FREE Dates! (Outside the Home) - by Bethany

Last week, I posted about in-house dates. I have to admit that more than half of our weekly dates fit into that category. Why? Well, three reasons: Grace, Alice, and Charlie. 

I know, they're adorable. And we can't bear to be away from them long enough to go out on a date...

Okay, obviously that's not it. It's the babysitting of course. It doesn't fit into our tiny date budget to pay someone to watch our kids. In fact, I can count on one hand the times I've paid actual money for babysitting, and I wouldn't even need all five fingers!

But we are always looking for ways to get free babysitting so we can go on out-of-the-house dates. So far, we've had some success with babysitting swaps, neighbors that live close enough to "babysit" the baby monitor, and definitely grandparent babysitters. We almost always go on a date when our parents are in town!

So, when we can work the babysitting out, the next hurdle is the cost of the actual date activity. I don't think we've ever gone out to dinner and a movie. Not once. Admittedly, when we can get free babysitting, we sometimes splurge on a date that isn't totally free, but we go on free dates most of the time. For instance:

- We like outdoor dates, when possible. We love going on walks - it is such a luxury to be able to go at our own speed and have a conversation without kids! Sometimes, we choose a neighborhood with cool, old houses to walk through. Other times, we walk on a river trail. Once, Paul planned a date where we walked all around the local golf course - it was beautiful, and we even got yelled at by one of the golfers!

- We love libraries and bookstores. It's fun to be able to spend some time at a library together and explore more than just the children's section. Sometimes, we find a cozy spot to look at magazines together. Other times, we pick out books that look interesting (with lots of pictures and quick facts) to look through together. Once, we planned a dream vacation using library materials. Another time, we went to a bookstore and read children's books together. Free fun!

- Parks are always fun. We went on a double date once where we played with boomerangs in a park. We've also flown kites at parks, played on park playgrounds, fed the ducks, explored around - and of course picnics in the park are the best!

We found this great secluded picnic area by a river - it was perfect!

- Window shopping. We're pretty good at looking without buying. I already mentioned bookstores, which are fun. We also love to walk down a nice main street and find interesting stores to explore. Housewares, design stores, kitchen supply stores, anything with showrooms, and fancy food stores are our favorites. Yes, even an upscale or foreign grocery store can be fun!

The long line was more of a deterrent than the cost:)

- Related, but deserving of their own category, are big theme stores like Cabela's and Scheels. They are so fun to explore together! There are taxidermy exhibits, live fish, photo ops, and tons of stuff to play with. I might also put IKEA in this category, just because I love the showrooms so much:)

Scheels has an awesome aquarium!

- Sunsets - You can't go wrong with a beautiful sunset. I assume sunrises are great too, but I wouldn't know:) You can't NOT feel romantic when cuddled up together watching the sun go down. Add some roasted marshmallows, and it's perfect! 

Just before sunset at an overlook.

- Free stuff around town - There is always free stuff going on. Want to go to the movies? We've gone to free movies at the library, on college campuses, or in the park. Free live music is usually easy to find too. Free art gallery strolls, free museum days, and other free performances happen all the time!

My town has LOTS of free stuff!

- Free to you - We love when we get gift cards for birthdays or Christmas, because that's an automatic free date! Even going to Costco or Target can be a fun date when you have free money to spend together on whatever you want! What other free stuff do you have available to you? When Paul was a graduate student, his student fees included a lot of campus performances. We went to a night of opera at the campus performing arts center for free!

It doesn't take money to have a fun and romantic date, as long as you're open and a little bit creative. I know I'm happy just as long as we spend time alone together building our relationship!