Cheap Dates

Going out for an expensive night on the town is always a thrill, but it's not something most of us can afford to do often. Most likely, your dates will be on the cheap side. Still, there are a lot of ways to save money without resorting to McDonald's and Blockbuster every weekend. Here are some ideas:

Enjoy the Outdoors
Have a picnic. Parks are all around you, and you don't have to wait until you are married with kids to use them. Whip up the best food you have in the house (a trip to the grocery store may be necessary). Next time, your sweetie can make the picnic, and you can just enjoy it.

Take a hike. If you don't know where local hiking trails are, do a little research online. You might want to hike the trail yourself first. This way, you can make sure it's not too long or challenging. You can also scout for good spots to have a picnic or to watch the sunset.

Enjoy the Movies
Drive-in movie. Now, don't get the wrong idea. I'm just talking about the economics of the date. If you pop some popcorn at home and bring your own drinks, you can watch two movies for a total of $12 a car. That's $3 per movie per person. It's especially good for summer blockbusters if don't need to see it on opening night. Even if you did watch it on opening night, it's a cheap way to watch a big movie again.

Bargain movies. If you don't mind going to the movies before 6 p.m., you can knock some money off the ticket price by watching a matinee. That way you have time to go to dinner and do something else fun later in the evening. Also, many towns have cheap cinemas where you watch a recent (but not first-run) movie for just a couple bucks.

Enjoy the Indoors
Games and puzzles. If you often just sit around watching movies with your date, switch things up with some games. Either dig some old games out of your parents' basement or talk to your date and figure out what his or her favorite game is. . If you two must watch a movie, at least you could play one of those "Scene It?" games. Better yet, you can go to the toy store together. Have you ever had a bad time at the toy store? Puzzles can work, too - but not everyone is into puzzles, so ask your date first.

These dates will save you money, but they will also tell you a lot about the person you're dating. This is a good test of how much fun you can have without a lot of money - because guess what? When you get married, you will have times where you don't have much money. You may be flush with cash at the start of your marriage. When you have kids, everything is for them. If one of you loses your job, your pocket money will vanish. Trust me, I know!!

There will be times when all you have is each other, so you better like the person on the other end of the breakfast table. If you find that most of the joy of your date comes from the money you're spending, maybe you have the wrong date.