Cheap Stay-At-Home Date Ideas

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world are date nights with my hubby!

I love getting dressed up for him and the anticipation of having an entire evening with just us.

However, I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes a free evening together + babysitter + money to spend = a rare thing to come by!

We have family members who are more than willing to entertain our little princesses, but we are the type of people who hate to ask. We get reprimanded for this, but we just don’t like to take advantage…especially when our families are already so gracious.

And, if you’re on a tight budget like us, you know that sometimes eating out and entertainment can be the first thing to go.

Enter – stay at home dates!

While we do try get out for a “real” date at least once a month, we have realized that in order to maintain our intimacy, we have to be intentional about it. I wrote a while back about scheduling specific times to spend together. Well, we’ve been trying to do that, and most of those times have been in our home. That way, we don’t have to spend money we don’t have, and we don’t have to find someone to watch the little ones.

We adore our girls and love spending time with them, but it’s also important to us for them to know (as they grow older) that mommy and daddy love each other and need time alone. Everyone is happier in the long run.

Here’s some of the things that have worked for us!

 

1. Coffee Date

Set the alarm! While most dates are known to happen in the evenings, working around schedules, commitments, and kids sometimes doesn’t allow for many free evenings. If it’s been a while since we’ve been able to carve out quality time together, my hubby will set his alarm a bit earlier than normal (I always get up before he does), brew coffee, and we will have some snuggle/conversation time over our coffee mugs just to catch up. If possible I will try to have some muffins or some type of breakfast item already made, but that doesn’t always happen. It’s nice just to have some quiet time together before the day begins!

2. Send the kids to bed a bit early

Our little ones already have a fairly early bedtime, but sending them to bed a half an hour early once in a while provides a little extra time for Mr. Small Town and I to hang out and connect. Evenings can sometimes be a bit hectic around our house. By the time I get dinner made, everyone fed, cleanup, baths, and bedtime routines, I feel ready to crash, too! On these nights, I try to put the dishes and to-do lists out of my mind and give my hubby my undivided attention.

3. Go for a walk

Our girls are still young, so we often strap them into their strollers for a stroll through our neighborhood or a local park. If it’s in the morning, we take travel mugs of coffee with us, and the walk gives us a good time to chat.

4. Netflix

About a year ago, we canceled our cable and now rely on Netflix for movies, TV series, etc. We LOVE it! We found it to be much cheaper than paying for cable AND renting movies (and getting lots of late fees…ahem). Many movies and television series are available for instant watch, which is what we use most often by streaming through the internet onto our TV. Some evenings, I will make some of our favorite finger foods, and after the kids are in bed, we will snack, snuggle, and watch a movie or a few episodes of our favorite TV series, such as The Office. (I also highly recommend the TV series Prison Break…we both were hooked!)

5. Take-Out Candelight Dinner

If we’re craving something but don’t have anyone to watch the kids, one of us will get take-out and we will have dinner together here at home. (I give Miss K dinner on her own then we eat after the girls are in bed.) One of the best Valentine’s dinners we ever had was this year. It was just over a week after I had Miss J, and I was still moving a little slow from childbirth and fatigue, so Mr. Small Town surprised me with a dinner at home. He went to one of our favorite restaurants, ordered take-out, then came home and lit candles, turned on some music, popped out a bottle of wine, and I had made his favorite dessert as a surprise. I even got dressed up even though we were staying at home. BEST. TIME. EVER! (And we didn’t have to pay for a tip or a babysitter! ) Also – much of the time when we do this, it’s without the take-out part. I just make dinner.

6. Game Night

Okay, call us lame, but we still love a good game of Scrabble or cards. Maybe we’re getting old. Sometimes we love to munch on a yummy dessert and play a game together. (Notice most of our dates involve food!  Must.have.FOOD.  ) It is so refreshing just to enjoy one another’s company and laugh together.

 

What creative ways do you use to aside time to connect with your sweetheart?

 

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday

Photo Credit: To Be Alone With You