So, if you’re anything like me, you’re a hopeless romantic on a budget. Maybe you want to treat that special someone to a night out, but you’re not sure of any cost-effective but extravagant ways to have a good time without breaking the bank. However, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, ’tis the season to start planning a special night for you and your significant other so here are a few date ideas under $25 that you could try this Valentine’s Day!
Cooking With Your Cutie
As long as you aren’t making meals involving lobster or steak, this should be a pretty cheap and relatively easy way to have a romantic night! I suggest buying a box of pasta, any type of sauce (tomato, pesto, etc.) and ground beef/meatballs from your local grocery store, which would probably be in the $15-$20 range. If you have room in the budget, you can even buy a bottle of sparkling apple cider, it’s affordable (almost always on sale at Target!!) and a great alternative to champagne. Bring home your ingredients and start cooking up a storm, but before you do, make sure you set a romantic mood with candles, set the table, and play your favorite love songs. If you’re feeling really romantic, try eating the pasta “Lady and the Tramp” style!
Netflix Night
Grab your popcorn, grab your blankets and grab your significant other! This is your time to play a great show on your favorite streaming service and cuddle up. It’s better if you two pick a show you can watch over the course of a few weeks, so you can make multiple date nights out of the beginning of one show – whether it’s a one-episode night or a multiple episodes night (hey, we don’t judge, Netflix asks us ALL if we are still watching!)
Some television shows that my boyfriend and I enjoy watching together are Dark (Netflix), Jeopardy (Hulu/Netflix), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Hulu), and Stranger Things (Netflix). The only cost here is the subscription of one streaming service or the other (Hulu does have a student deal with Spotify, Netflix does not, unfortunately) so this is around the $5-$13 budget range. However, I’m sure a friend or family member would willingly let you hop on theirs for at least a night and when in doubt, four words: TRIAL PERIOD. ALTERNATIVE EMAILS. Honestly, whatever show that interests the two of you is ideal and being able to make it into a weekly date so that you can enjoy some quality time together is the perfect way to extend this cute and affordable date – especially when it’s your favorite show and your favorite person!
Moonlit Milkshakes
One of the best dates I went on this fall was completely spontaneous. On this day, both my boyfriend and I were having awful days and subsequently, we were pretty stressed out not knowing how to get out of our rut. After listening to one another talk about our days and situations, we brainstormed ideas regarding activities we could do together that would make us feel better and turn our days around!
Finally, after going back and forth between the two of us, he blurted out the best idea: stargazing and milkshakes! On the way, we blasted our favorite songs in the car, singing along as we headed to our destination and on the way, we grabbed some tasty milkshakes that only cost around $10 for two of them – one for myself and one for him. We drove to Pushaw Lake, near the University of Maine, and looked at the stars while pointing out our favorite constellations and sipping on our milkshakes. After this cute little date, we definitely felt like the stress from earlier drift away and we were able to truly enjoy each other’s company despite everything that had happened. Not only was the date cute, not costly and memorable, but it changed our days around and it wasn’t very hard to coordinate!
Overall, there’s a lot of fun activities that you can do with your partner around your college campus that won’t cost you a lot of money and won’t take a lot of planning. However, don’t forget, it’s about the time you spend together and the memories you make, more than about what you do together and how much you spend in the process!