My Blog, Your Money

I was reading an article online about affordable date ideas and I was inspired to compile my own list of inexpensive activities (not just for dates):

Outdoor activities:

Walking – Price: Free – Walking is not only free and a great form of exercise, but it also allows you to chat it up with whomever you’re with.

Bike ride – Price: Free (assuming you have the bikes) – In addition to walking, biking is another great physical activity that comes at no cost.  If you need route ideas, research local bike trails.  Just don’t bike too fast or you may lose your friends.

Picnic – Price: Cost of food – Bike, walk, or drive to a park or beach and enjoy a meal and your company as you take in the surroundings.

School playground – Price: Free – Pay a visit to your local school and relive the fun of your youth.  This doesn’t have to be just a daytime activity.  A bonus of going at night is that most of the kids will be sound asleep at home so you can have the entire playground to yourselves.

“Culture” dates:

Museums – Price: Usually less than $10 each – Impress your friends or date and show off your knowledge of the Compsognathus.  And be sure to check to see if the museums have free admission days or discounted fees at certain times.

Festivals – Price: Varies – Festivals are a great way to experience all the various wonders of the theme.  My favorites are arts and wine festivals.  There’s always really cool pictures/photographs and trinkets/doodads.

Staying in:

Watch a movie at home – Price: Less than $5 – Watching a movie at the theater can add up.   With full-price tickets around $10 each and sky-high prices for snacks, you could easily spend $30 for 2 and much more for a larger group for a night at the movies.  You could save that cash and avoid those long lines by watching movies at home.  Renting from your local video store should be around $5.  If you have a Netflix subscription, then your additional cost would be zilch.  If the library’s still open, you can utilize the value of your tax dollars and borrow some movies for free.  Just be sure to return them on time so you don’t incur any overdue fees.

Game night – Price: ~$10 – Break out some board games, play charades, set up a poker tournament, or do them all.  If you’re on a tight budget, pay a visit to the local thrift or Goodwill store for some bargains.

Dining out:

Restaurant promotions– Find out which restaurants have promotions such as Taco Tuesday, Early Bird Specials, or Kids Eat Free and take advantage of them.

DinnerBroker.com – Depending on the restaurant and your reservation, your bill may be discounted up to 30%.  Also, each time you make a reservation, you earn 100 points which can be redeemed at more than 1,000 participating restaurants.

OpenTable.com – Similar to DinnerBroker.com, you earn points for each reservation you make with the amount varying from 100 to 1,000.  The network of restaurants where you can redeem those points is over 8,000 strong.

Restaurant.com certificates– Restaurant.com frequently has deals where you can get certificates at steep discounts.  One recent example is $25 gift certificates selling for $3.  That’s 88% off if you do the math.  You can find out about these specials on deal sites.

Well, that’s it for my list, but if you have any suggestions of your own, please feel free to and leave a comment.