fun date ideas that are affordable

Y’all know that I recently opened an Etsy shop, right? Well see that cute little button over there on the right sidebar? It was designed by Amanda of Royal Daughter Designs. Not only is she a fabulous designer, and super fantastic to work with, she’s also today’s guest blogger! YAY for us! I just know that you are going to love the fun date ideas!

***

the
cheapest
date
ever

That’s what I found myself thinking when I opened an envelope from my (still new) boyfriend that read,

“A Challenge:

Enclosed you will find $10. This is all the money we have to spend tonight. With this $10 we must:

1. Both eat
2. Buy a gift for each our parents
3. Have fun

Are you up to the challenge?”

I wanted to say, “Heck no! Take me out on a real date, mister!” But since our relationship was still new, and since I genuinely liked the guy, I gave it a shot.

we
had
the
best
time

We laughed so hard at some of the “gift” ideas we came up with for our parents. We settled on picture frames from a dollar store. You know those ever-popular self portrait shots? Yep, we took those to insert into the picture frames and shared them with our (slightly confused) parents.

Taco Bell oh-so-graciously serves 99¢ bean burritos. While one does not normally consider Taco Bell to be a romantic dining environment, the Taco Bell in our town keeps the indoor temperature extremely cold, and that, my friend, makes for great snuggling!

At the end of the date, we had kept our expenses at less than $10. Y’all just don’t know how impressive that is for me!

***

I married him.

That cheapskate thrifty, man of mine!

I admit, at first I was disappointed by that date. At the time I thought he was just being cheap.

But looking back on our courtship, that date stands out in my mind as one of the most fun dates we had. We drove around for hours trying to figure out how we were going to spend our money. We laughed until our sides hurt at some of the inexpensive gift ideas that we came up with. We sat at that freezing cold Taco Bell until they closed (and you know they’re open late!) just talking and having the best time together.

Nothing fancy. (Okay, maybe I was a little over-dressed for the occasion…but I had no fair warning!)

Nothing exciting. Except that we did accidentally drive over a bucket full of nails – it had fallen out of roofing truck driving in front of us! Thankfully the tires survived!

Nothing romantic.

But in spite of it all that night is etched in my memory as one of my favorite dates with my guy. I think it’s because he really thought outside of the box. I have a genuine appreciation for the fact that he didn’t just stick to the the usual, flowers, movie, and dinner date. He put some thought into it, and came up with a creative date idea.Last week we celebrated his birthday at a fancy shmancy Mediterranean restaurant in Fort Worth. He wore a suit. (Ah…he’s quite the looker when he’s wearing a suit!)

The atmosphere was incredibly romantic. The food was to. die. for.

Having an uber-romantic and sophisticated date night is always appreciated, no?When it comes to date night:

spice it up

Spice it up by doing something different.
Spice it up by getting out of your comfort zone.
Spice it up by doing something that benefits others, and not just yourselves.
Spice it up by wearing something sexy.
Spice it up by getting away for the night.
Spice it up by cooking together.
Spice it up by not talking about the kids.
Spice it up by recreating a date from your dating years.
Spice it up by window shopping for things you’ll probably never buy – and just dream together.
Spice it up by surprising your man with a homemade lunch and share your lunch hour together.

Date night is such a vital part of a healthy relationship. I for one would love to have a date night every week – but we really only get away for some one-on-one time about twice a month. What about you? Do you schedule date nights, or let them be spontaneous? Won’t you share with us what you do to spice up date night?

You can also come visit me here and share your suggestions for spicing up date night. I’d be tickled to hear from you!