Help!We are poor and dating!

My husband and I look for coupons for pizza or some take out food and go to the park. Spread a blanket and have dinner and then go for a walk. Check out your local communities - many have concerts in the summer that are free or look for summer festivals where you can go walk around and see fireworks. We are fortunte to live by Lake Erie so one of our favorite things to do is just go to the lake, hold hands and walk on the beach. What about having date night at home? Do you have a relative or friend that would take the kids for the night or just wait until the kids are in bed and watch a movie (free from the library) and have a romantic dinner or take out. Light some candles or pop some popcorn. Or even after the kids are asleep - go outside sit on a blanket and watch the stars. We do it all the time and with the windows open - we can hear the kids if they wake up.

You are very lucky that your babysitter is watching your children for free. I love the picnic idea. You can even just make sandwiches or something at home ~ so it isn't going to cost you a penny. If you do this a few weeks in a row, you can save the $5 up and then maybe once a month go out for dinner. We use to go on date night every week. Now that everything has gone up in price, we usually order in...this actually allows us to treat the kids too. For adults only, we have a group of friends that get together once a month for a party at someones house. Everyone brings their own drinks and a dish/appetizer. It is a cheap outing with no kids.

How about a picnic in the park? The park would be free and you could supply the food from home. Or you could take a blanket to a field and do some star gazing and maybe have some hot chocolate or something to keep you warm when it starts to get chilly. And maybe you could check your local paper for free or cheap events that you could go to. I know that we have local concerts here during the summer that are free or charge a very small fee to get into. They would also be a fun event to do.

Hi happy, [i]I guess parks are better place to hangout with, it's free and very ideal for walking too as well as relaxing, just bring snacks and drinks while staying there... it's also wonderful to cookout and watch movies or just stay in the yard playing cards or any outdoor games you love to do![/i]

There are many ways to go out on the cheap. You can always start by getting involved in each other's hobby. Fishing. Window shopping. Reading. Sharing a cooking session together. Some of the ideas mentioned above are also what I would recommend. Even taking pictures could be fun. One hones the camera, while the other poses. Then you can make the next event sorting the photos taken. Editing them and enhancing them could be an activity in itself that both of you can do. Heck, why not even start a scrap book together. Digital or physical, it doesn't matter. So, which ones have you tried so far?

Me and my wife also don't get much time to date (each other!) but we have found a solution to that. We turn the most common tasks like shopping, doing grocery, visiting a bank etc into a 'date' ;) It is important to 'enjoy' together than the venue or what we do. We find joy in doing all the things I said above. Grocery is my favorite and shopping is hers we do any work we need to do together as if we are on a date. We also treat ourselves in a coffee shop or some restaurant with some snacks. This way we don't spend too much on 'dating' and we also get the work done as well as have a great time out together!

Get together with a couple of friends and watch a movie at their home or play games. A lot of people like to play cards.

I think the best time I ever had was when I was poor and dating. We did more outside like bike riding and hiking and fishing and camping. Then when we got money we ate out all the time and got fat and lazy and grew apart. Take a walk and use your money for ice cream or just go to a restaurant and order dessert! Take a bike ride and bring along a picnic. We used to go to an outside venue that had concerts but we would bring a blanket and sit outside where we could still hear it but didn't have to pay and could snuggle. Take in a movie at the dollar theater and sneak in candy or snacks. Enjoy these times and as you build a life together and become more financially stable, don't forget about the fun you had when you were poor and in love and still do those things.

Are there any museums that are free or cheap where you live? Most of the time you can find some of those kind of cheap. You could possibly go to a movie together, and just not get anything to eat there. I have done that before. Play games, that would be free. Do you have a zoo close by? You could go to that, I am sure you would probably want to take your kids there but you could always take them there later on. You could save up the money each week to do something a little more expensive and only do one thing that month. Go to cheap restaurants or a fast food place, or even a pizza place. I don't know if you would like any of these things but it's all I could think of. I think it is great that you two do that, I think it is important to do that. Especially when you have kids. Good luck with that.

We stopped by our Chamber of Commerce a few weeks ago, and we found TONS of things to do for less than $10 per person. They've got brochures of small, interesting parks, concert groups, players groups, dollar theaters, community programs, etc. that might be very possible options for you. Our local city and county website also has a bunch of different events and an events calendar.

Hi, you sound like a happy person, who works hard to keep romance alive in marriage! That's really good! Yup, there are things that my hubby and I have done, that don't cost us much. We've gone window shopping in malls, enjoy a cup of coffee or two at the coffee stores, eat ice-creams and laze in the park, visit flea markets on Saturdays. Whatever it is, have fun!

I suppose, dating is really just being together, no matter what you'll do or where you'll go..whether you spend a fortune or just sustain yourselves with freebies. Since you said you've allocated yourselves a budget, why not do something dirt cheap for a couple of weeks and save the money allocated for those weeks until they pile up a bit. Then, maybe after a month or two, you can then treat yourselves to something more extravagant...just make sure you don't overspend. Otherwise, the thought of catching up on your budget again could spoil the fun. Have fun!

I'm a firm believer in dating when you're married. My hubby and I have done everything from playing Putt-Putt, taking long walks, finding a cozy place outside and having a deep conversation, dancing in the rain, getting a coke and just driving around (though with gas prices, that's slowed down). We've even had the grandparents watch our son while we had a cozy intimate night at home. Playing games, listening to music, having drinks. Anything that's relaxing and fun. Be creative and remember to laugh.

The best places to look are in the news paper, you can find free concerts and movie showings. You can also try finding coupons for dinners. You could try picnics or going to a botanical garden

my boyfriend and me aren't rich, too. we have enough to survive and we always try to save some money for our future plans. what we do is, we go out once a week or once every two weeks. we go to a good restaurant but not an expensive one. what matters is we're together and we're enjoying every minute that we're together. there are times when we play mini gold downtown, too. it does not cost much and it's full of fun.

My husband and I were poor when we were dating in college. Our most fun dates were when we played tennis together and when we played pool at the on campus student center. Both of these were easy for inviting other couples to join us for double date socializing.

u know u could always go the park,have a picnic, bring a radio to listen while u are there. u can look for free concerts that take place out of town. u can go to the casino. they have slot machines that will take 5, or 10 dollars at the casino. i also know they are have free at mohegan sun. i think its nice of the sitter do babysitting for free. not many will do that. have a good day

Well, we have dollar theaters here. I'm not sure if you do or not. But you can see movies that are at theaters for like $2. Or go on a picnic, go out for ice cream, maybe go to a carnival just to walk around.