10 Romantic and Fun Date Ideas That Won’t Break the Bank

Let’s face it: summer is the best time to have your ideal date. The long days with tons of light are perfect for going out, the sunny weather allows for cute outfits – and if you’re a student, you also have a lot more free time on your hands than you did during the semester.

Unfortunately, the standard dinner-and-a-movie dates are neither too exciting nor budget-friendly. What else could you do with your date to have a good time and get to know each other better without spending your last pennies? Don’t worry: our team has compiled a list of fun date ideas that will cost you less than one Honeygain payout ($20) and help create a ton of happy memories!

Whenever we travel, we make sure not to miss any exciting spots… And yet, we often walk past the hidden gems in our own hometowns. Forget you’re a local for a while and take a walk in your city, checking out all the monuments, architectural beauties, free museums, and Instagram-worthy spots. Depending on the way you tour the city (on foot, on bikes, or using public transport), this type of date can cost little to nothing – and keep you entertained for hours on end!

If both of you were born and raised here, you could put another spin on this, too. Guide each other through the places of your past and present – where you grew up, where you spent your free time, and so on. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover you ran circles in the same playgrounds at some point?

Puzzles come in all shapes, sizes, and prices – however, $20 will easily buy you one that will keep you two busy for a few hours. 500 pieces? 1000? 2000? It’s all about those skills! Puzzles are also easy to find: it’s a popular pastime, so you can find them in virtually any toy store, as well as hobby shops and even supermarkets like Target. If you’re picky (or believe in preparing for your date night ideas in advance!), thousands of options are also available online.

Picking out a puzzle for your date will help you judge their taste in art, and working on it together will act as a great test in patience and teamwork. In addition to that, it will give you enough time to dive into all types of discussions – those puzzle pieces are not the only ones that will connect!

If you or your partner has a hobby that’s more unique than, let’s say, watching movies or listening to music, and requires a particular skill – why not share it by teaching the other? Suppose you play an instrument – you could surely show them the basics. Is knitting your all-time favorite pastime? Explain to them how they can do the knit stitch and the purl stitch! Best of all, the experienced party already has all the stuff you’ll need, so there’s absolutely no extra expense involved. Who knows – maybe what started as fun date ideas will grow into someone’s new passion?

Even if you or your partner don’t fall in love with a newly explored activity, it can still produce lots of fun: both the trainer and the trainee will undoubtedly have their patience tested! In addition to that, gaining a deeper understanding of each other’s hobbies will make you a lot closer, as you will be able to understand their achievements and frustrations on a much stronger level.

If you’re a lover of books (or someone who has been thinking they’d like to read more), having a small private book club of two might be a terrific idea. First of all, it lets you get to know your partner a lot better than you would through casual conversations: depending on your choice of books, you might end up sharing your opinions on all types of topics – from algorithms to zombies! Secondly, this idea can become a routine in your life, providing you with months and years of quality conversations. And don’t forget it’s a great money-saver: there are libraries everywhere so you don’t even have to buy the books!

If you’re not much of a reader, you can adapt the idea for movies, podcasts, or even music albums – as long as you’re shaping and sharing your opinions, it’s kind of an ideal date!

Remember when Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis topped the charts some ten years ago? If you, just like Macklemore, ‘only got twenty dollars in [your] pocket’, heading to a thrift store might actually be a great idea. Not only is it budget-friendly, but it can get really entertaining: you never know what you might come across!

There are two approaches you can take: look for real gems (such as brand stuff or niche items like merch) or make it fun by challenging each other. Who will manage to get a complete outfit cheaper? Who will be the first to find and try a shirt, a pair of pants, an accessory, and a pair of boots of the exact same color? Who will manage to replicate a celebrity’s outfit while staying under budget? With fun date ideas like these, tons of laughs (and incredible pictures for your Instagram!) are guaranteed!

We’ve all had our mothers show the weirdest pictures of our childhood to their friends (or ours!) and embarrass us – but it’s not the only way to experience them! Heading down the memory lane is one of those date night ideas that cost nothing but let you learn heaps about your partner… and even remember the stuff you had long forgotten yourself.

Of course, this might not be the ideal date if you’ve only just recently met – but if you’ve already pretty close with your partner, it’s a great way to explore each other’s stories on an even deeper level and even get a better understanding of their view of families and kids.

No matter the city or town, there are places for hikes literally everywhere. Mountains, forests, riversides, national parks – you name it! You can pick the trail based on your physical capabilities so you don’t exert yourself and have a great opportunity to talk for hours… or roll up your sleeves and make it challenging on purpose – whoever’s the first to give up buys the ice cream!

The best thing is, it’s absolutely free! All you need to have your ideal date on foot is your most comfortable shoes and good weather. Walking in the rain does have its charm, too – if you’re dressed properly, of course! – but you’ll have to be more careful about picking your hiking trail and avoiding slippery slopes: no great date night ideas involve the emergency room.

Trivia Nights are pretty popular in bars and pubs – however, they’re often deemed company activities and not fun date ideas for two. Yet, while there is a maximum number of members a participating team can have, there’s rarely even a minimum – so you two can easily form your own powerhouse! The participating fee is also normally paid per person and not per team, so you’re not paying more than you would if you had a larger team.

Whether you win or lose, you will certainly have a ton of fun – and the variety of questions you will be asked can later prompt the most fascinating discussions. Let’s say she answers a question about a specific alien race in a blink of an eye: what kind of experience and knowledge does she possess? Aren’t you intrigued? Because we are!

These days, absolutely everyone has a camera in their back pocket – so make the most of it! Sit down with your partner and come up with a list of things you’ll have to snap. It should include 10–20 ideas in total, but you can make it as easy or complex as you want: it all depends on how much free time you have on your hands – and how confident you are, of course (it’s one thing to photograph, let’s say, a toddler… and quite another to find twin toddlers wearing blue shoes!). Once your list is finished, head to the city and try to complete the list together!

While this plan certainly won’t give you an exceptional opportunity to delve into deep conversations, it’s definitely one of the most fun date ideas. You’re not spending any money, but you’re busy for multiple hours – and there’s never a dull moment! Scavenger hunts also allow you to show your competitive side: you can even keep score on who noticed more things first.

Thanks to video streaming platforms, we have access to an incredible variety of shows at any given time – so why not take advantage of it? There’s literally something for everyone: engaging docuseries, period dramas, reality shows, and various other options are all just a few clicks away. We know, we know. It’s something you do a lot anyway, so there’s the originality in that? However, watching something on your own and having someone next to you to discuss what you just saw are two completely different experiences!

Pass on romantic comedies this time – instead, choose a show that raises interesting questions and sparks up a conversation. Watching a dystopian story or a true-crime documentary, for example, allows you two to get creative and speculate how you’d behave in similar situations. You’ll be surprised to see how much you can learn about a person this way!

While ​​the bond between two people is invaluable, it’s not money that builds and strengthens it – hence, fun date ideas really don’t need to be expensive. Instead, they have to be exciting, create a ton of unique memories, and leave both of you intrigued for the next one!

All the ideas we introduced in this article were either completely free or inexpensive enough for you to cover the entire cost with a single Honeygain payout of $20. If you’ve never tried Honeygaining before, now’s the perfect time to do it! Sign up by clicking the button below, collect a free $2 starting gift (think of this free money as us showing a little bit of love for our community, too!), and start earning effortlessly so you’re always ready to grab a coffee with your sweetheart!