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15 Free or Nearly Free Ideas for Great Dates for Singles

Romance doesn’t have to be expensive to be great. The best romance is often free or nearly free because it is usually accompanied by a lot of creativity! Here’s an adapted list from our book, Single Men Are Like Waffles, Single Women Are Like Spaghetti (Harvest House):

  1. Have a candle light picnic in an unusual location, like a rooftop, a park bench or overlooking the ocean.
  2. Go on a photo date where you snap photos of each other all over the city. You may want to frame your favorite and give it to your sweetheart with a note. The others can be sent as postcards to each other.
  3. Walk or bicycle to an inexpensive ice cream shop or a fancy coffeehouse.
  4. Go to a park; push one another in the swings and talk. Take turns listing A to Z the positive traits of the one you love.
  5. Walk the mall. The goal is not to buy, but to test perfume and cologne along the way.
  6. Be young again: have a squirt gun fight or fly a kite.
  7. Play “parent” for a day. Take a niece or nephew to the zoo. Take a younger sibling to a sporting event. (On a survey single women completed for us, when a man interacted well with children he was seen as “more attractive” because he seemed more sensitive.)
  8. Write clues on dime store Valentines and place them around town, then take your love on a car rally or treasure hunt. The date consists of gathering clues and small romantic treasures like poems, chocolates, and other small treats.
  9. Be poetic: check out a poetry book and read a few classics aloud to one another. Write a song or a poem and perform it for the one you love. Even an original version of “Roses are Red . . .” can be a treasure since it’s from the heart. Reenact a portion of a great romantic drama. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a great place to begin.
  10. Question it: Interview some couples who have been married happily for many years. What are they glad they did? What habits have helped them stay in love? Anticipate the future. Do the Dates to Decide in the back of this book. Consider buying a book to help prepare for the next season of love. Invest in pre-engagement counseling or watch a relationship video. Attend church together and interview couples there to find out what makes love last.
  11. Have a theme date: Try a living room luau, with beach towels on the floor, island music and luau food or an evening in Venice complete with Italian music and pasta.
  12. Work out together. Go for a jog, do aerobics to a video, or visit a gym. A great way to get to know someone is to be their walking or running partner or to train for an athletic event together.
  13. Bake something extravagant together. Or, throw a dinner party and invite many single friends so many connections and introductions are made.
  14. Put on your special song and waltz around, find some new romantic music, choose an “our song” or take a dance lesson. If the relationship is new, line dancing is a nice option—you don’t even have to touch hands to line dance so great low key date (especially if you find a place that has this option with no alcohol served and a more family-friendly environment).
  15. Play a board game together. Classics like Scrabble or the Ungame are good conversation starters. Play twenty questions. Each of you think of ten questions you’d love to know the answer to. Try questions like, “If you introduced me to a stranger today, what one thing would you say I do that you really appreciate about me?”

© Pam and Bill Farrel. For personal use only. For permission to copy for a group or use in newsletter, book, website, etc, please contact us.

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