Frugal people share 18 romantic date night ideas besides going out to dinner

Emily Shiffer
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 15:53:29 +0000
Cheap date, Cheap date night ideas, Date, Date night ideas, Dates, Dating, Free date ideas, Frugal date, Frugal people, Fun date ideas, Low cost date, Low cost date ideas, Romantic date, Romantic date ideas, Romantic date night, Date ideas

Date night is a crucial part of keeping your romantic relationship strong. But a night out can quickly become expensive. Between dinner, childcare, and transportation, it can drain your finances and put a damper on romance.

Plus, simply going to dinner can become stale. But coming up with creative date night ideas can definitely be affordable.

To help couples spend time together without spending a lot of money, frugal people on Reddit shared free and low-cost date ideas that help keep the spark alive without breaking the bank.

Here are 18 affordable date night ideas to try.

@arden.zinger
ACTUAL fun date ideas that cost NOTHING You can even do a lot of these right at home if thats your vibe! SAVE this for later when you need date ideas ? #greenscreen #dateideas #datenight #datenightideas #cheapdateideas #datenightidea #datenightathome #athomedatenight #athomedateidea #coupledate #couplegoals #healthyrelationship #healthyrelationships #longtermrelationship #firstdateideas #seconddate

"A lot of museums do a late day once a week where they are open into the evening, pair that with a museum pass from your library and it's a free or nearly free date." - green_calculator

"This time of year, make hot cocoa and go walk to look at Christmas lights, or drive around listening to Christmas music." - thatcleverchick

"College events open to the public, community theater, club activities - like astronomy club lectures and stargazing, free events on Facebook and Eventbrite, some museums have free days and discount event nights. Clubs and Meetup groups near us are the best - free movie nights, potlucks, board game nights, no cover charge music venues (just buy a beer or two), free concerts. One $100 garden membership near us in a reciprocal program has free entry all year to 60 other local cultural attractions." - bob49877

"Search for observatories near you. Our local observatory has one night per month that’s open to the public and it’s one of my favorite things. Not only do they have the two big telescopes, but lots of amateurs bring their telescopes, too, and so you get to look at lots of things from the moon and local planets to galaxies and star clusters." - steve_mahanahan

"Go see performances or sporting events at a local high school. Usually pretty cheap if not free." - oaklandesque

"We like to walk around antique shops and just look at the old different stuff there. We also enjoy hiking, sitting at the lake and talking, driving around and looking at weird looking houses we find on Zillow. Also visiting open houses. ?" - KittenMalk

Couple enjoys date at a museum. Photo credit: Canva

"If your health insurance has it, you could join a gym for a discount (or free) and take fitness classes. My mom was telling me how her insurance makes them pay a certain amount upfront and then refunds them the entire amount if they go a certain number of times. We joined a gym that has classes. We paid upfront for a discount but it works out to $20-something/ month/ person and you can do an unlimited amount of classes." - Fresh_Tune_552

"Don't know where you live but if you have a lot of entertainment you can try a seat filler subscription. I pay $10/ month for 2 people and have received $1500 worth in tickets to shows in the last 3 months." - azorianmilk

"Pack a picnic, complete with a blanket to sit on (and maybe some to wrap up in, depending on where you are/how the weather is). Doesn’t have to be fancy—can just be simple sandwiches, chips, and a jug of tea." - Ok_Kaleidoscope5712

"We're trying to get away from food dates. Sketch box from last year are $10-15 right now. So once a month we have an art day. There are 12 boxes from previous years for cheap dates. We also read the same book and then talk about it. Paint and sip usually has a cheaper night once a month. Also check on paint your own pottery places. We used to spend time painting tiles that we hung on the walls. The little tiles were $4." - ResidentFew6785

A couple enjoys a date reading together. Photo credit: Canva

"Play pool? It’s usually a few bucks." - RadSpatula

"Open mic nights-you get to see & hear some up & coming musicians (both good & bad) as well as established ones." - Abystract-ism

"Volunteer to pet cats at your local humane society." - beermaker

"My city has a FB group called Free activities and events in X. I've used it a lot for random fun things like Cultural Festivals, etc. that I never would have known anyways." - Roadlesstraveled14

"My ex-husband and I used to have game night with another couple. We’d play different board games and take turns supplying chips and soda. Happy memories even though the marriage ended." - Any_Fig_4705

"If there's a chess at the park thing by where you live, walk there and watch people play (and join the fun by playing someone)." - sdavids5670

"We have a lot of art galleries in our town. The first Tuesday of every month is Art Walk. It is free and there usually wine and something to snack on." - BlackCatWoman6

"Disc golf. Discs are pretty cheap (you could play with one disc even though a lot of people have a ton of them). It's more like a hike and every once in awhile you throw a frisbee! Also, most courses are in parks and are free." - Azious