8 Cheap Date Night Ideas When You’re On A Budget
When you have kids in your life, it is essential to still make the time for a date night for just you and your spouse. This doesn’t mean that date nights have to be expensive. My husband and I always do cheap date nights when we’re on a budget. In an expensive city like Vancouver, we have endless options for places to go, which is one of the reasons why we adore raising our kids here. Here are our top 8 cheap date night ideas for when you’re on a budget. Try to customize these tips to your specific location where you reside.
Picnic On A Beach
Here in Vancouver, BC, we have Stanley Park, English Bay, Spanish banks, etc… In Vancouver, we have no shortage of beautiful beaches to have a picnic on the beach. We love buying a cheap bottle of wine, cutting up some snacks and bringing our speakers for a romantic little picnic on the beach.
Iona Beach
This might sound similar to my first suggestion, but I assure you it’s quite different. Iona Beach is actually where we spend most of our time, even with our kids.
It’s such a great place to go just the two of you. We usually find a spot right along the ocean, back the truck in and have a little tailgate party. Sometimes we bring our propane fire pit and set up for the day and night. The setting is beautiful and quiet and it gives you lots of undistracted time to just visit and catch up.
There is also a huge beautiful pier there that you can enjoy as well if you’re more of a “long casual walk” kind of person. Either way, I am sure there is something similar in every city.
Local Breweries / Happy Hours
We love beer and trying different Craft beers out. There are so many fantastic craft Breweries in Vancouver. One, in particular, is close to our neighborhood and the happy hour consists of $3 – 12 oz beers, $4 – 16 oz beers and $6 – 24 oz beers. On top of that, our city is jam-packed with all sorts of Happy Hour deals. You can find them starting as early as 2 pm – 8 pm. A great app we use to help us find the best deals for date nights is called BrewHound APP and is specific to the Vancouver area.
Speakeasy Lounge
The Narrow Lounge is a little secret speakeasy-style gem in Vancouver. The only way you can recognize it is from the red light bulb above the door. Follow the small staircase down into the lounge and all of a sudden you’re in a quaint whiskey style bar. Once again, if you want a great deal go for a happy hour between 5 pm-7 pm and ALL the cocktails are $7.50 (trust me they are DELICIOUS) and there selected wine, beer and spirits are $4!! Plus you can’t beat there $2 taco deal! It is a great way to keep the expense down but still be able to go out together.
Game Night In
Sometimes there is nothing better than staying in your PJ’s, NOT having to get dressed up and go out, but still having time alone. If you can get someone to watch the kids while YOU stay home, try and make the most of it!
We love making some snacks and a drink and playing cards or dice. It is a fun way to be together and visit but not distracted by the TV. Forget the serious talk, forget you have kids for a night, and just have fun being you two!
Groupon Dinner
We utilize Groupon a ton. In Vancouver, we have a wide variety of options when it comes to Groupon. It is also a good way to get to know some new places. We’ve gone for some pretty amazing meals at half the cost of what it would normally be.
If you want the good old fashioned dinner out style date night, but don’t want to spend a lot, check out the restaurant’s section and choose something new together. Also, if you download the app, more often then not you will get an additional 20% off promo code in your notifications section. I don’t remember the last time I bought a Groupon and didn’t use a promo code. Which just so happens to be one of my tips on my article “10 ways to cut back your bills.”
Local Events
Use features such as Facebook Events to see what is going on locally in your area. This can be a really fun date night idea. If you click on Facebook events you can choose “today” if you’re planning a spur of the moment date, or better yet if your planning in advance you can choose the date night your aiming for. It will give you a list of all the events taking place in your city. There are typically TONS of completely free events, free live music, etc…
Free Outdoor Movie in the Park
There is not much explanation needed here! If you want a movie-style date night out, one of the coolest summer date night options (not typically too many of these in the fall/winter) in the city is the free outdoor movie in parks such as Stanley Park. Not only is the scenery beautiful but it’s old school. Check out the schedule and plan a date night!!
Tell me what some of your favorite date nights are!! I would love to hear! I might even do another article like this because I have so many other places in mind that we love going. If you enjoyed these cheap date night ideas, let me know in the comments below.
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Xo, Asia
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