Cheap date ideas for parents

When you become parents, dates suddenly get more expensive, or seemingly impossible.

Before we had kids, me and Matt would go out for dinner, down the pub, into town for lunch. We lived a life of little dates. Now it’s rare that we get to finish a conversation.

Dates are important though. It’s so easy to lose each other in parenthood. To get stuck in the routines and the everyday. I noticed that some days we don’t even say morning! Mornings are so functional. Get kids sorted, get coffee, demands thrown at you, start work etc.

One thing that is a barrier to spending time together without kids is cost.

For some, family is an option for childcare, but if your family don’t live locally, or they’re unable to have your kid/s, then you’ll need a babysitter. Babysitters are around £8-15 an hour, depending on where you live.

This can have a meal out looking like this:

• Baby sitter for 5 hours @ £10 ph
• Meal for two £70
• Drinks after the meal £20
• Taxi £20

That’s £160 to go out for dinner!

I’ve put together a few ideas of cheap date nights for parents. These are dates me and Matt enjoy, and hopefully you will too!

Cheap date night ideas when you have a babysitter

Walk

Who says dates need to be in the evening? If, like me, you value an early bedtime and no hangover, you might enjoy this one. Book a babysitter for a few hours on a weekend in the daytime and enjoy a long walk together.

Walking is a great way to connect, have a full conversation, and get some fresh air.

This always puts me and Matt in a good mood. We’ve spent some time together, done some exercise and finished a conversation. In the summer we’ve packed a few beers and a little picnic, too.

This just cost us 4 hours of babysitting, so it’s still £40 and not free, but it’s cheaper than going out for a meal or drinks. And no hangover! If you live in Oxfordshire and need some inspo for walks, check out the off road walks in Oxfordshire blog.

Be active

Go swimming. Play badminton. Go to the gym together. Being active and playing a sport you enjoy together is a great way to reconnect and have fun!

We love playing badminton at TLC. Or a workout at The Studio By MBH or another local gym. When the girls are at nursery, we always try and spend at least one lunch break a week together. That might be a walk, the gym, or a run. We both work from home, so this works very nicely.

Watch the sunset / sunrise

I love this one. Book a babysitter for a few hours one evening in the summer and watch the sunset. Take a flask of tea and a picnic, or even a few cans of something and set up on top of a hill to watch the sunset.

The beach is a great spot too. If you live in Oxfordshire, try White Leaf Hill. There’s a lovely little pub at the bottom if you have time afterwards – and they do teas!

You could also do the sunrise if your baby sitter is happy to get up really early!

Go for breakfast

Breakfast is quite likely cheaper than going out for dinner. Get a babysitter or a family member to have the children and book.

We live in Oxfordshire and love The Grange, Black Goo, and Haddenham Garden Centre.

Go out for coffee

Coffee isn’t going to set you back too much. Tie a coffee date in with doing errands, or just popping in shops and looking rather than chasing a small person around “COME AWAY FROM THE FRAGILE STUFF.” “DON’T EAT THOSE”. We love Monkey Puzzle, Rumseys, and Norsk.

Cheap date night ideas when you don’t have a babysitter

Cocktail night

Get a few ingredients to make cocktails. Mix them up and enjoy out in the garden when the kids are in bed.

Games night

Who says the kids need to be out? Put the kids to bed and set up a games night. It could be cards, or board games. Me and Matt love to play XBOX and Mario on the Wii. We usually get some chocolate or nice treats and settle in for a couple of hours gaming.

Paper games night!

Me and my sister have always been into paper games. And I was glad to introduce them to Matt in the early days of our relationship. We always used to take a notepad and two pens to the pub, on the train, even on our honeymoon.

Here are my two favourite paper games.

• Consequences. You need two pieces of paper and two pens. The idea is to create a story based on some prompts.
• Each time you’ve filled in your prompt, you pass it over to the next person.
• Works really well in a group, or add extra pieces of paper if there’s just two of you. Chaotic stories are always funnier.
• Here are the prompts:
• 1. Her name
• 2. His name
• 3. Where they met
• 4. What the did
• 5. She said
• 6. He said
• 7. What they did
• 8. What happened in the end

A classic game.

The other one is categories.

• Categories. Each take a piece of paper.
• Write the alphabet along the side, and choose 4 or 5 categories to go along the top.
• They can be sensible, like “Things you can eat” or “Films” Or they can be funny and personal to you two, like “Reasons Matt’s late” “Things to do in prison.”
• You then take it in turns to choose a letter of the alphabet and you have one minute to fill in as much as you can, or until someone has finished.
• You read them to each other, if you get the same you get 0 points for that column. If it’s unique, you get one point.
• Add them all up at the end column and tally up for the final score at the end of the game. A classic that always has us laughing.

Film night

If you’re not too tired to make it through a film night, see what’s on. You could even splash out and buy one that’s only just come from the cinema.

Cook together

Find a recipe to try, or get one of the meal delivery services. We use Dishpatch now and then. The company uses really nice restaurants to deliver food you just need to put together at home.

How do you spend time with your partner with a little or no money? I’d love to add some more ideas to my list!

Thoughts on cheap date nights when you have kids…

Me and Matt always reminisce over things we used to do. Things we’d do before it would cost us a babysitter and a day with a hangover and two young kids.

That season is over, but it doesn’t mean you won’t have it again. In not too many years your kids will be able to stay home without a sitter, or they’ll be off on their own in the world — Then we’ll probably have to stay home to be taxi! Those days will come again. So for now, enjoy frugal dates and early nights. City breaks and days out will come again.