11 Really Fun Date Night Ideas for $20 or Less

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Dates are important for couples, whether you’ve been together forever or this is your first date together.

You bond, laugh, and just enjoy each other’s company.

But when you’re on a tight budget, dates can start to feel more like a burden, since you have to struggle to come up with something that fits in the budget.

If that’s you, then let me try to help come up with some inexpensive ways to still connect with your partner, but not have to worry about the financial aspect of it.

Here’s a list of fun date night ideas with your significant other that can be done for cheap or free!

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1. Just drive

There are bound to be some areas of your city (or even neighborhood!) that you haven’t seen before, or even areas you find intriguing.

Go driving together, let one of you pick out a place you haven’t seen or that you love seeing, and head over there. Talk about why you love that area, or if you haven’t seen it before, talk about some of the things you really enjoyed about that section of town.

It will spark fun conversation between the two of you.

2. Drive-in movie

I’m not totally sure if these still exist everywhere. But if they do in your city, then bring some snacks from home and go see a movie.

Drive-in movies are usually pretty cheap, especially if you are bringing your own snacks. Purchasing from the on-site concession can get expensive.

If you’re looking for the closest drive-thru movie theater, this is a good site to plug in your location to get a list of the closest theaters.

3. Fun in the park

Go on your city’s park and recreation website to see if there are any fun events going on in your park. They’re often free, can be fun, and a good way to meet others in your community!

Our park has a movie night, lunch events, and even ballroom dancing parties. And they’re always adding more!

4. Pretend you are broke college kids going on a first date

I don’t know about you, but I was broke in college. Especially right after I graduated and before I got a job. I was incredibly broke those couple of months!

Funnily enough, my husband and I started dating around that time.

If I put myself back on that mindset, it makes you remember how creative you might have to be to have some fun for cheap.

Since we both lived near campus right after graduation before I landed a job, there was a lot of exploring campus for fun. It was a new way of seeing the university.

Things like that were our “first date”.

Try to get into that mindset of being broke college kids (or maybe you are!) and plan something creative that doesn’t cost anything. There is very likely some part of town you two have not explored that you could venture to.

5. Plan a picnic

Picnics can be a fun day out, and even better, can be super inexpensive!

Plan everything out using as much food as you can from your house, grab a blanket, and head on out!

You could bring along a frisbee, kite, board games, or anything that you both enjoy.

6. Go camping

Camping can be an inexpensive date idea, as long as you have the equipment you need already. If you don’t, definitely skip this idea. Camping gear can get pricey!

If you have what you need, pack up and head out into the wild! I can’t think of a more romantic way to bond than without any distractions, under the stars, by the fire.

7. Video games and pizza

Hear me out, because I know some folks out there don’t think video games are a romantic date night idea.

But for some (like us), we both really enjoy video games, especially playing together. We’ll sit down and play games like Call of Duty, where we help each other find enemies and protect each other.

The fun, date part is that, more often than not, we just start talking while we’re playing. Talk about our day, funny stuff that happened, about our future, anything really is on the table.

It’s a very different way for us to bond, and it’s worked well for us up to this point!

Of course, throwing pizza in the mix just makes it great.

8. Geocaching

Geocaching is a fun way to see new parts of your town and find cool things along the way.

It’s free to sign up and easy to get started.

What a fun way to spend a day with your partner!

9. Hop on a ferry ride

Depending on your location, you can hop on a ferry for a ride across the water for very little, or even no money.

It’s fun to sit on the boat and just enjoy the breeze together.

10. Go out for a breakfast date

Going out for eggs, pancakes, and bacon at the local mom and pop diner is significantly cheaper than going out to dinner!

Plus, you can be leisurely and enjoy bottomless coffee refills while you have fun conversation with your partner.

It’s a great way to get your day started plus have a fun date.

11. Get dropped off somewhere and find your way to the airport

No, not literally.

There is a fun game online that people are playing using a site called MapCrunch. The idea here is to get “dropped” somewhere around the world (and not know where), then try to navigate your way to the airport.

To turn off location information, click “Options” in the top left, then check “Stealth” near the bottom of the pop-up.

Just forewarning you: you could spend hours together playing this game!

That’s our list of fun date night ideas!

What do you think of these fun date night ideas? Do you have any special date night ideas that don’t break the bank?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Are you looking for fun ways to connect with your partner? And is your budget getting in your way? Check out our list of fun date ideas for $20 or less! date night | date | budget | frugal | date ideas