Author Topic: MMM-ish date for my wife  (Read 9459 times)

Milspecstache

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MMM-ish date for my wife
« on: March 29, 2014, 12:05:54 PM »
I try really hard to take my wife out on a date once a week as it is really important to her.  However, it often costs $50 or so just to go out to dinner.  Last weekend she wanted to eat out but I suggested I call in food and go get it (same order from the same restaurant).  By calling it in and picking it up, I avoided:
Tip to waiter/waitress
My wife's drink order (she generally likes to order tea/lemonade/etc)
My wife's desert order

Understand that there are much cheaper dates out there but relatively speaking, I saved $10-$15 from what I already had committed to spend.

AlexK

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2014, 12:12:27 PM »
So last night was "date night" and I suggested we eat a simple meal at home and then go to a fancy restaurant for dessert. She was fully on board and excited about that idea. Then it got late and we ended up getting fancy ice cream bars from the grocery store instead.

Briansmama

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2014, 02:04:18 PM »
Make it a weekend morning thing and take her out for a fancy coffee. I enjoy that just as much as going out to a restaurant with my husband. We have a really fun, trendy cafe downtown that makes the best hemp milk chai lattes ever.

We don't do this every week but I'd love it if we did!

OldDogNewTrick

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2014, 02:13:22 PM »
We'll pack a salad for two, a baguette and a bottle of wine, throw a couple lawn chairs in the back and head for the beach at sunset. :-)

kkbmustang

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2014, 02:23:26 PM »
We drop our kids off for a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house, eat dinner at home and sleep in. We enjoy a pot of coffee the following morning while we read in a quiet house. This is a benefit to having family close by. It rocks.

lbdance

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2014, 02:45:46 PM »
I try really hard to take my wife out on a date once a week as it is really important to her.  However, it often costs $50 or so just to go out to dinner. 

Well done on engineering the situation to save a bit of money
My question is what about going on a date is important to her?
The one on one time where you get to focus on each other?
Spending money (i.e. showing that you want to give her things/provide for her)?

Villanelle

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2014, 02:54:19 PM »


Summer is nearly here.  Picnic in the park is romantic, cheap, and easy.  Make an afternoon of it by bringing a ball to throw around, a radio to listen to, or some cards, or anything else that make it more of an event. 

Check out local civic theater productions.  Some are spendy, but in smaller cities (or a college or even high school programs), they are often quite affordable. 

If you are usually spending $50, even going together to get pedicures would likely be cheaper and something different. 


bikebum

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2014, 03:09:35 PM »
Sometimes when we go out, we pick a place where you order at the counter and then pick up the food when it's ready. That way you don't have to tip.

There are also some thai places we go to where the bill is usually under $30, even with drinks and tip. Last time we went to a fancier place and the bill was over $70; we did not enjoy it any more than the cheaper places.

MKinVA

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2014, 03:59:35 PM »
Tonight we are going to cine bistro dinner and movie. Got a gift card from the neighbors for babysitting their dog for a long weekend. Sweet.

hybrid

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2014, 10:38:44 AM »
Tonight we are going to cine bistro dinner and movie. Got a gift card from the neighbors for babysitting their dog for a long weekend. Sweet.

I love stuff like that when it falls into your lap (see my recent post in this column about free Panera sandwiches. Something about a freebie that is psychologically satisfying. There was a great chapter in Predictably Irrational that talks about that.

MKinVA

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2014, 01:04:49 PM »
We have also done date night at a local restaurant which has half price appetizers and drink specials between 5-7 several nights a week (even weekend nights). We easily make dinner out of the appetizers and since we are not big drinkers, one cocktail doesn't blow the budget for a dinner out.

going2ER

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2014, 12:54:47 PM »
A couple of weeks ago for our anniversary we did the same thing. We brought it home and put a blanket on the floor in front of the fireplace, far too cold for an outdoor picnic here. We had a great time and paying extra for drinks and tips wouldn't have made it any better.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #12 on: March 31, 2014, 06:24:08 PM »
We drop our kids off for a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house, eat dinner at home and sleep in. We enjoy a pot of coffee the following morning while we read in a quiet house. This is a benefit to having family close by. It rocks.

This sounds awesome. Don't know if my folks would do it, but my sister might once in a while.

Usually we've done the "make dinner  for kids, send them outside to play, then I cook dinner for two of us and we can eat it like civilized people."

kkbmustang

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2014, 06:58:42 PM »
We drop our kids off for a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house, eat dinner at home and sleep in. We enjoy a pot of coffee the following morning while we read in a quiet house. This is a benefit to having family close by. It rocks.

This sounds awesome. Don't know if my folks would do it, but my sister might once in a while.

Usually we've done the "make dinner  for kids, send them outside to play, then I cook dinner for two of us and we can eat it like civilized people."

It's lovely and a relatively recent phenomenon. The kids are older now, more self-sufficient and comfortable spending the night away from home. It does help that their grandparents take them to restaurants and let them eat candy and drink caffeinated drinks, like Dr. Pepper.

An adult dinner while the kids play was something we did when they were little. It's nice, too.

Norrie

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2014, 08:13:19 PM »
We've also got the free overnight babysitting grandparents just four miles down the road, and it's probably the biggest luxury in our lives. They are the best grandparents ever, and are well-worth our move to Oklahoma.

We almost never go out now (our usual date is drop the kids at the grandparents' house, high five as we back out of their driveway, go straight home, cook dinner, eat dessert while watching basketball, fall asleep on sofa before game ends), but when we did we loved making dinner at home and then going to a really nice place for a kick ass dessert and coffee. Those were some of our favorite nights. (We would go late and tip well so that the server wasn't losing out on a table during the busy period.)

Weekly date nights seem like a high standard to meet! I commend you for even trying. By the weekend, I just want sweatpants and my sofa.

ichangedmyname

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #15 on: March 31, 2014, 09:54:32 PM »
Our fifth year anniversary is coming up and I'm planning to make an indoor tent in our basement with some cheap curtains and have an indoor picnic. :) He told me it's too much work but I don't mind.

Gin1984

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2014, 10:43:15 AM »


Summer is nearly here.  Picnic in the park is romantic, cheap, and easy.  Make an afternoon of it by bringing a ball to throw around, a radio to listen to, or some cards, or anything else that make it more of an event. 

Check out local civic theater productions.  Some are spendy, but in smaller cities (or a college or even high school programs), they are often quite affordable. 

If you are usually spending $50, even going together to get pedicures would likely be cheaper and something different.
ROFL, and this shows how different things are depending on where you live.  We still have snow on the ground here. 

CommonCents

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2014, 12:10:31 PM »
I try really hard to take my wife out on a date once a week as it is really important to her.  However, it often costs $50 or so just to go out to dinner. 

Well done on engineering the situation to save a bit of money
My question is what about going on a date is important to her?
The one on one time where you get to focus on each other?
Spending money (i.e. showing that you want to give her things/provide for her)?

Or maybe she just gets tired of doing all of the cooking?

Damn, I'd be excited if my husband just offered to cook an at home meal for me that was more than putting a frozen pizza in the oven.  In our 6 years together, I can recall two dinners he's cooked on his own that weren't just a matter of reheating something, and involved more than 5 minutes of prep. 

MgoSam

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2014, 01:02:42 PM »

Or maybe she just gets tired of doing all of the cooking?

THIS, though not intending to assume anything. It could be just a break from things. If you think it will be better to take out then go for it but there are some advantages to going out

a. Food is freshly served as opposed to getting it up in plastic boxes and then driving home
b. Service (which you pay tip for)
c. Ambiance of going out
d. The fact that you are out of the house
e. NOT BEING HOME
f. Not having dishes or cleanup
g. Not feeling like a miser and penching pennies (not saying you are but your wife might get this impression).

Some food for thought, pun intended.

Gerard

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #19 on: April 02, 2014, 04:52:50 PM »
Summer is nearly here.   
ROFL, and this shows how different things are depending on where you live.  We still have snow on the ground here.

I just shovelled forty fresh centimetres of the stuff. When I saw the "summer is nearly here" line, I checked to see if this was a post from last year!

wrt the actual post, I definitely second the "nice stuff at home, go somewhere fancy for a dessert" idea. If by "dessert" you mean "beer".

MayDay

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #20 on: April 02, 2014, 08:03:19 PM »
In my state (Ohio) you also do not pay tax in take out.  I guess since groceries aren't taxed, and you eat take out at home, it counts as groceries?  In addition out favorite Chinese restaurant gives 10% off take out orders.

Between no tip, no tax, no impulse purchases, we easily spend half as much.  But I struggle with the huge waste from the packaging- foam cartons mostly.  I am not quite tree-hunger enough to try to convince a restaurant that I will bring in my own reusable containers for my take-out.  I have thought that I should bring in my own container to use as a doggie bag, since I could just do it myself at the table and not bother/ask the waitress.

horsepoor

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #21 on: April 03, 2014, 09:15:10 PM »
I try really hard to take my wife out on a date once a week as it is really important to her.  However, it often costs $50 or so just to go out to dinner. 

Well done on engineering the situation to save a bit of money
My question is what about going on a date is important to her?
The one on one time where you get to focus on each other?
Spending money (i.e. showing that you want to give her things/provide for her)?

Or maybe she just gets tired of doing all of the cooking?

Damn, I'd be excited if my husband just offered to cook an at home meal for me that was more than putting a frozen pizza in the oven.  In our 6 years together, I can recall two dinners he's cooked on his own that weren't just a matter of reheating something, and involved more than 5 minutes of prep.

This.  I've recently made strides in getting my husband to do things like roast a chicken, though I'm not overwhelming him with asking that he make side dishes yet.  The last one he made was really good!  Anyway, yeah, I would be stoked if I came home once a week to a nice homemade dinner I didn't have to lift a finger to make .  You could add a nice decent bottle of wine and still be under $20.

If it's about getting out of the house, check out various places for happy hour.  Sometimes some nicer places like steak houses will have good appetizer happy hour specials that you can make into a shared meal pretty inexpensively.

socaso

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #22 on: April 04, 2014, 12:21:56 PM »
I've had good luck finding Groupons for activities we want to do. I got one for two bike rentals and we rode bikes on the beach. I also like to check out different happy hours around town. My DH usually likes more expensive dates than what I choose so we swap back and forth with our choices. If Blackboard Eats operates in your area they generally have discounts for good restaurants and they don't cost anything. Sometimes the discount even covers drinks. Also you can sign up for the Yipit emails. They cover all the daily deal sites in your area so you can find the most interesting deals. I only buy a couple of daily deals a year but I check them all the time. I'm just very picky about what I commit to.

TrulyStashin

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #23 on: April 04, 2014, 01:09:58 PM »
We drop our kids off for a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house, eat dinner at home and sleep in. We enjoy a pot of coffee the following morning while we read in a quiet house. This is a benefit to having family close by. It rocks.

This sounds awesome. Don't know if my folks would do it, but my sister might once in a while.

Usually we've done the "make dinner  for kids, send them outside to play, then I cook dinner for two of us and we can eat it like civilized people."

This is something my Grandmother used to do for/ with my Grandfather.  They were Greatest Generation people.   Monday through Thursday they'd eat together as a family.  On Friday, he'd come home from work to find happy, clean, and fed children.  A few kisses and hugs and the kids would go play and the adults would have cocktails and dinner while the kids were occupied -- and the kids KNEW to leave them alone unless someone was bleeding.    A modern version of this would have the gender roles taking turns with the kid-care but it is a great idea nonetheless.

zataks

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #24 on: April 17, 2014, 02:05:02 AM »
This is something my Grandmother used to do for/ with my Grandfather.  They were Greatest Generation people.   Monday through Thursday they'd eat together as a family.  On Friday, he'd come home from work to find happy, clean, and fed children.  A few kisses and hugs and the kids would go play and the adults would have cocktails and dinner while the kids were occupied -- and the kids KNEW to leave them alone unless someone was bleeding.    A modern version of this would have the gender roles taking turns with the kid-care but it is a great idea nonetheless.

I like this idea a lot.  No kids yet but moving in with the GF over the next couple weeks! 

Our date nights vary but are often focused around food.  We used to go for ice cream a lot at a great little parlor not too far away.  We were spending almost $10 every time we went.  Costco had Humboldt Creamery vanilla for sale a while back and I picked up the two pack of it.  So instead of the ice cream parlor, I cut up strawberries and walnuts and made whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  She told me it was better than the hot-fudge sundaes she was getting at the shop and a fraction of the price!  And I enjoy the time in the kitchen, too. 

For us, it comes down to the time set aside specifically for one on one interaction.  It's almost always just the two of us anyway but the time when you can push everything else aside and say, "not now, I'm on a date," is important. 




CommonCents

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #25 on: April 17, 2014, 07:40:39 AM »
This is something my Grandmother used to do for/ with my Grandfather.  They were Greatest Generation people.   Monday through Thursday they'd eat together as a family.  On Friday, he'd come home from work to find happy, clean, and fed children.  A few kisses and hugs and the kids would go play and the adults would have cocktails and dinner while the kids were occupied -- and the kids KNEW to leave them alone unless someone was bleeding.    A modern version of this would have the gender roles taking turns with the kid-care but it is a great idea nonetheless.

I like this idea a lot.  No kids yet but moving in with the GF over the next couple weeks! 

Our date nights vary but are often focused around food.  We used to go for ice cream a lot at a great little parlor not too far away.  We were spending almost $10 every time we went.  Costco had Humboldt Creamery vanilla for sale a while back and I picked up the two pack of it.  So instead of the ice cream parlor, I cut up strawberries and walnuts and made whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  She told me it was better than the hot-fudge sundaes she was getting at the shop and a fraction of the price!  And I enjoy the time in the kitchen, too. 

For us, it comes down to the time set aside specifically for one on one interaction.  It's almost always just the two of us anyway but the time when you can push everything else aside and say, "not now, I'm on a date," is important.

DH always wants to go out for ice cream.  If I keep it on hand so we don't go out, he'll eat more of it and gain weight (he would agree he's already about 30 lbs overweight).  My solution is to buy one ice cream, with 2-3 scoops and share.  It cuts the bill from $10 to $5 at least.  But if it works for you to keep it at home, more the better.

zataks

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #26 on: April 17, 2014, 08:02:12 AM »
DH always wants to go out for ice cream.  If I keep it on hand so we don't go out, he'll eat more of it and gain weight (he would agree he's already about 30 lbs overweight).  My solution is to buy one ice cream, with 2-3 scoops and share.  It cuts the bill from $10 to $5 at least.  But if it works for you to keep it at home, more the better.

I used to have this problem; I can probably eat a whole tub in a sitting!  But GF and I are both committed to staying fit (I'm not willing to get in the ring with the heavyweights!) and knowing that the intention behind the vanilla was something for us to share made self-control over a weakness of mine much easier.  I wouldn't want her to suggest sundaes some night and have to reply that we couldn't have them because I was a fatty after work this week!


CommonCents

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Re: MMM-ish date for my wife
« Reply #27 on: April 17, 2014, 08:12:55 AM »
DH always wants to go out for ice cream.  If I keep it on hand so we don't go out, he'll eat more of it and gain weight (he would agree he's already about 30 lbs overweight).  My solution is to buy one ice cream, with 2-3 scoops and share.  It cuts the bill from $10 to $5 at least.  But if it works for you to keep it at home, more the better.

I used to have this problem; I can probably eat a whole tub in a sitting!  But GF and I are both committed to staying fit (I'm not willing to get in the ring with the heavyweights!) and knowing that the intention behind the vanilla was something for us to share made self-control over a weakness of mine much easier.  I wouldn't want her to suggest sundaes some night and have to reply that we couldn't have them because I was a fatty after work this week!

I do not tell him that!  Not sure why you'd leap to that conclusion.  I just have been working to change things around the house so it's easier to eat healthy and harder to eat unhealthy.  While we still have a stash somehow, I have bought unhealthy snacks in a long time.  And I try to keep on hand healthier snacks.  Found a great site skinnytaste with some awesome recipes too we've tried out.  I've even told him what the site is, and he still thinks the recipes are keepers.  Grilled chicken with black bean mango salsa was the most recent winner.  :)

 

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