8 Date Ideas On A Budget

By Timothy Hayes on July 13, 2015

The weather’s fine and the dating pool’s finer. If you’re jumping on in this summer, have fun and remember to be safe.

Dating in college is fun and certainly a great idea. You’re around lots of intelligent people who share your interests and ideas. The time is right and you could have quite a bit of fun on a date. This summer you might be headed out on a date, but wait! What about all that hard earned summer job money? Well you’ll be glad to hear that there are date ideas that don’t require deep pockets.

1. Have a bonfire.

This one’s great for just you and your significant other or with friends over. All you really need is a fire pit or old fashioned charcoal kettle grill. Get some wood together, grab the blankets and some chairs, cuddle up and watch the flames rise. Tell stories and share ideas as the wood snaps and crackles out showers of sparks flying up. Grab some chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers to make the night tasty and bring a six pack if wanted.

(image courtesy of www.livluv.com)

2. Go stargazing.

Nothing is more romantic than just you and your date lying down on a blanket watching the stars come out. If you head way out into the country away from any light pollution, you can see tons of stars, meteors, and even satellites like the International Space Station. You can marvel at the immensity of the universe and talk about life as you lay there together. Stay as long as you like, but remember to bring jackets in case it gets chilly. You can check with NASA for meteor shower predictions to see if you can catch some really cool moments.

3. Antique shopping.

This is endless fun. Imagine the best museum filled with all kinds of cool stuff from everyday life decades, even centuries ago lined up for rows and rows. Now imagine you can buy any of it, for really cheap most of the time. I don’t know about you, but that sounds great. Even if you end up just browsing, you can find some really cool stuff in antique shops.

There are old appliances, vintage clothing, cameras, boats, fishing equipment, the works. These places can be huge too. As a family tradition, we’ve been going to the same store every year around Christmas for at least four years and still have not explored it all.

4. Go biking.

Biking is a fun, cheap alternative to spending time indoors and watching Netflix. Getting out and getting your blood pumping is good for your circulation. Some have suggested it may be good for a relationship too. If you up your adrenaline and dopamine around someone, that person can then instinctively trigger that same release in you on sight. Biking is also a great, green way to get around that can lead you on to other cool ideas for that day together.

5. Cook together.

As a kitchen worker and child in a big family, I know the kitchen can be a place of sincere bonding and friendship. The most important thing about a kitchen is teamwork and working together in a kitchen can help your relationship in the long term. If neither of you know how to cook, Google something, try it, and work together to try and make it happen. Even if you fail miserably you can learn to fail together and clean up.

6. Go to an outdoor community show.

These events are lots of fun and happen a fair bit in artsy cities. They could be a sneak preview from a ballet company for their upcoming season or a simple community theater production. These are frequently cheap or free and are a blast to go to.

Pack a picnic, grab a blanket, and enjoy the show together. You might laugh, you might cry, you might think really deeply afterwards. Check with local theaters and community events groups in your area for these kinds of shows.

7. Go people watching.

This is a great and easy thing to do. Find a spot with lots of people walking by. Parks, busy streets you can see from a patio, or a carnival will do. Now sit and watch the fun. This can be really entertaining as people walk around thinking everyone is minding their own business, but really, you two are sitting watching.

Find something funny someone does. Make up stories about people’s weird hairdos. Get a kick out of watching kids run around terrorizing their parents. Rate people as they walk by.

(image courtesy of bodybalance4you.wordpress.com

8. Skate.

Find a rink in your area online and get going. Rinks are usually pretty cheap and lots of fun. You can try rollerskating or ice skating. I prefer the latter, but it’s really fun to do either. If only one of you knows how, all the better. That way the other person can teach and show you or vice versa. If neither of you know, ask the rink guard for any help. They can usually help out beginners and are willing to as well.

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