DATING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE

Article By Mrs. Gottrocks
All Rights 2004 Mrs. Gottrocks

Dating can be tough enough, but when the budget is small and the relationship is heating up it can be worse! Whether you are just starting out, an old hat or a married couple that seriously needs a weekly date night, there are ways you can enjoy your time together without breaking the budget. Of course, the old standbys, dinner and/or a movie can be cheap, sometimes with a little planning you can make a date out of the gas in the tank, some preplanning and food from home.

Resources for free or cheap dating are the local city magazine and the local newspapers. Especially in the summer these can be great sources of free concerts on the lawn, movie presentations, and no pay days at museums, zoos, wineries or breweries, and other exhibits. Many people who have grown up around historic sites take them for granted and never bother to visit them, while if they were from out of town they would flock to it. This also applies for shopping malls or other civic buildings which might be impressive enough to visit, but just enough out of the way to use or see on a regular basis. Taking an afternoon to go exploring local sites is a great way to be together and be entertained. The art of the "Sunday Drive" our parents and grandparents took needs serious resurrecting.

Here are some other ideas for inexpensive dates or things a couple of any age can do to be together:

• Take a drive and get lost on purpose - you never know what you will find
• Visit a local flea market and see who can pick out the cheapest, most fun, wacky and/or useful treasure. Ask a vendor or another passing visitor to judge.
• Visit a book store where you can sit and show each other your favorite books from childhood or of all-time, or even read a new one together from the store's collection for the price of a cup of coffee. Going there to read the next few pages or chapters could become a fun ritual.
• Take your wireless laptop to a local Internet cafe, or a scrabble board to a a coffee shop.
• Go out for coffee and dessert instead of dinner.
• Go to a movie theater matinee when the price is low, or find the local "cheap" theater and sneak the food inside in a large purse.
• Choose something neither one of you has ever eaten but always wanted to, grab a cookbook and try to cook it together. Invite over some friends to act as your jury panel.
• Take lessons in something - dancing, archery, crafts, art - and then you will have something you can do together later at home when money is tight.
• Look around for book stores, libraries and societies who are having guest speakers for free - you never know what you'll learn.
• Have a White Elephant Party and invite your friends - everyone brings a useable "yard sale" quality item from their home in a closed brown grocery bag, and then think of a game to play to exchange the bags or use them as prizes in a series of "Let's Make A Deal" or a party games.
• Baby-sit for another couple one night a week in exchange for you baby-sitting for them one night a month, or a week, so you can afford to do something fun.
• Play a board game you've never played before - just learning the rules together can make for a fun afternoon.
• Present your sweetie with a craft you two are going to do together - a scrapbook, sculpture, writing Mad Libs paragraphs for the kids to use later on, write a short story, design an dream home.
• Investigate the Internet together. Pick a subject, topic or item and research it. Write little fact cards in the form of questions and answers, and then relax and see who can answer the most questions correctly.
• Music Music Music! Listen to music you both like and play a game you both already know.
• Go camping. You don't have to go far - its the fun of it that counts.
• Go to an outdoor concert - but listen from the parking lot or a spot nearby and have a tailgate picnic.
• Have a "pennies day" every so often. Everyone puts their change in a special jar or piggy bank, and every once in a while take the money and cash it in to do what ever it can afford (but no more!)- buy ice cream, play miniature golf, buy penny candy at the mall, buy a DVD.
• Volunteer for a local theater group so you can bring your sweetie to performances for free.

There are so many ways to keep you and your honey entertained while not spending much money - just use the resources around you and READ the papers and pay attention! Chances are if you are on the move and having fun, your date won't even notice if money was spent or not. And if you are married, two sandwiches and two sodas and a car can make any day out an adventure - get out there and have fun!

If you have any other suggestions, please Email them to Mrs. Gottrocks Fine Jewelry and Gifts.