Wondering how you can stay within your budget and still go on fun dates this summer? These cheap summer date ideas will help you do just that!
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Whether you have tons of money, or little to no money to invest into your relationship, you should be investing time into planning fun dates for both of you to enjoy. If you’re anything like John and me, you strive to make every date new and exciting. As a couple who’s never done the same thing two dates in a row, I want to share some of our favorite summer activities with you to help you plan your next date.
In this post you are going to learn cheap indoor date ideas, outdoor summer date ideas, and adventurous summer date ideas.
After reading this article you will be able to easily plan cheap summer date ideas for you and your partner.
This post is all about cheap summer date ideas.
9 Cheap Summer Date Ideas for the Couple on a Budget
Cheap Indoor Date Ideas
Thrift Shopping
Thrift shopping is a GREAT cheat indoor date idea. You wanna know why? Because you get to be goofy with your partner (in public!!)!
You can do this one of two ways:
1. You can go normal thrift shopping where you look for close that you really need and only buy something if you like how it looks on you if it’s clothes or for your home if it’s a decoration.
2. You can do gamified thrift shopping!!! This is where you set a budget for each of you to spend, split up, and shop for an outfit for each other to wear. The catch? You each HAVE to wear the outfits that your partner picked out for you out to dinner that night. Pro tip: I recommend talking to your partner before to make sure you’re on the same page as far as goofiness or serious level goes. I also recommend you share your sizes with each other before starting.
(And this is a great way to know what size your spouse wears without asking before their birthday that’s coming up!)
Cook together
Since being married, John and I rarely cook together. It’s typically one or the other. Cooking together is a great way to make what could be a mundane task feel like an exciting event! I encourage you to sit down together to decide what you want to cook, go to the grocery store together to pick up ingredients, and cook this together at home!
Library
Whether you and your partner prefer to read or to watch movies, going to the library is a great affordable way to spend time together. On your way to the library I recommend talking about what kind of books or movie you’re wanting to read or watch.
When you get to the library you can each then find options that are within those genres and narrow down the options together.
Occasionally John and I go to the library to pick out a movie together despite the fact that we have multiple streaming platforms. Even if you end up watching a movie that you find is on one of your streaming platforms this is totally worth spending the time together!
Game Night
There are a BUNCH of two-person online and board games! Choose your favorite two or three and commit to playing them together at home. Here are a few that are our favorites: Trails (for nature and beautiful design lovers), Othello, Codenames Duet, and Would You Rather (Online). NOTE: I am NOT a game person but I really enjoy these ones.
Movie Pass
Ok, so I know what you’re thinking – “Another date idea list with a bunch of BASIC date ideas”. But this is exciting! This is a way to ensure you don’t feel bad about enjoying a movie night out together because it’s built into your budget.
Cinemark Movie Theaters charge $9.99/month to allow you to get 1 movie ticket a month. That’s a couple dollars cheaper than the normal price of a movie, and you get to go each month and not worry about planning the activity part of your date!
If you live near a Cinemark Movie Theater, you should consider signing up for their Movie Pass Membership. John and I love it!
Cheap Outdoor Summer Date Ideas
Go Camping
As long as you have a tent you can pop it up in your back yard or reserve a campsite at a local campground for an evening to spend with your partner!
If you plan to camp in your backyard be sure to treat it like you’re actually camping! Pack everything you’ll need for the night so you don’t have to go back in the house for anything (besides for the restroom… your neighbors probably wouldn’t appreciate you using your backyard as your restroom, lol!).
If you plan to camp at a local campground, I recommend doing some research for some nearby activities! The campsite my family went to growing up had bike paths and boat rentals and was always so fun! John and I have a couple weekends booked for campsites near the Pacific Coast since we’re so close now.
Take a Walk/Hike
Depending on your health, you could take a 7 mile hike at a nearby forest or park, or a 1 mile walk in your neighborhood or at a local park. When John and I do hikes for a date, we like to plan where we’re going a couple days in advance so we can just get in the car and go when it comes to date day!
Visit Local Attractions
Every city or town has something unique about them. If you’ve lived there a while you’re probably aware of them but don’t think to go since it’s more of the “touristy” thing to do. Regardless of if you think you know all of the fun things to do in your city, I want to encourage you to check out Google’s Things to Do, scroll down a bit, and click the “Outdoors” filter on.
Go on a Bike Ride
There’s no way I could write a whole summer date ideas post without including a suggestion to go on a bike ride! If you both own bikes, great! If not, Google where you can rent a bike nearby you. I bet there’s a spot closer to you than you’d think!
This post is all about cheap summer date ideas.
If you enjoyed this post you will also enjoy “15 Super Meaningful Free Anniversary Ideas“.
