14 Thrifty Ways to Date your Husband

Photo Credit: extranoise via flickr cc

It's valentines day, and just in case you think you are too poor to celebrate it, here are some date night ideas that can be done on the cheap.  Many of them can even be enjoyed at home after the kiddos go to bed...no babysitter necessary! 

1. Dress up in your fancy clothes and go for coffee.

2. Play a board game together after the kids go to bed. Watch for good two-player games at yard sales and thrift stores.

3. Make a board game together. Get a large piece of paper or bristol board and design your own game. Use dice and game pieces from games you already own.

4. Have a bubble bath together.

5. Play hide and seek. Seriously!

6. Pick up an ethnic cook book at the library and cook dinner together.

7. Have a chocolate fondue. In a saucepan, melt 1 cup of chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of evaporated milk and a few marshmallows. When everything is melted, transfer to a small fondue pot and use cookies, cakes, pineapple, grapes and strawberries as dippers.

8.  Have a theme movie night.  Maybe rent the scariest movies either of have ever seen?  Or movies from the years you were born?  Or the movies you saw when you were first dating?

9. Remember when a mixed tape was the ultimate sign of affection? Put together a selection of songs that were popular when you first started dating. Go for a drive and enjoy the memories.

10.  Rent a foreign language movie.  Turn off the subtitles.  Make up the plot.  Mute it and speak on behalf of the characters.

11. Go to an amateur theater production. Churches and high schools often put on productions that are nearly free and often very good.

12. Volunteer together. Often couples have their own interests and volunteer at separate venues, but seeing each other in action at the local soup kitchen or after school program could really bring you closer together.

13.  Go for a hike.  Take along a field guide and try to identify some animal tracks or plant species.

14. Watch a sports game together.  Kiss whenever somebody scores a goal.  Bet on the outcome of the game.  (I'm not talking about betting with money....use your imagination!)