My friends Stacy and Jenna have been joining me all week for a frugal date blog hop.  And now it’s my turn.

The idea was for DH and I to take a super fun and creative date, photograph it and then post it here for inspiration.  Bwa ha ha.   We were able to sneak in one “leave the house date” in January.  It was basketball tournament night, so we took all our kids to the basketball game, stayed long enough to cheer our son on to the end, and drop the little ones off at the babysitting exchange.  From there we made our way to the church, where the college youth had a nice chili supper waiting.  We enjoyed a meal with them and then gave a little class on financial stuff.  (I don’t know about them, but I had a blast.) They changed direction after we left to a game night.   We thought about staying for that….but we’re so old, we didn’t want to cramp their style.  So, we drove around town wondering what on earth we should do for the next half hour before we had to officially pick up our kids.

Ice cream?  Nope, I’m stuffed.

Window Shopping?  It’s on the other side of town…

Home for some fun?  Not enough time….

So we went to pick up our kids early and visited with the Mama for a while.  We’re boring like that.  But happy :).

That was a pretty exciting date night for us.  Our date nights typically include a run to Chipotle, and then a trip to the hardware store, and home for a Netflix movie.   Yawn.  It’s pretty satisfying being dull.

If we had a super cool list of surprisingly cheap date nights then we’d have more of a chance a chance at being creative… Oh lookie here!

1.  Swimming at an indoor pool

2.  Blindfold date: Blindfold the non-driver then take them somewhere and have them guess the location.  Suggested destinations:  library; ice cream parlor; favorite shop at the mall; bowling; mini-golf; park…Remove the blindfold and have some fun at the first location,  Then swap.

3.  Have a progressive fast food dinner.  Picking up a different item at each restaurant.

4.  Play racquetball at the local YMCA.

5.  Take a class together at continuing education services at the local High School.  They typically offer ballroom dancing classes, art classes, cooking, and computer stuff too.

6.  Go to an art museum (our big one is free.)

7.  Give each person $10 and split up at the grocery store.  Assign each person a vague list of items such as “meat” “dessert” “Side Dish” “bread” and let each person pick whatever they want.  Go home and cook it up together.

8.  Build a snow family to greet the kids when they come home.

9.  Bake cookies together, then deliver them to widows and widowers from church.

10. Write down 10 of your favorite things about each other, then read them aloud:  My favorite outfit you wear; Your cologne I like best; My favorite way you do your hair; My favorite thing to do together; My favorite memory; The thing I first noticed about you; The thing I miss most when you’re away; My favorite place we’ve been together; My favorite way you touch me; My favorite talent you have.

11.  Write down 10 of your favorites and see if you can guess them about each other.  Each item you guess right, gets rewarded with a kiss :).  Favorite:  Color; Food; Ice-cream flavor; Soda Flavor; Decor style; vacation spot; movie; song; book; car…

12.  His/Her Spa night; bubble bath, candles, massage

13.  Learn to Dance at home (via youtube)

14. Double date and have a game night

15. Formal night:  Surprise him in your nicest gown then go someplace just for fun (Taco Bell, Frozen Yogurt,  or the Mall Food Court)

16. Lift weights together, following up with protein smoothies and a muscle rub down

17. Plan your dream house or vacation

18. Talk about your 1, 5, and 10 year goals and make some plans to reach them.

19. Ice Skating

20. Watch your Wedding Video (via Imperfect Homeaker)

21.  Browse an ethnic grocery store and try something new

22.  Build something together from Ana-White.com

23. Write a bunch of post-it love notes to your kids and hide them in their stuff (inside their socks, school bag, bathrobe, book etc.) (While your at it, sneak some into your spouse’s stuff too–but don’t let him see you!)

24. Pass it on:  Do a bunch of random acts of kindness around town.  Leave a quarter in the cart at Aldi; shovel someone’s driveway; drop off baked goods on a neighbor’s porch, ring the bell and run; pay for someone’s order behind you in the drive thru;  etc

25.  Hot and Cold:  Give each person $5 and tax and buy gifts from Dollar Tree.  Go home and hide them around the house and play hot and cold until each spouse finds them.