It can be challenging to plan a date night out these days. Even hard can be to keep your date night costs down. Even a simple dinner or a movie can become expensive quite quickly. So instead of going out for date night, why not stay in? There are plenty of fun and frugal activities you can do for an at-home date night idea.
1. Game Night
There are all sorts of games you can play. You more than likely have many board games lying around you can bust out and play. Find a deck of cards and play a few of your favorites there. If you and your significant other are gamers, find a few classics you both love and play them to your heart’s content. Of course, all competitions are more fun with something on the line. Make bets to give the game night a little more excitement.
2. Puzzles
If board games aren’t your thing, maybe puzzles are better at-home date night ideas. Pop open a bottle of wine, put on a fun playlist, and work on a puzzle together. The best part is that this can be your date night activity for weeks to come with the right difficulty.
3. Turn off the Electricity
Maybe you’re looking for some more romantic date ideas. If so, have an electricity-free date night. First, get all dressed up, then turn off all the lights, tv and shut down those phones. Start your date night with a candlelit, romantic dinner and see where the night takes you.
4. Couples Trivia
Back to more competition, but this could fit into the no electricity option as well. If you want bragging rights over your significant other, have a couples trivia night. You can both make up questions about yourselves to see who’s been paying attention more during your relationship. But, again, it’s more fun with something on the line, so make things more exciting with some form of a bet.
5. Taste Testing
If you and your SO are foodies, a taste testing at-home date night is for you. The best part here is that your options are pretty much limitless. You can have a taste testing competition for anything from peanut butter to cheese to hot sauce. Whatever your food passions, get a few from around town and find out which is the best.
6. Wine or Beer Tasting
There’s no rule that your taste-testing has to be limited to food, either. Hit up a few local liquor stores to find the perfect selection of wines or beers you’ve always wanted to try and see which one comes out on top.
7. Cocktail Night
If alcohol is the thing, then having a cocktail night as a home date night idea is right up your alley. Find an exciting recipe online and tweak it to your preferences. Then, you can focus on one or two new ones each date night until you master making them.
8. Recreate a Fancy Hotel Stay
Do you like staying in fancy hotels but don’t like paying the price? Bring the hotel to you then. Draw a nice warm bubble bath, then slip into some robes for dinner and a movie in bed. It will be a fun and relaxing experience for sure.
9. Cook A Travel Inspired Dinner
When you travel, do you love trying the local dishes? If so, try cooking some travel-inspired meals for your next date night. You can make specialties from all around the world right from the comfort of your kitchen. Italian, Korean, French, Spanish, you can get as traditional or unconventional as you like you no matter where your inspiration comes from.
10. Have a Cook-off
While we’re cooking here, nothing beats a good old fashion competition. Want to settle once and for all who’s the better cook? Find a few recipes you can both make and have a dinner date where you’re the chefs, get cookin’!
11. Wine and Painting at Home
Wine and painting have become popular date night activities as of late, but did you know there are kits available for you to do at home? Yup, you can drink and make bad paintings (at least if you’re me, they are bad) at home for half the price of a night out.
12. Do Arts and Crafts
Maybe painting isn’t your thing, but there are plenty of other arts and crafts-related fun you can have. Make something together or, once again, make it a competition by making separate items to see who comes out on top. Either way, you have a ton of options on what to make, right from home.
13. Pottery
One of those options can be making pottery. No, you don’t have to create the famous Ghost scene(hopefully most of you know what I’m talking about), but it can still be very romantic.
14. Karaoke Night Sing-off
If you haven’t noticed, competition is going to be a theme here. Next up is none other than the classic karaoke night sing-off. So have a few drinks, and then get ready to fire up your favorite songs to belt out as best you can.
15. Have a Dance Off
If you like the sing-off, you’ll love having a dance-off as at home date night idea. Try to recreate the latest dance moves (find them on youtube first) or play a video game like Just Dance to give yourself a few moves. Either way, you’ll have fun and get a good workout in.
16. Plan Your Next Trip
Have you been looking to get away from everything but haven’t had the time to plan it out? It doesn’t sound super exciting, but sitting down to plan out your next trip together can actually be a lot more fun than you think. You don’t have to book anything, but simply picking a destination and planning a general itinerary can be a lot of fun. Then you’ll have something to look forward to.
17. Create a Bucket List
If you like planning a trip, plan 20! Ok, you’re not exactly planning 20 trips, but you get the idea. Write down a list of things you want to do together. Some can be simple, others might be more exotic. No matter what they are, make them fun!
18. Outdoor Movie Night
Love drive-in movies but don’t have one near you? Make your own! Project to a screen outside in your backyard or snuggle up together around a laptop, tablet, or phone for a outdoor movie date. You can even watch from the back of your car like a real drive-in movie theater. Don’t forget your popcorn!
19. Stargazing
Another easy outdoor date night activity can simply be staring up at the stars. Bring a blanket outside, have dinner and then star up at the stars together. Start a campfire, cuddle up, find some constellations and just enjoy each other’s company.
20. Have a Water Gun or Nerf Fight
Nothing screams romance like silently trying to stalk your significant other to take them out with a water or NERF gun. So come up with some (relatively) friendly rules, and let the games begin!
21. Virtual Museum Tours
Did you know that many museums now offer virtual tours online? It’s true, you can “walk” around some of the world’s most famous museums without ever leaving your own home, here are just a few that offer this service.
- The British Museum in London
- The Louvre in Paris
- The Dali Theater and Museum in Spain
- The Vatican Museums in Vatican City
22. Dating Subscription Box
Maybe you like a lot of the ideas on here but aren’t good at finding options or simply don’t feel like it. If that’s the case, then the dating subscription box is the fix for you. Have a date night idea literally delivered right to you each month. No planning is needed!
23. Redecorate a Room
Taking a room and rearranging the furniture can make it feel like a whole new room. Take a night to figure out a new configuration for an old room. Maybe add a few pieces of decor you’re not using or from other rooms, and it’ll feel like new again.
24. Play Hide and Seek
This is one of the more fun at-home date night ideas on the list. There’s no reason two grown adults can’t play hide and seek, and it can be a lot of fun. Have a different kind of date night. Instead of spending it together, spend it actively trying to hide from each other. Maybe the best hider will win!
25. Build a Fort
Another activity is generally reserved for children but is more fun for adults. Bust out those blankets, chairs, and all your old fort-building tricks to build one with your significant other. If you really want to get creative, decorate your fort with Christmas lights in there and have a romantic “getaway” right in your own living room.
26. Have a Scavenger Hunt
Another perfect at-home date night idea is to have a scavenger hunt. You or your special someone can bother to hide a few items around your home (make sure to write down where) and see who can find all the items first.
27. Look Through Old Photos
Depending on how long you’ve been together, you’ll likely have tons of old photos you can look through. These photos could be on your phones, online, or really anywhere. If you don’t have a long history together, look through old photos of yourselves pre-relationship and tell the stories behind those photos.
28. Learn Something New
Learning something new with your SO can be a lot of fun, and again, the possibilities are limitless here. Maybe you work on a new language for a trip (maybe planned on a previous date night), or you learn a new dance move or any other skill you can think of. It’s more fun to learn together.
29. Give Back
One of the more selfless date night activities can be giving back to your community. Volunteer together at a shelter, home, soup kitchen, or any other place looking for help. You can stay home and make food to then donate together too. You can get creative with how you give back, but the important part is to do it together.
30. Work Out Together
For those who are ultra-competitive, a date night workout could be for you. Work up a sweat and get those endorphins going with a race, see who can pump out the most push-ups, sit-ups, or any other kind of up you can think of. Not super into the competition, but going for a simple walk together might be better for you then.
Frugal at Home Date Night Ideas: Final Thoughts
Fun dates don’t have to be expensive or spent out and about in a sea of other people. Create date ideas can be far more fun than their expensive counterparts. The main idea is to spend time together, so it shouldn’t really matter where the date night takes place. Hopefully, you found a few at-home date night ideas you’d like to try.
