100 Frugal Date Ideas For Any Season

Looking for frugal date ideas for all four seasons?  It can be tough to find new things to do when you’re on a budget, but if you look past the the typical “go to dinner, pay for a movie and go broke” dating format, you can have more fun with your frugality.

The point of going on frugal dates isn’t just to “go out and do stuff,” but to make sure you keep the activities not only frugal, but fun and special. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you spend as long as you make it a point to continuously focus on romance, connection and making the ordinary moments into memorable ones.  It doesn’t matter if you’re eating mac ‘n cheese or caviar, without the right focus, your romance will fizzle.  Frugality, truly, doesn’t have to mean sucky dates!

Spring:

1. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with traditional Irish foods
2. Go on a Celtic movie marathon (anything from family friendly to Rated R!)
3. Visit your local botanical gardens or park to see the spring bulbs, bring a camera
4. Attend a local spring festival or local farmer’s market (Google it for a variety of options!)
5. Plan a spring brunch with other couples, or just one on one
6. Go on an Easter Egg hunt (feel free to do an adult version!)
7. Rent some wheels and go on a tour via bicycle or moped
8. Go hiking or for a long city walk to see new points of interest
9. Take a drive to another city to explore the local scene in spring
10. Visit a local winery or grab a deal for day long winery excursions
11. Grab a Groupon and enjoy eating outdoors to try a new local restaurant
12. Do some spring closet cleaning, donate your winter clothes
13. Take advantage of sales and go shopping for coordinating spring attire
14. Set up a day to take pictures together while the flowers are blooming
15. Go to a baseball game together (when tickets are cheaper!)
16. Get into running and train for a 5k together
17. Eat around the world (try new restaurants or cook at home) for a day
18. Scope out free/cheap weekend classes at the library or community college for nifty adventures in arts & crafts, gardening, local culture and home improvement
19. Learn to brew beer
20. If it’s raining, watch a “faves” movie marathon or binge a new tv series on Netflix (order takeout!)
21. Explore a new neighborhood or neighboring town
22. Visit your local farmer’s markets
23. Make mix CDs or playlists for one another
24. Go vintage shopping or hit up craft fairs
25. Visit your garden center to grow something together (perhaps a love fern?)

Summer:

1. Go for a picnic
2. Grab a blanket and watch a meteor shower
3. Check out local movies or concerts in the park
4. Go hiking in a new place, bring a camera
5. Do a restaurant or bar tour during happy hour & hop around to try new spots
6. Bring a camera and spend all day taking pictures somewhere new
7. Learn to cook something new for summer on the grill or campfire
8. Rent or borrow a bike and go for a long ride
9. Find a fire pit at your local park or beach and make s’mores for a night picnic
10. Cook your family recipes for one another & share the stories behind them
11. Check out a BYOB venue and enjoy some wine that you bring from home
12. Go thrift store shopping to see who finds the best (funniest) scores for $5
13. Find local meetups for your mutual interests & meet new people together
14. Attend a summer cooking class (great deals to be had at community centers or supply stores!)
15. Take a summer road trip
16. Play hookie from work & get outside..the thrill alone is more romantic than work!
17. Head to the beach or lake and enjoy the weather
18. Visit a summer faire or festival that offers free admission
19. Grab discount passes for your local aquarium or zoo
20. Attend free tastings by your favorite breweries or distilleries
21. Join a local amateur sports team together
22. Help one another fix up your digs, home improvement+pizza
23. Take a lunch date at work (even if it means going out of your way)
24. Drive to find the best spot to watch the sunset together
25. Go for a walk to try all the best ice cream spots within walking distance

Fall:

1. Go bowling on a weeknight
2. Take dance lessons together (after finding a good deal!)
3. Take a fall road trip just to see the fall colors
4. Go apple picking
5. Locate an arcade, stock up on quarters and have as much fun as humanly possible
6. Find a pumpkin patch & enjoy the festivities
7. Go watch a local football game
8. Carve pumpkins & decorate for fall
9. Visit a haunted house
10. Craft his & her Halloween costumes together
11. Have cheesy Halloween movie marathon complete with themed snacks
12. Try to create your signature cocktail, then after a few, come up with a name
13. Paint your own ceramics (even better if it’s BYOB too!)
14. Clean out your closets with your own at-home fashion show (champagne encouraged)
15. Go back to the place you had your first date, even it’s not your anniversary
16. Play like kids at your local park, crunch around in the fall leaves
17. Have another couple over for a game night
18. Have a wine tasting night at home (try different whites or reds to learn your favorites)
19. Have a beer tasting night at home (taste around the world, learn different styles)
20. Walk around & take pictures together or of one another
21. Do a trial run of Thanksgiving for just the two of you- no fussy relatives invited
22. Go to the Dollar Store & go on a gift scavenger hunt for $5 each
23. Enjoy a day of mini golfing & a round of go-karts
24. Check out books at the local library to discover & cultivate new interests
25. Rent bad movies and get snarky Mystery Science Theater 3000 style, best snark wins a prize

Winter:

1.  Make a scrapbook of your favorite memories together
2. Learn how to make bread (it’s a great excuse to eat wine & cheese too!)
3. Plan your holiday gifts for family and friends & create them together
4. Go on a cheesy movie marathon (70’s, 80’s 90’s are great decades!)
5. Find local holiday markets and go browse
6. Play your favorite board games or video games from childhood (pair with your fave foods)
7. Write out your bucket list and share ideas
8. YouTube a new skill & learn together (cooking, home improvement, massage?)
9. Pop open some champagne and plan your New Year’s goals together
10. Dress up for a night in- even if you’re eating in, make it special
11. Plan a romantic meal where both people cook and you indulge in finery from home
12. Go play in the snow like kids.  Make snowmen, snow angels and maybe a snowball fight?
13. Make ornaments or decorations to commemorate your year together
14. Volunteer together for a cause you care about
15. Make traditional holiday recipes that you’ve never attempted before to establish new traditions
16. Revel in the toy aisle to act like a kid again, then buy something for Toys For Tots
17. Find an ice skating rink & finish up with hot cocoa
18. Make a time capsule to open together next year
19. Sit down and take time to tell each other your family stories and the history of your family tree
20. Snuggle up to all the holiday movies you can find and make adult hot cocoa
21. Start your own two person book club…with wine (obviously)
22. Explore new music together whether on vinyl or Spotify, set a theme and listen
23. Play a video games together that are geared to story telling or team play
24. Roaring fireplace, find one.  The rest will solve itself
25. Create envelopes for each month of the year and write love notes to each other to be opened each month in the new year