will make your relationship healthy and leave your partner feeling they are the luckiest person in the world.