To ask for cheap, romantic date ideas with boyfriend?

[adoggymama]

Hi everyone! Boyfriend recently went through a job change- he's self employed and wanted to stop working for a specific client (his/our main income source) as said client was expecting way to much of him. (80hrs+ per week!!) and since then he's done great to start a fresh but obviously we are short and unable to do things we used to do, eat out each week/visit cinema regularly/have a weekend at a hotel once in a while. We have a cocker spaniel puppy and enjoy walking him together in various locations but since we do that everyday it's not a 'special' thing anymore you know?

We have had the idea to go to the cinema near us (cheaper and smaller) and bring our own snacks, instead of the big one that's really nice an hour away (and has an arcade we used to love playing in before our film!) and more expensive + buying snacks there.

But is there anything else anyone can think of? We do picnics/nice walks regularly but nothing much just us anymore. I brought 2 tickets to Thorpe Park for us to visit in June for his bday (parents agreed to look after pup for the day) but that's all we have to look forward to atm.

Bowling is an idea! Our local one (ten pin brand) on Sunday evenings after 7pm do 3 games for £7 which is ridiculously cheap and keeps you occupied (and competitive if you're anything like me) for a good couple hours. Worth having a look if there's any near you which do online booking discount or quiet evening discounts. Also there's dance classes, salsa classes etc (he might need to have a couple drinks before it to loosen up!) but great fun to go to a beginners class one evening, throw on something a little nice then go for a drink afterwards. Often the first class if free so worth taking advantage of if it's a one off date night! Could also find an open mic night or a local which has some live music/tribute band playing. Pub quiz?! Ours does a great one on Tuesdays which we go to with neighbours (free to enter)

Hope this helps!

You both sound adorable.
Wait for some truly horrible weather then cuddle up indoors.

Play a board game? We like takenoko for two.

Go to bed? It’s cheap, romantic and fun 😜

What about getting the cinema cards £20 for a full year each then you can go as often as you like, great if you just want to get out of the house. How about making a nice meal on a weekend with candles and a reasonably priced bottle of wine etc. Pyjama days when weather is awful we get jammies in and lounge around (obviously you’ll need to walk the dog).

DD and her partner ( mid twenties) like to try new stuff and also on a bit of a budget. They’ve been to a pottery painting cafe and one that also enables you to make stuff with clay and get it fired and then went back and painted them.
They also had a go at geocaching last year- making personalised “clues “ for each other and then meeting up at a surprise location ( for one of them) for a picnic.

Get a taste card. They are 50% off loads of restaurants and you can get one for £1 for two months.

We use ours loads!

How about some of the following as date nights:

• Come dine with me (one Friday you cook 3 courses and the next Friday he does - nothing massively extravagant but can be quite fun)
• DVD and snacks where you both get to pick a film you love but the other has never seen (only if you already own it, buying a DVD defeats the point somewhat)
• spa at home (you can do massages and a foot soak using a (new) clean washing up bowl or an empty plastic box with cheap face masks). If he isn’t the spa sort, the massage at the end may be more appealing.....
• pick a point randomly within a certain radius on a map and then agree to drive there for the day to explore with a picnic along with your dog too . If it’s terrible, the memory of your awful day trip to XX should at least make you smile
• start a new Netflix series together and agree to only watch it when you are both having date night and are both free to watch an episode
• second the game idea but I would maybe add wine that could just be me
• treasure hunt round the house with a small gift at the end (like their favourite chocolate bar). Clues can be as personal and as soppy as you like.

If you do some very budget date nights, it will give you more money for the better cinema once in a while or eating out a little more like you used to

Blindfold each other and feed each other different foods and get the other to guess what it is

If one of you gets a cinema card (about £18 a month with Cineworld), you can use that in conjunction with meerkat movies. Just buy a cheap uk travel policy for a couple of quid and you'll qualify for the 241 movies. It just costs 70p booking fee to book online. So you could go weekly on a Tuesday or Wednesday for about £20 a month for both of you.

As a (happily) single person (with DD4) SEX! SLEEP! rinse and repeat.

Sometimes the boyfriend and I will theme a day/evening (basically when one of us wants the excuse to cook something expensive/time consuming) with booze, food and films - so for EG he'll make paella, I'll make sangria and we'll choose a Spanish film. We've used YouTube videos to learn how to make sushi and did the same thing too - that was quite fun.

On the same kind of theme, we've got up early to go to various markets to buy bits for dinner at the weekend as well, which is always quite nice - up v early, home after for breakfast and then inevitably fall asleep for an hour or two in the afternoon.

I know you've got the dog and already do walks, but is there anywhere a bit further afield you could go to with a picnic? We're about two hours from the Lake District so will sometimes get up very early and spend the day there, it just makes you feel a bit more like you've done something.

As the weather is kind of okay, day at the seaside? Again, take your own picnic or get fish and chips.

Groupon is good for deals - my BF is really into craft beer so we've bought some from there before and done a beer tasting at home just us for example. I'm sure they weren't the best but it was fun!

love a pub quiz!

It's nice just to go out in the evening and sit in a park/square with a can or 2 of g&T and some pop chips? People watch? I'm very sad I really like doing that on a sunny evening.

Also do you exercise together? It's nice to go for a run and stop in on different pubs on the way.

I fancy geocaching or orienteering too.

This is going to sound really cheesy but after we had a camping trip rained off once we ‘camped’ in the living room - brought the duvet and pillows down and made a bed on the floor with sofa cushions, lit the fire, cooked marshmallows, drank booze and watched a film.

It turned into a regular thing we’d do.

@fluffyear the cards are £20 a month!

If you've both got a bit of a dirty side but felt too time pressured to do much about it now could be the time to indulge in those woodland romps and the like. When me and Mr B retired we were a bit at a loss for things to do at first but it soon came back!

Sign up for all the sweetdeal groupon type newsletters. Gives inspiration if nothing else.

Crazy golf?

Comedy try-out nights above a pub. They're either free or £5 to get in, plus a drink, so a good night out for a tenner each. You get to spot up and coming performers and have a good laugh which imo is very romantic.

Same with gigs. Look out for new/local bands who play the kind of music you like, or tribute bands.

You could each make a bucket list of daft or unusual things you've always wanted to do and swap lists then surprise each other. I have a list and loads of stuff on it was free or very cheap - visiting London's Skygarden - free; climbing monument and looking out over the London skyline - romantic and £3.50 each.

How about getting fit together - training for a mini triathlon or a half-marathon? Getting sweaty and full of endorphins, seeing each other in lycra, getting in better shape - all more romantic than stuffing down a pizza.

A hotel near us lets you swim, jacuzzi, steam and sauna for £4 each in off-peak hours which includes weekday evenings. It's unisex and usually empty, so you could have a swim and then lounge in the jacuzzi together. Feels very luxurious but costs next to nothing.

Have a home movie night. Make your own popcorn or cheese nachos, chill a bottle of wine or some beers, and find something good on Netflix.

Back in the day, ex and I used to enjoy playing badminton and table tennis at the local Sports Centre.
Fish and chips in the car overlooking the sea, or somewhere lovely local.
Going to watch a World Cup match at your local pub.