I will admit, date nights for us don’t happen the typical way they may happen for others. We rarely get out of the house alone (due to having 3 kids, ages 4 and under). Getting a babysitter is not something we are willing to fork out $15/hour for. So, our options have been limited. Sometimes, we will rent a movie through redbox or watch one through Netflix after the kids go to bed, with a glass of wine. Speaking of when the kids go to bed…we make sure the kids are in bed by 8:00 every night so that we get at least an hour to spend with one another, with no kids around. Maybe we talk about our day, or maybe it’s our dreams, but we connect. Isn’t that what couples do on dates? Whenever we do get out of the house, here are the ways we do it on the cheap:

1. Grandma watches the kiddos for FREE. We are lucky to have this luxury, but we realize some people do not have this option. Our church has lots of couples that switch date nights. They “borrow” time and “pay” it back with free sitting.
2. We do things that are free. There are lots of websites where you can find free things to do in your area of the country.
3. We buy deals through Groupon.com. If you go through topcashback.com, you can get an even better deal. Topcashback will reimburse you a certain percentage for your purchase. Click here to sign up, using our referral code.
4. We purchase giftcards at a discount through Raise.com to the places/restaurants we will be going to.
5. We try to find specific restaurant coupons online or sign up for text offers in order to get a discount on our meals.
6. We go out to lunch, not dinner. Lots of places have lunch specials that end up costing half the price of a dinner entres.
7. We NEVER order sodas with our meal. This doesn’t bother us because we aren’t soda drinkers anyway. Drinks are EXPENSIVE!

We hope these tips will give you some ideas on ways to make date nights (or days) happen, as well as save some money. Cheers to a budget friendly night (or day) on the town!