Frugal date ideas in the winter

[RumbleKittie]

My husband and I want to prioritize date days or weekends, since I'm pregnant and we know that it'll be harder to spend that kind of time together after the baby is born. However, our interests are usually doing things outdoors,  like hiking or camping, and the weather has been cold and rainy lately.

What are some frugal activities /outings you enjoy with your significant other when the weather sucks? We'd prefer to have an opportunity to get out of the house, since my husband is in between jobs at the moment and can get a bit stir crazy.

[trailrated]

Have you ever tried geocaching? Cheap and fun :)  https://www.geocaching.com/play

[Noodle]

I assume given the forum we are on, you are looking for lower-cost ideas.

Museums...doesn't have to be the big, fancy kind (although there are inexpensive ways to do those...look for the free days, etc). But the little ones are much cheaper and, if you go in with the right expectations, lots of fun. Same with nature centers, etc.

Look for the best inexpensive foodstuff (breakfast taco, chocolate-chip cookie etc) in town. Try a new place each time you get out.

Go to high school or college drama, music or sports events. Sometimes the execution is terrible, but sometimes you will be wonderfully surprised by the raw talent on display.

Depending on where you are, sometimes the public library has great programs, usually for free or very little cost.

For an at-home date, try your own mini-film festival. Pick a theme (Best Picture Winners, documentaries, summer blockbusters) and make it an occasion w. excellent snacks, no phones, etc.

Take a class together, especially if it is something not baby-friendly (complicated cooking, etc.)

[WYOGO]

Snowshoeing! Great exercise and quite inexpensive compared to other winter sports! Going tomorrow myself...

[Davids]

If you were not pregnant I would suggest sledding if there is a good amount of snow.

[vern]

Russian novels!

We also do a lot of XC skiing in the winter.  Much cheaper and much better exercise than the downhill version.

[gimp]

Obligatory

Also, snowball fights and hot chocolate.

[SisterX]

Have a book date at the library.  Wander around the stacks and browse the books the way you would at a book store.  Each of you gets to pick out a book that you think your spouse would enjoy and over the next week or two, as you read them, you can talk about the books.  So it's sort of a date that keeps going.

My husband and I like to make mulled cider and watch a show or movie.  We already have the kid, so getting to spend that kind of time together isn't very common anymore.  The cider seems to make it just a bit more special than just vegging out in front of the computer together.  If you've got a fireplace, that would make it even better.  We don't, so we snuggle in bed and drink our drinks and end up pausing the movie a whole bunch to talk as things occur to us.

Go for a walk and splash in the puddles if it's rainy.  :)  Channel Gene Kelly from "Singin' in the Rain" and get good and soaked, then go warm up in the shower when you get home.

And congrats on the impending little one!

[Peacefulwarrior]

I have no idea if it's cold enough where you live, but personally I love to go winter bathing in the sea or lake. It really brings you closer together and makes you feel awesome afterwards with all those endorphins pumping around in your body.

[NICE!]

Sex. Since you're pregnant you probably don't even need a contraceptive! Free or the cost of anything else you like to add into the mix.

[LadyStache]

Homemade dinner and a movie rental.

[Grid]

Sex. Since you're pregnant you probably don't even need a contraceptive! Free or the cost of anything else you like to add into the mix.

Probably?  Lol.

[minority_finance_mo]

Have you ever tried geocaching? Cheap and fun :)  https://www.geocaching.com/play

WOAH! This sounds amazing!

[NICE!]

Probably?  Lol.

Sometimes one partner has an STD and they choose to use contraceptives so the other doesn't get it.

[Grid]

Probably?  Lol.

Sometimes one partner has an STD and they choose to use contraceptives so the other doesn't get it.

I did not even think of that.  (Apologies, and thanks for the lesson.)

[NICE!]

I did not even think of that.  (Apologies, and thanks for the lesson.)

Oh no need to apologize to me! I do not have this issue, I was just pointing out that it exists. Thanks for being open.

[HipGnosis]

Drive around in the evening looking at Christmas lights.
Look online to see if there are any really big or good ones near you.
Hiking - depending how 'wintery' it is where you are, even parks you're familiar with can become a virtually new experience.  Bring clothes you can layer, multiple pairs of socks and a thermos of hot coco or cider.

[iris lily]

Libraries of size have many programs throughout the week. There are lectures, discussions, author talks and all kinds of interesting things

[MustacheExplorer]

There are many cities that have free or discounted days at some amazing world class museums.

http://museumfreedays.com/

[TrulyStashin]

Any of the following with a BotaBox by the fire:

Scrabble
Backgammon
Chess
Book(s)
Listening to music -- try new artists (check out this source:  http://www.npr.org/music/ for great, fresh ideas)

[going2ER]

Depending on what your interest are you can check to see if your local grocer offers cooking classes, here it is generally $20 for the 2 of us for a 4 course meal. Home Depot also offers free workshops on home repairs/renovations which are sometimes interesting. It would be something different to do and would get your DH out of the house.

[CommonCents]

Ice skating
Card games (check a book out of the library to learn more)
Board games
Fancy dinner at home - try a new recipe
Star gazing

[JimLahey]

My girlfriend and I went bowling recently. It's relatively cheap and gets you out of the house.

[CommonCents]

My girlfriend and I went bowling recently. It's relatively cheap and gets you out of the house.

It's even cheaper when you sign up to be a mystery shopper for those places.  Earned a free dinner (shared app, entrée, and a non-alcoholic drink each), an alcoholic drink each, two games of bowling, and $25 doing this!

[KS]

My husband and I tried a "penny date" a while back and it actually turned out to be pretty fun. How it works if you haven't heard of it:

1) Get dressed, grab a penny.
2) Let your partner choose a number between 10-20.  This will be the number of times you flip the penny.
3) Pull out of the driveway and begin! HEADS is right, TAILS is left.
4) Every time you come to an intersection, flip the penny, and turn the corresponding direction.
5) Once you get to the number from Step 2, look around. Make your date there!

We did have to edit the rules a little to avoid just going in circles around our neighborhood (I think our additions were: we only flipped if we were coming to a stop at the intersection, and if we ever doubled back around to the same intersection we wouldn't flip there again.) Lots of residential areas near us so mostly we were driving through neighborhoods we may or may not have seen before and we thought it was going to be a bust, but it turned out when we made our final turn we were at our city's community center which we'd never really checked out. Spent a nice little while wandering around the duck/fish ponds and ended up really enjoying ourselves.

[RWD]

My husband and I tried a "penny date" a while back and it actually turned out to be pretty fun. How it works if you haven't heard of it:

1) Get dressed, grab a penny.
2) Let your partner choose a number between 10-20.  This will be the number of times you flip the penny.
3) Pull out of the driveway and begin! HEADS is right, TAILS is left.
4) Every time you come to an intersection, flip the penny, and turn the corresponding direction.
5) Once you get to the number from Step 2, look around. Make your date there!

We did have to edit the rules a little to avoid just going in circles around our neighborhood (I think our additions were: we only flipped if we were coming to a stop at the intersection, and if we ever doubled back around to the same intersection we wouldn't flip there again.) Lots of residential areas near us so mostly we were driving through neighborhoods we may or may not have seen before and we thought it was going to be a bust, but it turned out when we made our final turn we were at our city's community center which we'd never really checked out. Spent a nice little while wandering around the duck/fish ponds and ended up really enjoying ourselves.

Interesting idea, I like the concept! Driving around aimlessly might be a bit unmustachian... You could also do your flips at home and follow the roads virtually via Google Maps to pick a destination, though that might lose a bit of the appeal.

[KS]

Driving around aimlessly might be a bit unmustachian...

Yeah I did think about that too! No reason it couldn't be done on foot or bike though, if that's a concern. :) It definitely would feel a little like a bummer if you landed somewhere there was absolutely nothing around, but I guess you could pack a picnic and a frisbee or some other outdoor entertainment just in case and make the most of just being out together. We had other errands to run that day, so we figured if it was a bust we'd just go do those sooner, but luck was on our side!

[JimLahey]

My girlfriend and I went bowling recently. It's relatively cheap and gets you out of the house.

It's even cheaper when you sign up to be a mystery shopper for those places.  Earned a free dinner (shared app, entrée, and a non-alcoholic drink each), an alcoholic drink each, two games of bowling, and $25 doing this!

Where do you sign up? Ha.

[Kmp2]

One woman took her hubby to the prenatal yoga class I was attending, he was the only support staff there and such a sport!

I loved snowshoeing when I was pregnant, and it was my warmest (and not the warmest either) winter ever. We could rent snowshoes for 5$/person.

[CommonCents]

My girlfriend and I went bowling recently. It's relatively cheap and gets you out of the house.

It's even cheaper when you sign up to be a mystery shopper for those places.  Earned a free dinner (shared app, entrée, and a non-alcoholic drink each), an alcoholic drink each, two games of bowling, and $25 doing this!

Where do you sign up? Ha.

That one is through here: https://www.sassieshop.com/sassie/SassieShopperSignup/Signup.php?EmsID=c8F2b1e7L7s%3D

Caveat that this particular shop of course may not be in your area, they require an 8 rating (of 10) to apply, so you have to have done another shop, and you can only shop it once every year.  They've bent that rule before and reached out to ask me to do it sooner though, when they didn't have anyone lined up and needed to get it done though.

ETA: Apparently you can get money for referring shoppers.  If you'd like to help me earn $2 (and possibly get yourself in a better position to be selected?  I don't know), PM me before registering with the link above.  I'll put in your email address into the system and they'll send you a welcome please apply link.