Date nights · Low budget
40 cheap date ideas all under $20
A good date doesn’t need a big bill. It needs a plan, a little effort and two people paying attention to each other. Here are 40 cheap date ideas, every one under $20 for the two of you, grouped into at home, outside, in town, creative and seasonal. Each comes with what it costs, how long it takes and what you need.
By The Couples Company40 ideas7 min read
How to use this list
Take turns planning: one of you plans the pink numbers, the other plans the teal.
- Costs are rough totals for two, before travel: Free, under $10 or under $20.
- Make the budget part of the fun. A $20 challenge beats an open tab.
- Cheap isn’t careless. A little planning makes a free date feel like an occasion.
At home
Ideas 1 to 8
No reservations, no parking and no bill at the end. Just a better plan than another night of scrolling.
- 1
Cook a three-course dinner on a $20 budget
Plan a cheap, cheerful menu, like soup, pasta and something chocolate, then shop together with a hard $20 limit. Split the courses, light a candle and dress like you have a reservation.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Groceries, a few recipes
- 2
Theme a night around a decade
Pick a decade, cook one dish from it, play its music and watch something made back then. Bonus points for outfits from the back of the closet.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- An evening
- You need
- Your usual streaming
- 3
Hold a homemade pizza competition
Buy dough, sauce, cheese and a few toppings, then each build a pizza for the other. Judge on taste, creativity and presentation, with no mercy.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- An oven
- 4
Learn a dance from a video
Push the coffee table aside and learn a dance from a free online lesson: swing, salsa, or the routine from a music video you both secretly love.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1 hour
- You need
- A laptop, some floor space
- 5
Start a jigsaw puzzle
Pick a puzzle with a picture you both like, put on an album and work from opposite corners. Leave it out all week so it turns into a little ritual.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- A few evenings
- You need
- A puzzle, a table
- 6
Bake something neither of you has made
Choose a recipe that sounds slightly too hard, like bagels, cinnamon rolls or a layer cake, and attempt it together. Rate the results honestly.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 to 3 hours
- You need
- An oven, baking basics
- 7
Take a trip from the couch
Pick a city you’d love to visit, take a free online museum tour or wander its streets on a map app, then eat a snack from that country.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- A laptop, a snack
- 8
Spend an evening by candlelight
Turn off every screen and every lamp at sunset, light candles and see where the evening goes: cards, conversation, a bath, an early night.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- An evening
- You need
- Candles
Outside
Ideas 9 to 16
Fresh air is free. Most of these need good weather, comfortable shoes and not much else.
- 9
Pack a sunset picnic
Make sandwiches, cut some fruit, bring something fizzy and find a spot facing west. Get there half an hour before sunset and stay until the first star.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A blanket, a bag
- 10
Hike a trail you’ve never done
Find a trail within an hour of home, pack snacks and plenty of water, and agree on a turnaround time so nobody gets grumpy.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- Half a day
- You need
- Good shoes, water
- 11
Take a sunrise walk
Set an alarm you’ll regret, pour coffee into a thermos and walk somewhere with a view while the sky changes. Then go back to bed, or out for breakfast.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- A thermos, an alarm
- 12
Ride bikes to a picnic spot
Pick somewhere scenic a few miles away, pack a lunch and ride there together. Lunch tastes better when you earned it.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 to 3 hours
- You need
- Two bikes, a packed lunch
- 13
Go birdwatching
Download a free bird ID app, head to a park or the water and see who can spot and name the most birds in an hour. Winner gets bragging rights.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- A free bird ID app
- 14
Fly a kite
Get a cheap kite, find an open field on a windy day and try to get it up. It’s harder than you remember, and very funny when it isn’t working.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 1 hour
- You need
- A kite, some wind
- 15
Go geocaching
Use a free geocaching app to find little containers other players have hidden near you. Sign the logbook, and bring a small trinket to swap.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A phone, a small trinket
- 16
Read side by side in the park
Bring a blanket and a book each, read in the sun for an hour, then trade your favorite passage so far.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A blanket, two books
In town
Ideas 17 to 24
Going out doesn’t have to mean spending. Your town is full of free and cheap things to do if you go looking.
- 17
Play tourist where you live
Walk your neighborhood like it’s your first day there: read every plaque, try the place you always walk past, and take vacation photos of each other.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Comfortable shoes
- 18
Go to a museum on a free day
Check your local museums for free or pay-what-you-can hours. Each of you picks one room and gives the other a guided tour of it, facts optional.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A free admission day
- 19
Pick library books for each other
Spend an hour choosing a book for your partner without saying why. Swap, read the first chapter on a bench, then explain your pick.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- Library cards
- 20
Share one dessert somewhere fancy
Skip dinner and go straight to dessert at a place that’s usually out of your budget. One dessert, two spoons, no rush.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 1 hour
- You need
- A great dessert menu
- 21
Run a farmers market challenge
Give each other $10 to build the best snack or dinner from the market. Cook or eat what you bought together, then vote.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Cash, a market
- 22
Thrift for each other on $5 each
Find the best gift or the most ridiculous outfit for each other, $5 each. Whatever you get has to be worn or used for the rest of the day.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A thrift store
- 23
Catch an open mic or a local show
Find an open mic night, a student play or a band at a local spot. Low cost, low pressure, and you might find your new favorite act.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- An evening
- You need
- A local events calendar
- 24
Ride the bus or train to the end of the line
Hop on a route you’ve never taken, ride it to the last stop and explore whatever’s there for an hour before heading home.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- Half a day
- You need
- Fare for two
Creative
Ideas 25 to 32
Make something together. It doesn’t have to be good. It has to be yours.
- 25
Shoot a short film on your phone
Write a one-page script, cast yourselves, film it in an evening and hold a premiere with popcorn. Awards are mandatory.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 2 to 3 hours
- You need
- A phone
- 26
Start a shared sketchbook
Draw the same thing side by side: the view from a window, a bowl of fruit, each other’s hands. Date each page and keep adding to it.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 1 hour
- You need
- A sketchbook, pencils
- 27
Write a song about the two of you
Take a tune you both know and write new lyrics about how you met, your worst trip or your partner’s strangest habit. Perform it at least once.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1 hour
- You need
- A tune you both know
- 28
Go on a photo walk with a list
Pick five themes, like something red, something old and something that reminds you of each other. Shoot one photo for each on a walk, then compare.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- Your phones
- 29
Write your own cookbook
Write down the meals you cook most, the ones from your families and the ones you invented, with notes on who likes what. Cook one of them tonight.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A notebook
- 30
Design T-shirts for each other
Grab two plain T-shirts and a tie-dye kit or fabric paint, and design one for each other. Wear them on your next date, however they turn out.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Plain tees, dye or paint
- 31
Give one room a free makeover
Move the furniture, swap the art around and clear the clutter. Agree before you start on what has to stay, and what one of you gets to veto.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Some muscle
- 32
Make a vision board for your year
Cut pictures and words out of old magazines and make a board of what you want this year to hold, together and on your own. Hang it where you’ll see it.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Old magazines, glue, a board
Seasonal
Ideas 33 to 40
Two for every season, so there’s always something on the calendar.
- 33
Take a spring blossom walk
Find the street, park or trail with the best spring blooms near you, pack a snack and take one photo of each other in the prettiest spot.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Comfortable shoes
- 34
Plant a windowsill herb garden
Pick up a few seed packets or small herb plants, pot them together and give each one a name. Cook with the first harvest.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 1 hour
- You need
- Seeds, pots, soil
- 35
Find a free summer concert or outdoor movie
Check your city or library calendar for free outdoor concerts, movies or theater. Bring a blanket, snacks and a sweater for later.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- An evening
- You need
- A blanket, snacks
- 36
Make ice pops from scratch
Blend fruit with yogurt or juice, pour it into molds or paper cups, add sticks and freeze. Eat them on the front steps when they’re ready.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 30 minutes, plus freezing
- You need
- Fruit, cups, sticks
- 37
Go on a fall leaf walk with cider
Find the most colorful street or trail near you, bring warm cider in a thermos and each collect your best leaf. Press them in a heavy book at home.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- A thermos
- 38
Carve or paint pumpkins
Pick two pumpkins and give yourselves one hour. Carve each other’s faces, carve the cat, or paint them if knives aren’t your thing.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- Pumpkins, a knife or paint
- 39
Walk the winter lights with hot chocolate
Make hot chocolate, pour it into travel mugs and walk or drive the streets with the best lights. Rank the houses as you go.
- Cost
- Under $10
- Time
- 1 to 2 hours
- You need
- Travel mugs
- 40
Hold a winter soup-off
Each of you makes a pot of soup on a $10 budget. Taste them blind, vote, and the winner picks the movie.
- Cost
- Under $20
- Time
- 2 hours
- You need
- Two pots, $10 each
Play it as a game
A game night you buy once.
WhoIs? is a one-time buy that comes out on any night in: 167 question cards for two players or a whole group. Read a card, guess who it describes, and see if you agree.
167 question cards · 12 answer cards · 2 to 12+ players
From the deck
- Who is:The best at planning dates?
- Who is:Using items until they fall apart?
- Who is:More spontaneous?
