8 Cute Date Ideas To Try This Summer On A Budget
If you want to make the most of your summer with your significant other, but don’t quite have the bank account to do so, then don’t worry. There are plenty of date ideas you can try this summer if you’re on a budget, so you’ll be super busy all summer before school or college starts. Here are 8 cute date ideas for you!
1. Set up a home cinema
Movie nights are classic date ideas, but by setting up your own home cinema with a projector and screen, your own movies and a hoard of blankets and pillows, you only need to pay for snacks at the local supermarket – or just make your own! Try an outdoor cinema in your garden/rooftop, or if the weather isn’t great where you live, stick to your living room or bedroom. You can get creative here with your date and choose your own theme nights – for example, have a Disney night, horror night, cartoon night, Game of Thrones night – whatever suits you and your date!
2. Have a campfire
Nothing says a romantic summer night like cuddling up by a campfire and enjoying the warm night air. Another date idea that costs nothing, you can spend hours talking, tending to the fire, having some drinks, making s’mores, or even turn the fire into a barbecue. You don’t need to go camping either; you can enjoy a romantic campfire in the comfort of your own garden or the beach. Spend some quality time alone without any phones or social media, or invite some friends round to join you and your date to tell some ghost stories once the sun goes down!
3. Pizza making
If you and your date are peckish but don’t want to splash out on a restaurant, pick up some ingredients from the store and turn your kitchen into a pizzeria! To make your own pizzas, you only need pre-made pizza bases or rolling dough, tomato puree, mozzarella, and as little or as many toppings as you want. The shopping will come to less than £10, and it’s a great date idea for spending quality time together, communicating and helping each other. Even if neither of you are budding chefs, you’re still doing something as a couple and you might find you create a five-star meal!
4. Visit a local museum
If you and your date are into more cultural dates, or live somewhere where the summer weather is just not dependable, then check out any local museums or galleries in your area. You are bound to find one that’s free to visit, and you can spend hours looking around at all the exhibits. This is another cute date that will inspire you both to stay off your phones and really look around you. If it’s an early date or even the first date, the exhibits give you an opportunity to break the ice by having something to talk about.
5. Alone on a starry night
This sounds corny, but going outside and just looking at the stars is actually a really simple and traditional date idea if you and your date are romantics at heart. It also costs nothing to find a comfy spot in your garden, the beach, the park or the hood of your car and look up at the cloudless summer night sky. If it’s a little chillier at night, all the more reason to go stargazing – just wrap up and snuggle closer to your date for a humble yet romantic date.
6. Explore!
There’s probably a lot going on in your town or city that, during term time, you just haven’t noticed. During the summer, it’s the perfect opportunity for you and your date to take a look around and explore what’s local. Take a hike, go on a nature trail, climb a hill – wherever you go, make sure it’s some part of the area you’ve never been before. You’re making the most of the summer weather, and getting some exercise too. You might be surprised at what you find.
7. Have a clear out
If the weather has let you down and you’re stuck inside, make the most of it by finally getting round to that spring clean you’ve been avoiding since… well, spring. If you and your date are the types who like organisation, work together to get rid of any clutter and rearrange some things in your apartment or your respective bedrooms. If you don’t like it so much but need to get it done, then just crank up the music and make the best of it together! This is also a good date idea for the end of summer, so you’re enjoying each other’s company while also getting your things in order for starting the new semester.
8. Have a good throwback
This is a great activity for really getting to know your significant other: looking through old photos and videos. It’s great fun for both of you, with one reminiscing and the other seeing their partner on a deeper level. This could even be one of your theme nights for your home cinema in idea 1! Clear some floor space and just spend as long as you want looking at pictures. Get your parents and grandparents involved too and ask them for pictures, so you could go back even further in time.
