61 Affordable Spring Dates For Couples On A Tight Budget
Are you looking for fun and budget-friendly date ideas for spring? Look no further! I have compiled a list of 61 fun spring date ideas affordable for couples on a tight budget. Many of these great date ideas are free, meaning no matter how tight your budget is, you can still enjoy fun date nights this spring.
61 Budget-Friendly Spring Dates For Couples On A Tight Budget
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Free Sunny Day Activities
1. Go Stargazing
You might need to bundle up a bit, but snuggling under a blanket while staring at the stars only adds to the romance. Use the free app Skyview Lite to figure out the name of the constellations you are staring at.
2. Go Hunting For Spring Blooms
Go for a walk around your neighborhood and see if you can find spring flowers such as pansies, tulips, and daffodils starting to burst through the spring soil.
You can also go to a city park known for its gardens or hike a local trail and see if you can spot any wildflowers starting to bloom.
3. Take A Trip To Your Local Garden Store
Springtime stirs the desire to plant a flower garden into the minds of many. Indulge in that urge by going to the local garden store and strolling the aisles, figuring out what blooms you want on your spring bucket list for planting this year.
4. Use Whatever Sporting Equipment You Have
Spring is a great time for dates and exercise to collide. Dust off your bikes and go for a bike ride around the neighborhood or hit the local bike path. If biking isn’t your thing, what equipment do you have? Tennis rackets? Roller blades? Frisbee?
Get it out and get active together. If you don’t own anything, try borrowing equipment from friends.
5. Go On A Picnic
Dig into your cupboards and create a lunch for two with what you have available. Find a container to put it in and a blanket to sit on, and then head out on a sunny spring day to a local park and have a picnic. You don’t need to go to the park if you don’t want to–your backyard will do.
6. Attend A Local Festival
Springtime is full of festivals, and most cost nothing to stroll through. If you don’t know of any in your area, usually all it takes to find them is a visit to your area’s tourism website. Facebook friends can also be handy in helping you find a good festival. Just ask in a Facebook status if anyone knows of great spring festivals in your area.
Popular spring festivals center around cherry blossoms, tulips, and other things that return when the sun comes out after a long winter.
7. Grab The Kids’ Sidewalk Chalk And Let Your Creative Sides Shine
If you don’t have children, you can borrow sidewalk chalk from a friend or try making your own using ingredients you probably have in your kitchen cupboards.
You can either come up with a theme and work on a mural together that will cover your driveway or sidewalk, or you can divide your space in half, then take pictures of each half, post them on social media, and have your friends vote for who did the best artwork. The winner makes the loser dinner.
8. Write Out Your Summer Bucket List
Creating a summer bucket list can be so much fun, so why not make a date out of it? Grab your favorite cup of whatever dust off the patio furniture, sit side by side, and dream up all the things you want to do together as a couple during the upcoming summer season.
No idea is too expensive or too out there to be on the list. This is a dream list, after all. Once you are done, circle your top three and then start strategizing how to make room in your budget and life to make those events happen.
9. Head To The Playground
Acting like a kid for a short period of time can be fun and bonding. Head to your local playground (preferably one that is fairly empty) and see who can swing higher, slide faster, and hang upside down the longest.
11. Go waterfall chasing
April showers bring more than spring flowers; they also bring seasonal waterfalls or increase the insanity of year-long ones.
12. Volunteer
Walk dogs at a local animal shelter. Hand out water at a water stop of a spring race. Weed and plant flowers in the flower beds of your community. These are just a few spring-themed volunteering activities that could be a fun way to spend a few hours together.
13. Watch A Little League Baseball Game
Little League baseball games are usually free and can be an entertaining way to spend an evening together in springtime’s wonderful fresh air.
14. Prep The Garden Together
Enjoy the spring sunshine by getting outside and prepping the flower beds. Or get the garden ready for veggies.
15. Enjoy The Sunset Or Sunrise Together
You can do this from your backyard or an epic spot for watching a sunset or sunrise near you.
16. Visit A National Park On Free Day
The first day of National Park Week in April is free. Google “What days are free at National parks in 20–” To find out the exact date.
17. Plan Harmless April Fools Day Pranks
Prank the kids, the in-laws, best friends, or parents.
18. Celebrate Earth Day
Earth Day is April 22. Use it as an excuse to turn the lights, TV, and smartphone off and snuggle on the couch together.
19. Celebrate Pi Day
March 14 is Pi Day. Bake a pie together and share it with a few couples. Have them bring the ice cream or whipped cream to top the pie. Play a math-based game together (like this classic dice game) to celebrate Pi.
20. Have A Movie Night In Your Backyard
You don’t need a fancy projector and screen to do this. Bring your laptop outside and set it on your laps as you cozy up together on a blanket.
21. Have A Candlelight Dinner At Home
Bonus points if the weather is nice enough for the two of you to enjoy your homemade meal outside.
22. Go Bird Watching
Download a free bird identification app. Pick a trail in your area that is known by bird watchers (read Alltrail comments). Bring along binoculars if you have some. Although not as good, if you don’t have binoculars, you can use the magnification mode found in your smartphone camera.
23. Have a Backyard Campfire
If local regulations allow you to have a backyard fire, spring is a great time to cozy up around one and enjoy conversation and s’mores.
24. Take A Free Audio Walking Tour
Historic towns and cities often offer free audio walking tours. Information about these can often be found on visitor websites.
25. Do Couples Yoga On The Lawn
Find a couples yoga video on YouTube and bring your yoga mats outside; if you don’t have any, a towel or blanket is fine.
Free Rainy Day Activities
26. Take A Walk In An April Rain Shower
I am not talking about going out for a walk in a heavy downpour–just a gentle spring rain. There is something about taking a walk in a spring rain shower while huddled under one umbrella (this golf umbrella comes in sizes plenty big enough for cuddling couples).
Go ahead and act like kids and splash in the puddles as you walk (well, that is if you both own rain boots or don’t mind wet feet). When you are done, head inside and warm up with cups of hot chocolate for both of you and a blanket to share.
27. Play Your Kids’ Video Games
This can be a fun way to enjoy a rainy day at home as well as a way to get an inside look at what your teen is playing.
28. Make Use Of Your Local Library
If you haven’t visited your local library in a while, it might be time to visit it and see what they are offering to their patrons besides books. Some offer state park passes you can sign out and use. Others have virtual reality headsets. Those are just two of many unique items that I found when I researched the topic.
29. Search For Free Museums And Art Galleries
Most free museums and art galleries do accept donations and I encourage you to donate if you can, but it isn’t required.
My husband and I have explored many AWESOME free museums that we have found better than those charging hefty admission prices.
30. Visit Your Local Farm Store To See The Baby Chicks
To make this idea free, you have to avoid bringing the cute spring animals home.
31. Have A Game Night
Use the games collecting dust in your home, or reach out to friends to do a game swap.
32. Cuddle Up And Read
Snuggling up in bed and reading side by side is one of our favorite ways to spend a rainy spring afternoon. Of course, we are empty nesters. This idea probably isn’t going to work for those of you with little ones.
33. Prepare And Hold A Yard Sale
Spring garage sales tend to do well because thrifty buyers are itching to get out there and start bargain hunting again.
Here are my best ideas for gathering as many items as you can for your yard sale.
Here are my best ideas for making that yard sale your most successful one yet.
Use the money you earn to fund the low-cost dates on this list. Or buy equipment that you will use together, like discs for frisbee golf, an inflatable kayak for two, or good hiking shoes for both of you.
34. Write Each Other A Love Letter
When was the last time you wrote each other a love letter? One that was handwritten? These are rare these days and are treasures to cherish.
35. Attend An Open House Or Several
Even if you own your forever home, checking out real estate open houses is an excellent date for a couple who loves architecture, remodeling, or home decor.
36. Print Out A Free Spring Themed Coloring Page And Compete
Coloring isn’t just for kids! When you are done, snap a picture and ask your friends and family to vote for the winner. The loser owes the winner a back or foot rub.
Low-Cost Sunny Spring Day Ideas
37. Go For A Scenic Drive
Chase after fields of spring blooms or hills full of green trees. All this will cost you is a bit of gas money.
38. Enjoy Ice Cream At An Ice Cream Parlor
Around the midwest, many ice cream places close late in the fall and do not reopen until early spring, making them a great way to celebrate the end of winter.
39. Tour A Town Near You That You Haven’t Been To Before
Springtime is a great time to tour small towns before the crowds of summer begin.
40. Watch A High School Baseball Game
There usually is a fee to attend high school games, but it generally isn’t much.
41. Rent A Pedal Boat
Pedal boats tend to be inexpensive to rent and you have little chance of getting the cold spring water on you like you might kayaking or paddle boarding.
42. Enjoy Appetizers Al Fresco Or Dessert
Dining outside at a restaurant after being stuck indoors all winter is a welcome event. Keep it budget-friendly by ordering appetizers or desserts instead of a full meal.
43. Go To The Farmer’s Market
Seasonal farmer’s markets begin again in spring. Make sure to check out the one in your community.
44. Check Out A Few Yard Sales
Not only is yard sale shopping together a great date, but the sales are great places to find date equipment like rollerblades, board games, and other hobby equipment that you can use together.
45. Fly A Kite
Try making one or go to Dollar Tree and pick up a kid’s one.
46. Attend A High School Track Meet
It will probably cost only a few dollars each to get in and watch.
47. Go To A Spring Play Or Concert
It is very popular for high schools to hold plays and band concerts in the springtime that are open to the community for a very low ticket price.
48. Go Camping For The Weekend
In the states, you can do this for free in BLM land and most national forests. However, state park campsites are usually not that expensive. If this is your first time camping, create a campsite in your backyard.
49. Paint The Scenery
Dollar stores carry small canvases and kids’ paint, which is all you need to get outside and paint spring flowers, waterfalls, or rolling green hills. No skill is required; no one but you and your spouse has to see it. Relax and enjoy the process.
50. Tourist In Your Own Town Day
My husband and I take a lot of road trips and one thing that we hear over and over from locals whom we meet is, “Oh, you visited…? I have lived here for over…years and never gotten around to seeing that!” Don’t be those people. See all your town has to offer.
51. Go Strawberry Picking
Strawberries, where I live, ripen in late spring. Picking your own is an experience everyone should try at least once. Make the fruits (berries) into a special dessert together to lengthen the date from a few hours to a day.
52. Decorate Easter Eggs Together
You can decorate hard-boiled eggs with dye. Or paint wooden ones from the craft store. You could even decorate plastic ones with stickers and hang them on a wooden branch placed in a vase.
53. Pizza Date At The…
Grab a pizza, head to the closest body of water, and enjoy its views and sounds while you talk and munch on your pizza.
54. Coordinate A Potluck
Get all your friends together for a spring-themed potluck. Have everyone bring a pie to celebrate Pi Day or do a potluck easter dinner.
Hacks For Lowering The Costs Of Adventures
55. Keep Your Eye Out For Free Or Reduced Admission Days
Many larger museums and attractions have free or reduced admission days. They usually can be found under the “events” tab or sometimes at the bottom of the “ticket prices” or “plan your trip” tab.
56. Check Out Groupon And Living Social
Although these two sites seem to be filled with junky offers more and more, there still are some gems to be found in the form of lower prices on admission to popular activities like axe throwing, bowling, escape rooms, etc.
57. Reduce Costs By Earning Gift Cards From Your Receipts
Here is a list of ways to earn gift cards from your receipts.
Low-Cost Rainy Day Ideas
58. Put Together A Spring Themed Puzzle
Dollar Tree has excellent puzzles for just $1.25. They are by Puzzlebug and are the deluxe, with thicker pieces. My husband and I make these together all the time, and they come in all sorts of different prints, and frequently there are new ones.
59. Complete Paint By Number Canvases
Word of caution from someone who learned from her mistake: do not buy the giant ones unless you want to devote many dates towards finishing it. Pick instead one small enough to complete in one or two dates.
60. Make A Bird Feeder Together
You can make your own using what you have or make one from a kit like this one.
61. Do Face Masks
Trust me, this will be both a comical and relaxing rainy day date. Once again I am going to send you to the Dollar Tree for two masks. If you prefer you could also DIY your masks from items in your cupboard and help from Pinterest.
I hope this list has given you several ideas to get out there and enjoy dozens of spring dates this year–without breaking the bank.