Free Date 9/9/18

Rummikub

Our datenights are normally on Saturday nights, but our babysitter was out of town and I wasn't feeling well.  So Sunday night I proposed that we play a game after the kids went to bed for our date this week.

I brought down several 2 player games and let hubby pick what he wanted to play.  He chose Rummikub which we always "fight" over the rules...ha ha.

We played 2 games and I lost both...sad face!

Total cost:  Free

Coupon Examples

We get a local coupon book in the mail.  I will show you ones that I would keep and ones that I don't feel like are a "good enough" deal to use for datenight.

I really only like Buy One Get One Free (BOGO).  Other than that, it is not worth it to me.

This is the coupon magazine we get in the mail.

This BOGO looks good until you read the fine print.  You have to purchase 2 drinks also.  So I would say that it is not worth it.

This one is BOGO and you don't need to buy any drinks.  So it would be a good one.  The only bad thing is that it is too far away from our house...boo.

This one is not a BOGO.  It would be about $16 plus tip.  So we would still come out under $20 as long as we didn't get drinks.

Nope...this BOGO you have to buy 2 drinks.

Once again, this would be a no from me...you have to buy 2 drinks.

Babysitting Ideas

One of the biggest obstacles to a weekly datenight is babysitting.

If you want datenight to happen, you will find a way.  Here are some ideas...

1.  Babysitting swap with another family.  You watch their kids on Fri night and they watch yours on Sat night.  Or you watch their kids during the day while the Mom has some free-time and they watch your kids for your datenight.

2.  Do a mid-day lunch date while the kids are at school.

3.  Do you have other services you can offer in exchange for babysitting?  Free piano lessons?  Fix someone's computer?  Yardwork?  Housecleaning?

4.  If your kids are old enough to babysit...this is a great option.  Your kids want happy healthy parents.  This is more important than them "hanging out" with friends.  This is an obligation they can reasonably fulfill.  This can become part of their household duties.  If you want to pay them, fine.  But I do not feel like this is necessary.  I feel like each family member should be required to help around the house.  If babysitting becomes one of the ways your kids can help out.  Great.

5.  Late-night Datenight.  Put the kids to bed and do something at home.  Make cookies, play a game, pop popcorn, make a couples bucket-list.  

6.  Ask grandparents if they would be willing to watch the kids 1 night each month.  Now you only have to come up with options for 3 more weeks a month.  What about your brothers and sisters can they do a week also?

7.  Pay a babysitter and do a free date.  

8.  Pray to find a way!  God will help you!

Ideally I think having the dame plan week to week is the best.  Such as the Fri/Sat babysitting swap.  But if that is not possible, you can have a different plan for each week if you can't do the same thing each week.  For example:

1st Sat:  Grandparents

2nd Sat:  Trade babysitting with neighbor Fri and Sat babysitting swap

3rd Sat:  Pay a babysitter and do a free date

4th Sat:  Late-night datenight.

Indian Food: Groupon 8/31/18

We bought a groupon that was $8 for $18 worth of food to a local Indian place called Bombay Bites.  We ended up buying 2 entrees plus naan bread, so it came out 32.43 including tip. 

We used our $18 groupon (that we paid $8 for) which left a difference of $14.43 we needed to pay in the restaurant (including tip).

Total Amount: $22.43 (so $8 for the groupon and an extra $14.43 in the restaurant). 

Slightly over $20.  We average $20 or less per week, so it's OK to go over a bit on 1 week, as long as it is not every week.

Tony Burgers BOGO 8/25/18

This night for Datenight we wandered around the DI (a thrift store) together.  We bought our son a pair of pants and 2 family games.  Maybe it's cheating on our $20 for datenight rule...but the pants came out of the clothing budget...ha ha.  The games were about $3-4...and technically those didn't come out of the datenight budget either. 

We love thrift stores and we love games. 

After the DI we went to TonyBurgers and used a BOGO.

We usually have a "Happenings" Book.  It is a coupon book for local places.  A lot of the coupons are for Buy 1 get 1 Free (BOGO).  We pretty much only use coupons that are BOGO.

Total cost for Date: $11.70
If you want to include DI purchases:  add $10.50 for a total of $22.20 (whoops that's over $20....but we don't count them in cost of date.)

Why I am starting this blog

I saw this infographic in this local newspaper article and was blown away at people thinking that it costs $98.28 to go on ONE date in Utah.

My hubby and I have been going on a WEEKLY date for about 14 years now.  We may miss a few weeks a year, but we probably only miss about 5 weeks a year.

Our budget is $20 per week.  Occasionally we will spend more than that, but that is definitely the exception rather than the rule.

We live in Utah, so I understand that there may be some places that $20 is out of the question.  But guess what?...you probably make more than we do here in Utah also...ha ha. 

So I want to share date ideas and tips and tricks to get in a weekly date.  They may not work for you, I get it.  But I was full of excuses too before I truly committed to a weekly datenight.  If you want it to happen, you WILL find a way.

There will always be excuses, but there will also always be a way also.