Guest Post: How to have a frugal date

( Ed note: This is a guest post from Heidi Ramsey of Little People Wealth)

There are plenty of ways to have a frugal date.  You can watch movies at home, play board games, go to a park, have a picnic, make dinner for each other, etc.  Those are all wonderful, but I am one of those people that eventually gets tired of being overly frugal.  Being frugal is about getting the things that you want for less so that you can have even more, not cutting things out.

For that reason, I like to find dates at nice locations for a great price.  One of my resources to find great deals is an Entertainment Book.  The Entertainment Book offers many 2 for 1 deals at nice restaurants.  So, a bill that would be around $100 will only be $50.  There are menus included in the book so you know what they serve before you go.

Another resource is restaurants.com.  This site sells gift certificates for less than the printed value.  The most common is a $25 certificate that is $10.  Generally you will have to spend $35 in order to use the certificate.  Restaurant.com will often issue coupon codes so you can get the certificates for even less.  The last certificate I bought was $25 and I paid $2 for it (I used an 80% off code).  We spent $26 (including the cost of a tip and certificate) instead of the $49 pre coupon price!

The final thing that I like to do is find a theater that plays movies that have been out for a while.  There is one that is close to me that sells the tickets for $2.  Since I generally am unable to go to the movies, there are plenty of new movies for me to watch at this theater.  I always splurge on popcorn and a soda when I do this since I am saving money on the tickets.  Remember, being frugal isn’t about being cheap.  It is about saving money on the things you can so you have more money for the things you really want.

Heidi writes for Little People Wealth, a frugal living blog that teaches you to spend small in order to live large.