Stay Connected All Year Round with a Frugal Date Night At Home
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Keep the romance alive and stay connected by having regular quality time together. Here are some tips for having a frugal date night at home.
It’s easy for romance to get lost in the bustle of life.
Especially if you’ve got children.
Work, childcare, housework, distractions like TV and the internet and, ahem, sleep can easily take priority over spending quality time with your partner. Weeks and months can pass by without having more than a cursory conversation together.
While Valentine’s Day might a commercial event to get us to spend more money, for many of us it can also act as a reminder to cherish the one you life:
“It’s easy to take each other for granted when consumed by the daily grind of everyday living. Romance can get forgotten when there are work to do and children to raise and dishes to wash. Valentine’s Day can act as a reminder to take pause and appreciate the special person or people in your life.”
But you don’t leave romance to just one day of the year. Your relationship will be stronger and happier if you make the effort to stay connected throughout the entire year.
That’s where date night comes into it.
Stay Connected with a Regular Date Night
‘Date night’ is much maligned: it can seem unromantic to schedule in time with your partner, just as you would an appointment with the dentist.
But being intentional with your time ensures date night happens, and it lets each other know that your matter.
“Sorry, I can’t tonight, it’s date night.”
When you have children, going out together becomes less practical. Babysitters are expensive. So is dining out. However, not being able to go ‘out’ doesn’t mean date night can’t occur.
Date night is all about spending quality time together. That can happen just as well over a glass of wine at home after the kids have gone to bed as having one out and about.
How to Enjoy a Date Night at Home
The first important tip is to have time alone without the kids. That means scheduling date night when the kids are in bed and asleep.
Hubby and I have ‘date night’ every Saturday.
Our date night usually involves ice cream and a movie or a TV series on DVD. Sometimes we splash out and get take away Indian after the kids have gone to bed.
The best quality time though is without screens: sitting out in the cool of the night with a beer, just shooting the breeze. Or have a game of UNO or Scrabble together.
Date Night Ideas
Some other at-home date night ideas include:
- Cook dinner together
- Dine alfresco
- Have an indoor picnic
- Listen to favourite music
- Dance together
- Read a book together, either your own book in each other’s company or one book that you read out loud to each other.
- Do your own hobbies together. Sometimes it’s nice just to ‘be’ in each other’s company without feeling you need to entertain someone. Having the TV off is a must for this.
- Alternatively, tackle a project together. Like painting the living room. With a pizza (er, while eating a pizza, painting the living room with a pizza is not such a good idea).
- Drink hot chocolate in front of the fire.
- Enjoy some cheese and wine supper (or food and beverage of choice)
- Eat by candlelight
- Play a video game together
- Read the paper together
- Retire early
Valentine’s Day acts as a good reminder to spend quality time with your partner. A regular date night ensures you spend quality time together on a regular basis throughout the entire year, keeping the romance alive all the time.
What’s your favourite frugal thing to do as a couple at home?
I love your ideas :)
Valentines Day is definitely way too commercialised these days although it is a nice reminder to do something for the other half. We try to do date nights but they are irregular, life seems to get in the way, but a favourite was having a picnic in the lounge room with cheese and wine and a DVD, or a game of Monopoly. While I love going out to fancy restaurants, lately there’s more satisfaction and pleasure out of the simple things we do at home.
Cheese and wine and a game of Monopoly sounds like a wonderful way to spend the evening together!
We do this every Friday. It has made a huge difference to our marriage – my husband cooks me dinner, we talk, watch a movie, always have some good ice cream (it’s the law) and snuggle. On Thursday night my husband starts getting excited: “Date night tomorrow!” It’s a way of reconnecting that doesn’t have to break the bank, but ensures that at least a few hours of the week are focused on each other.
That’s awesome! I’m particularly loving the idea about hubby cooking you dinner :).