As college students, we all have no money to spare, especially for dates. My man and I have come up with some cool ideas throughout the past year to have cheap, memorable dates. Here are some cheap date ideas you can do in Blacksburg that are little to no money.
Check out a projector through Virginia Tech for the night
Its free, easy and can be romantic. It’s a more boujee way of a stay in movie night. My boyfriend and I have done this so much, it’s one of our favorite things to do. We set up in the living room – pulling out all the blankets and pillows we have, and plop down to watch whatever we want. We have done multiple group dates, as well as with our friends in general and it’s always more fun.
Break-Zone in Squires Student Center
It’s a few dollars and you have entertainment for hours. You can bowl, play ping-pong or pool. They also have the grocery bingo where you can win FREE groceries on occasion. Who wouldn’t want to go on a date and get free food? It’s not necessarily the most aesthetically romantic place for a date, but you can have fun and get to know someone easily, especially if it’s a first time meet up from Tinder.
Baking night
Everyone has a funny experience from baking from one point in time, so why not bake some memories. I have so many funny experiences from trying to bake while at school alone, granted I’m not the best at baking. One time after a long week, me and my friend decided to bake cookies. Long story short, we will not be professional bakers anytime soon. The precious cookies we deserved turned into a cookie sheet. We still laugh about it to this day.
Hike the Cascades (or any trail really)
I’m sure most people who have been here for at least a year have at one point hiked the Cascades (if not, you for sure have to do it before you graduate). It’s a beautiful and easy to hike – perfect for anyone who hates exercising outside or exercise general. You get to look at great views and can go exploring off the trail so you and your boo-thang can find a private spot to talk and enjoy yourselves. Not to mention, there are great selfie opportunities the whole hike, so you can get a cute picture of you and your significant other.
Netflix together
Everyone knows of the famous “Netflix and chill” but instead of watching just movies together, pick out a series and only watch the episodes together (no cheating by watching them separately). Y’all will always have an excuse to get together to watch another episode during a stressful week, or just use it as an excuse to see each other. This also works for the long-distance couples. My boyfriend and I got a little crafty over the summer while we were out of school. We would watch Netflix together and Facetime each other so we could talk about the show as it was happening. We would Facetime each other and start the episode at the same time and just sit there watching it together. It’s not the most romantic thing, but it’s better than just sitting on Facetime watching each other eat cereal. You both probably talk to each other all day anyway, so it’s not like you have anything super big to tell them every day.
DIY spa night
Let’s be real, we all have a dozen face masks stockpiled from big sales and whatnot. It’s always fun to look like fools with each other and get some goofy photos. It’s a cheap way to have some fun and get some good lookin’ skin at the same time.
Game night
With your partner or in a group setting, playing different games at home can always be fun and free. We play card games, like spades or poker and we also play other card games like the Game of Things (10/10 recommend getting this), or of course, Cards Against Humanity.
Dinner together
For a more “romantic” date, we cook dinner together. It’s a cheaper way to have a fancy dinner with your boo, and can be more of a bonding experience for the both of y’all. It’s fun to pick out what you’re going to cook, go shopping for the ingredients then get to cooking. It can be a whole afternoon of doing it, and it’s way cheaper than going out to a fancy dinner.
All images are author’s own.