Friday, September 18, 2009

~Dates on the cheap~

One of the things that Kevin and I have been focusing on is to go on a "date" every week. Our budget does not allow for a fancy, sit-down meal each week, so we are have to be a little creative with our date nights. (Which, really, is more fun than going out to eat every single week!)

A few months ago, we decided to take turns planning our dates. One week I plan out where we're going, and the next week Kevin does the planning. It has worked wonderfully for us!

It prevents this:
Kevin: What do you want to do?
Tammy: I don't know, I want to go somewhere though.
K: Well, where do you want to go?
T: I don't know. Not the mall though.
K: What about Home Depot?
T: What for, we don't need anything do we?
K: Well, no, but it is fun to look.
T: No, I don't really want to go to Home Depot.
K: OK, then, what do you want to do?
T: I don't know. Maybe we could go to the mall.
K: What about Menards? (a store similar to Home Depot)
T: But we don't need anything there!
K: Well, I don't know. If you think of something, let me know.

Get the idea? We were stuck in a rut!

Since then, we've discovered several area parks and gone for long walks. We've walked around town, we've picked blueberries (with ice cream and fresh blueberries afterwards!), and yes, we've gone out for a nice dinner once. I really look forward to our date each week. It's a chance to get out of the house for a little bit and enjoy each other's company.

If you do a search for "free dates" you can come up with all kinds of ideas. If you live in an area that attracts tourists, spend some time visiting the areas that tourists do. Here's a great post to get some ideas from: 20 Pocket-Change Date Nights. The most important thing is to have fun with your spouse!

1 comment:

Deb said...

Tammy ~ I think you are doing a great thing for your marriage to have date nights! Friends of ours who have 10 kids have always gone on a date on Friday nights. Always. I have to admit that I've been jealous because we've never instituted date night...instead we usually go out with the whole family, which is good but still not a time when couples can talk privately and candidly. But... I'm very thankful that we can go out as a family and that the 20-somethings still like to do things with their parents! Your date nights sound like a fun time of coming up with something that you both will like.