You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a fun date night. In fact, you don’t even have to leave the house. With a little creativity and planning, you can enjoy a night in just as much as a night out.
We’ve compiled several indoor, at-home date night ideas for you to enjoy with your sweetheart, or anyone else you want to spend a fun evening with. Best of all, most won’t cost you any money to pull together.
Themes provide a fun way to organize a movie night. Instead of just watching whatever new comic book movie pops into your streaming queue, think carefully about something both you and your loved one enjoy. Perhaps you want to travel to Italy someday. Find a movie that correlates with that theme.
Then plan a dinner menu around that theme. Spaghetti or other pasta is ideal for an Italian night, for example, with some gelato for dessert. You can be as over-the-top as you want with the theme — and feel free to indulge in more than one movie.
Even if you and your loved one aren’t foodies, you can still have fun trying new flavor combos. Pull out your cookbooks or surf the web for menu ideas.
For a fun challenge, try to make the recipe using only ingredients you have on hand. The end result may be an amazing variation on the original — or a disaster you can laugh about for weeks to come.
Test your wit or luck with a board game to keep you sharp and entertained for hours. You may find those competitive juices flowing, too, as you try to beat your spouse, partner, or friend.
Want to up the stakes? Whoever loses gets dish duty — for an entire week.
How do you say “I love you” in Japanese? If neither of you know the answer, then you can have fun learning the basics of a new language together.
Download an app that will guide you through simple sayings. Learn how to communicate your feelings for each other, or take a more practical approach. For example, knowing how to say, “Where’s the best restaurant?” will come in handy if you ever travel to a location where that language is spoken.
Do you have boxes of CDs stored away? Time to unload them. Take turns playing favorite songs as you clean them out. Put the CDs you’ll likely never play again aside to donate to charity later.
You don’t need an ice cream maker to create a homemade version of this favorite dessert. Use two zipped plastic bags instead. In a pint-size bag, add two tablespoons of sugar, a half-teaspoon of vanilla, and a cup of half-and-half. Seal and mix well.
Fill a gallon-sized bag halfway with ice and sprinkle the ice with a half cup of Kosher salt. Put the pint-sized bag into the gallon-sized bag and zip. Shake the bag for up to 10 minutes, until the ice cream reaches the consistency you want. Scoop the ice cream into a dish and mix in your favorite toppings, such as candy, berries, or nuts.
No matter how well you think you know someone, there’s always something new to learn about them. Are you ready to deepen your relationship? Each of you can come up with a list of 10 things you want to know about the other person. These questions could be philosophical, silly, serious, or a mix of all three. You both have to answer each question. Here are a few to get you started:
What is your first memory?
If you could eat dinner with three people living or dead, who would they be?
The house is burning down. What one item do you save?
Whether your photos are virtual or printed doesn’t matter. Set aside time to enjoy strolling down memory lane and remembering your best times together. You’re bound to discover something you had forgotten, such as that one year’s crazy Halloween costume.
As you laugh and reminisce, you also bond, remembering the ups and downs you’ve gone through together.
Buy the fanciest chocolate bars at the grocery store ahead of time. Sample a square apiece for each one, and rate them on a piece of paper as you go.
No matter what holiday is on the horizon — Valentine’s Day, Halloween, July 4th — you can put a fun twist on a tradition usually associated with Christmastime – gingerbread cookies. You don’t even need to stock up on supplies. Make simple icing from confectioner’s sugar and butter, and employ graham crackers in place of real gingerbread.
Use your imagination with the decorations. You probably have candy stashed in a cupboard. Sprinkles, berries, nuts, and marshmallows work beautifully. Toothpicks can help you stage your sweet creation, too.
Have fun with these at-home date night ideas, which will evolve as you put them into practice. Go with the flow, laugh, and treat yourself to a night in together. For more tips on ways to save, visit our WalletWorks page.