Dating and saving money. For many, the two concepts don’t equate. There’s an automatic reaction for most when suggesting the two together that the person paying is trying to be “cheap” and the resulting date will naturally have the same feel. Contrary to popular belief, however, dating doesn’t have to be expensive to be fun, entertaining and memorable.

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It doesn’t even have to take a whole lot of extra preparation time. What it does take is a little imagination and breaking from the typical date routine. You have to be willing to think beyond dinner and a movie and be willing to try something new for a change. Here are 15 inexpensive dating ideas: 10 for anyone plus 5 for the adventurous.

Natural Scenery: The beauty of nature is all around us and it doesn’t cost a dime. Whether it’s a trip to the beach, a walk in the forest or a search into a cave, it can be done together for practically nothing. Take the time to find the natural scenic spots in your area and utilize them for your dates.

Sports: If you and your date are both athletic, sport activities together can be a great way to spend your time. Play a set of tennis, jog in the park, toss a Frisbee about, play catch with a baseball or football or shoot some baskets. Whichever you choose, you can spend quality time at minimal cost and get some exercise in, too.

Picnic: Picnics are great for dates because they can be taken along wherever you plan to go for the day and they cost a fraction of going out for a meal. They also can be made as casual or as romantic as you want. Take a casual picnic meal, add some cheese & wine along with a red rose and the picnic instantly takes on a romantic feel.

Historic Places & Buildings: It seems the only time people go looking at the historic landmarks near where they live is when visitors come from out of town. Many of these historic or culturally significant spots have no or small entrance fees and make a great place to go on a date. You also get to learn more about the area you live.

Meal/Evening At Home: Cook up a meal at home and spend the evening watching movies or some other activity such as a board game. The meal most likely will be better than at a restaurant and the evening will cost a fraction of what going out to dinner and a movie would cost. Cook the meal together to spend even more time together, or do it yourself as a special surprise.

Memory Album: Take your camera or purchase an inexpensive disposable camera and make a day of taking photos together. Make a theme for the day if you want or just take any crazy photo that comes to mind. Once finished, get the photos 1 hour processed and create a memory album together for the day that will live on forever.

Museums: If you have museums in your area, they can be an excellent place to enjoy an inexpensive date. Admission prices are usually reasonable and often they have discounts for those attending a number of events over the year.

Learn A New Skill: Gather some information on a skill you always wanted to learn and spend a day practicing it together. It could be a day of learning card tricks, learning how to juggle or learning to make bird calls. Any skill you have always wanted to try can make a fun and interesting date.

College Events: If you live near a college or university, utilize their resources for your dates. Guest lectures, music recitals, art exhibitions and plays are common and are often free of charge. The quality can be excellent and the variety enormous.

Hobby Together: You can set a regularly scheduled date if the two of you have a hobby you both enjoy. You can look in the local community newsletter to see if there are classes being offered in something that interests both of you. These classes are usually quite inexpensive and the two of you can enjoy a few hours each week together learning something new.

For those who are looking for an inexpensive date with some adventure involved, here are five more options that are sure to make the evening memorable:

Local Thrift Shop Date: Plan a date someplace where there are a lot of people. Before going, head down to the local thrift shop together. Once there, specify a small amount of money to purchase clothing or accessories for the other and both head off in different directions. The goal is to find items the other has to wear for the rest of the day/evening within the price specified. The entertainment is seeing the reaction from all the people who see your new outfit as you wander the crowded area.

Follow Them Date: As the two of you meet, you look around and pick somebody out on the street. The date is to follow that person where ever he or she goes. Once that person has stopped or you can no longer follow them, pick another person to follow. Your bound to have loads of laughs as you attempt to stay with your designated guide.

Scavenger Hunt Date: When your date arrives, have him or her make a list of what he or she considers to be 20 unusual items. Once the list is made, the date will be to try and find as many of those items as possible.

Truth Or Dare Date: Pick some spots in your area to visit, but play truth or dare along the way. It doesn’t really matter where you go since the entertainment is doing the various dares that the other gives in addition to telling all the truths.

Bag Of Dates: Put each of the dates I just mentioned, plus any others that you come up with, onto a separate sheet of paper and place them in a bag. When your date comes to the door, have him or her reach inside and choose a piece of paper. Whichever one is chosen is your date for the day/evening.

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But entertainment could be very expensive when they are not controlled. Movies, eating at fancy restaurants or going on vacation could be expensive. If you’re not careful, your credit card bills will practically be on entertainment.

Here are some of the fun entertainment ideas that you and your family could enjoy. Most of them are free while others are not that expensive.

1) Visit the library – There is a stereotype that a library is just a place for boring people. But there are a lot of things that you can do in the library such as listening to music, browsing through old newspapers or simply going online.

2) Rent instead of a movie day – While a movie day may sound like a good idea, its better that you rent a movie or two for that night. Instead of paying for five persons with snacks, you just rent a movie which is far more affordable even with snacks.

3) Check your local newspaper for free events – Free events are conducted in almost every major city. Concerts and art shows is a good way to experience local art and young artists will not usually charge as a way of promoting themselves.

4) Check for college productions – Another free event that you and your family could enjoy is to check for free plays in your local college. Some would even allow you to watch them practice which is another day for entertainment for the family.

5) A day in the park – A whole afternoon in the park is probably the most affordable with the best activities that your family could enjoy. Everyone can find their own activities without spending anything and the food can be prepared without having to buy anything.

6) Visit friends and family – Your friends and family will be more than glad that you can come over, especially if you bring food. Schedule a visit with them on advance for rented movie or two or bring the kids together in a park for a fun and affordable Sunday afternoon.

7) Use student discounts aggressively – Of course you have to be a student to do that but if you have kids, let them use their discount so that you don’t have to spend too much on eating out or any activities that offer student’s discount.

Lunch instead of dinner – Eating out could be very expensive especially during dinner. Lunch on the other hand, offers almost the same menu without forcing you to spend too much. While at the restaurant, convince everyone to stick to water so that food could be enjoyed more.

9) Always go for group admission – Purchasing tickets especially on zoos and special programming in your local area can help you save by purchasing in bulk. Never hesitate to ask for a discount if you are purchasing two or more tickets for one performance. It may look like expensive at first but they foster savings when everyone does the same money saving practice.

10) Increase an interest in board games

– Some say that board games are only for those who are really interested in board games. But family connections could be easily enhanced without spending a single cent if the beauty of board games is appreciated. You may have to purchase a board game once but everything will be free afterwards.

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Whether you prefer shopping online or in the stores depends a lot on what you are shopping for, your time frame needing the item and if requires your hands-on approach. More often than not we online shoppers may be paying for the convenience of shopping online.

A growing trend over the last few years has been merchants using online coupons in order will entice shoppers to the website hinting that their order will be less expensive than at the actual store. Some of the most popular codes, “Free shipping” and “25% off” may look like a big savings, but beware of the fine print and the requirements with these savings, if it is a code for 25% off a $150 order, than we really aren’t saving that much with that coupon.

How does shopping online at a local store website differ from the physical stores, in regards to price?

It’s simple really. Online stores usually ship from a main warehouse, no faceless mannequins’, storefront costs, mall leasing or even the teenaged employees who bounce around to the very loud music through the expensive sound system in the brick and mortar stores. This saves them money because a warehouse doesn’t require the overhead costs, can store more products and ship regularly usually at a discount with an agreement through the shipping companies.

Additionally, prices are influenced by logistics. Have you even noticed why prices are more expensive on a store’s website, and they are less expensive in the physical store? This is especially true with clearance items and end-of-season merchandise. Department stores receive new seasonal merchandise ahead of time which needs to be on display as soon as possible. The turn over requirement for stores is a seasonal and ongoing issue, with merchandise that is current or from a previous season needs to be sold quickly and at a deep discount within the stores due to storage issues. Warehouses, on the other hand, have a great amount of space, so merchandise has the ability to be stored for a greater amount of time. This is why online discount coupons or clearance sales may not always get you the best deal.

So when to shop in the physical store?

Weekend in-store shopping also offers additional discounts on clearance items by allowing shoppers to take as much as an additional 50-75% the current clearance price.

When to shop online?

If regular, in-season merchandise or merchandise that is a store staple year-round, online shopping will probably save a shopper the most money. By using an online coupon, the shopper can save more by purchasing from the store’s website as opposed to shopping at the store’s physical site.

In the end, we are back at the beginning. If you are shopping for convenience and the joy of shopping in the comfort of your home, than online shopping with discount codes is a great option. When shoppers base their purchases on price alone, than researching the weekend sales, browsing the clearance racks in the stores are the most cost effective option for you. It all depends on type of item(s) needed, cost of the item, and whether or not the item is seasonal or not. With proper research and comparison shopping, and weekend flexibility, shoppers’ dollars can go further; be it online or in-store.

Here are some ideas to spend frugally on Valentine’s Day, and still have a great time.

1. Make your own card – Why not use the graphics on the Internet?
♥ Go to http://www.google.com
♥ Then click “Images” in the upper left
♥ To save you favorite image, right-click, and “Save Image As”.
♥ Save the image to a place you remember on your computer.
♥ Print it out and hand write a card, or
♥ Open the image in Microsoft Word and make your card.
2. Surprise your partner with breakfast in bed – Need I say more? What a treat!
3. Make your partner a coupon book – Back massages, foot massages, or “Your assistant for a day”, are all good ideas.
4. Make dinner for your partner or friend – You can make a great pasta meal for less than $10. Why spend a lot of money at an expensive restaurant. Make sure you have a lit candle to help the mood.
5. Foot soak – This is such a relaxing experience. Surprise your partner with some relaxing music, a lit candle, and dim the lights.

* ♥ Have a large bowl, footbath, or pot (lobster pot works great) filled with hot water.
* ♥ Mix in some moisturizing oils or Epsom Salts.
* ♥ Add a few flower petals if you wish.
* ♥ Leave some hot water simmering on the stove, and be ready to warm the water – the hotter your partner can stand, the better.
* ♥ Afterwards, rinse their feet, dry and moisturize.
o These foot soaks can cost up to $50 at a spa. These are my tips, Google “homemade foot soaks” for more ideas.

These are some ideas that do not cost too much, and are so meaningful. ♥ Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥
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