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Affordable Date Ideas

Spending money on a babysitter and a date itself can get pretty expensive over time. That's why you may need to be creative in what your date night looks like.

1. Create a Love Playlist
You remember love tapes? You would record your favorite music and give to the one you were dating. Download your favorite love songs and create a playlist called "Love Playlist." Make sure it has at least four or five songs at minimum. Don't stop with one playlist. Create a list together from each decade. You can date the playlists or even create different playlists for special occasions. If you can't secure a babysitter, wait until the kids are down, set the ambience, and then turn your living room into a dance floor.

2. Plan a Picnic
Fill a basket or cooler with bread, goodies, cheese, fruit, drinks, etc. Grab a blanket and head to a park, lake or hillside.

3. Go to a Coffee Shop and Bring Your Own Board Games
Play checkers, cards, etc. while having your favorite coffee or tea together. Some shops in Ottawa even offer board games already, such as Life of Pie.

4. Visit a Museum
Here in Ottawa, all the museums are free after 5 P.M. on Thursdays. See the list of museums in Ottawa here.

5. Share a Favorite Activity from Your Junior or Senior High Days
This is great especially for couples that didn't know one another in high school. Go bowling, roller-skating, go-karting or play miniature golf. Share together some of your favorite childhood activities and memories.

6. Cook a Multi-Course Meal
Play with various recipes and serve one course at a time. A great way to have fun with this is to prepare a five-course meal together. Enjoy the longevity of it, making each course a memory. Style it as formal or as informal and goofy as you'd like. If you want to add ambience, play the love songs from #1.

7. Go Fishing on the Weekend
This is a great date whether you catch fish or not.

8. Sing Karaoke
To add some random fun to your evening, find a place with karaoke and sing your favorite songs as loud as you can with people you've never met before.

9. Go On a Picture Date
Find random sites around your hometown and take pictures of one another. To add more fun to it, make a theme around your pictures. For instance, go out as a tourist. Visit civil war sites, national parks, or historical landmarks only tourists tend to visit. Or, depending on your area, go out together as if you were living in the 1950s, dress the part, hit a diner and take fun pictures. You could also go as outdoorsy folks and take pictures in a sporting goods store or wearing camouflage.

10. Decide on a new hobby or activity together and begin practicing
For instance, you may decide you’re going to run a 10k or a marathon together. Start training together for it.

Adapted from drjamesdobson.org

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