Date Night

Ok let's talk date night.  First of all it was so much cheaper before kids!  Now, by the time we figure in babysitting, dinner and whatever else you plan to do it can add up!  Not only that, but my husband and I have to factor in me staying at home now. Where spending money on eating out, going to a movie and then someone to watch our kids used to seem a lot, now it makes us think about what we could spend our money on (or save it rather on) instead.

Now, I have to say date nights are important to marriage.  It is so good for you to get some time alone with your spouse away from the kiddos every so often.  It is worth spending a little money, but it doesn't have to break the bank. I have a few different options that vary in price.

1st: Date Night at home

There are tons of ideas for home date nights on Pinterest.  My husband and I have started trying to hang out more at night together spending more quality time and less just watching T.V. together.  Our new favorite is playing card games. We even keep score in a little notebook. Now, I will say some nights we pair playing cards with watching a T.V. show that we fancy, but some nights we try to stick to just playing cards and talking. It is great to reconnect in this way.  We use to play games in college together and it's fun to do that again as a married couple.

2nd: Date Night out 

So this one my husband and I stumbled upon by accident. We are part of a bible study group that gets together a couple times a month. This happened to us back when we just had Baby Girl. We had set up a babysitter for the night and everything. Then probably about an hour before the sitter came we realized we had the wrong night. We didn't have Bible Study that night, but rather it was the next night. So what were we to do just an hour before? Canceling was an option, yes, but we figured we already had a sitter planned so why not have a date night?  

We ended up just going to Culver's and walking around Walmart, enjoying being able to talk.  This option all we paid for was the sitter and dinner at a fast food resturant.  We didn't need to go do anything that cost a lot, but just enjoyed being able to be together outside of our kids. 

3rd: Date Night Swap 

This is my favorite! Good friends of ours pitched this idea to us about a year ago and we are so glad that we said yes. We alternate date nights each month with a month in between of getting our families together.  For example, this month is my husband and I's date month, March will be theirs and then in April we will get together as families at one of our houses for dinner.  

It's the best of both worlds.  One couple gets a date night with free babysitting, so depending on what you go do the night could be entirely free!  The other couple gets their kids to have a night over at their friends' house for a little bit.  This is what we typically do, let's take this month for example.  Our friends will come over around dinner time with their kids, my husband and I will head out for our date.  When it's bed time, one of the spouses (typically the husband) will take their kids home, while the other (typically the wife) will stay and put our kids to bed.  Then next month we will flip flop.  

It really has been such a great thing added to our lives. We've made it a game/challenge to try and spend little to no money. So other than usually getting dinner we really have almost a free date. In the spring I look forward to going for a walk together in our town or one close by. If you have some close friends, I really suggest this idea, even if you just get out once every couple months for free that's something!