37 Date Ideas That Are Free

If you live in or near a city, odds are that local artists will be holding art shows in galleries, coffee shops, or other similar spaces. Expand both of your horizons by discovering a new artist. And hey, sometimes there are free snacks! Always a plus.

This is a tried-and-true pastime that can never let you down. To up the stakes, each of you can come prepared with your top three picks and draw them at random to see what the Netflix Queue Gods truly have in store.

Test each other's creative chops by stealing an exercise from undergrad creative writing classes. One of you starts a few lines of the story, then passes the laptop over to the other, and so on and so forth until you have one ridiculous tale you can save on a Google doc and cringe at together for years to come.

If the weather permits it, head outside to your local park with whatever you've got hiding out in your fridge and some water bottles. If it's a little chilly but still feasible, heat up one of those canned soups you've had saved for a rainy day and stick it in a thermos to share later.

Yes, this is what modern dating looks like now, y'all. Charge back up that "Pokemon Go" app and the bajillion updates you haven't downloaded yet, then reminisce in some good old '90s nostalgia together — odds are you both have plenty of Pokemon-related memories to share.

You've tried your own recipes a thousand times, so put each other to the test by swapping family recipes and seeing how well you can replicate each other's favorite dishes. Could this result in a cooking disaster? Absolutely. But at least it'll be a fun Pinterest-fail to post on your Instagram Story.

Even if you don't live very close to a traditional hiking trail, there are plenty of scenic walks within driving distance you can have a quick getaway on. Just be sure to pack some snacks to share and have fully-charged cell phones in case you get lost (and, of course, for emergency 'gramming needs).

Find an organization in your local community looking for volunteers, whether it's helping organize donated goods, driving senior citizens who need help with errands, or helping fight for a cause that matters to you both.

There are a lot of things we will outgrow in this life, but making giant blanket forts and camping inside them for infinity hours to avoid all of our earthly responsibilities will never be one of them.

Time to whip out Mario Kart and Animal Crossing and school each other on the best tips and tricks for catching the elusive ~Red Snapper~. Ah, the good old days when you could yank out the cartridge before anything saved!

If you haven't heard of geocaching, it's essentially treasure-hunting in the modern age. People hide little treasures around with a GPS marker for other people to find. Together you can start a log of all the secret treasures you unearth, and leave some for other people to find while you're at it.

Try playing tourist for a day in that one town you've been in a few times for errand-running, but never got a chance to actually know. Maybe you'll find new biking trails or fun storefronts or even a fun date idea for your next outing while you're there.

Check out which museums in your area offer free entry, or have free entry on specific days or exhibits. Local museums offer all kinds of wacky fun facts you might not know about your hometowns, and will give you a ton of perspective on the rest of the places you usually roam.

Head out into the city or stay at home with a good old-fashioned game of Truth or Dare. Whether you're spilling secrets or making each other casually walk backwards six blocks like it's NBD, you're sure to have a laugh.

Nothing bonds two people together quite like scrambling for the Dictionary during a game of Scrabble or owning each other at Chutes and Ladders. If you really want to bring out each other's dark sides, whip out the old Monopoly board and see how fast it takes for the game to descend into sheer anarchy.

You can go on a romantic stroll and make the world a happier place by handwriting encouraging notes and taping them places for people to find. Try park benches, the flags of mailboxes, and empty grocery carts for a start!

Find a biking trail near your neighborhood and take a long ride to the next town over, or try your hand at popping wheelies at a local skate park. Just remember that there's nothing sexier than wearing a helmet, y'all.

Everybody has a good ghost story — if not their own, then somebody else's. Spend the evening trying to out-spook each other, and then cuddle up to protect each other from all the malevolent spirits you may have angered with all your gossip.

Fun fact: planning a vacation boosts happiness. Actually, the anticipation of a trip brings more happiness than the trip itself. So even though you may not be able to afford to book something now, you will be able to someday — and until then you can share the joy of planning it together.

Drive out of your town or city just far enough that you can find a spot to park the car and stare up at the sky without any of the lights in your neighborhood polluting the sky. It's amazing what you'll be able to see on a clear night!

Maybe there's a topic you are both super passionate about, and that's how you met. Or maybe there's something you disagree on entirely! Either way, if you can find a niche topic that people are interested in, you may be able to make some major podcast chemistry, even if it's just for kicks.

Honestly, the worse you are at drawing, the more fun this is going to be. Try your hand at drawing each other's portraits, and if your relationship is on that level, maybe draw each other like ~one of your French girls~.

Maybe you're baller at guitar, and they make a stellar creme brulee. Or you are ace at table tennis, and they are kicking butt in a virtual reality game. Take the time to let each other into your respective worlds by teaching the things you already know best.

You might not be able to score tickets to a professional game, but who wants to deal with the insane parking and ten dollar hot dogs, anyway? Go support a mutual friend in a soccer league or hit up your niece or nephew's little league game to enjoy a little competition.

If you don't already have the equipment, ask around if you can borrow some from a friend. Head to a camping site close to where you live and spend the night bonding over trail mix, thermos soup, and being able to vaguely point out constellations in the sky.

If you live near a big city, odds are there are free walking tours available in them. Learn more about the area you live in and maybe strike off from your familiar paths by following someone else's for a change.

Odds are the libraries and bookstores in your area have calendars available online for when authors are visiting. Spend the night meeting a favorite author, or discover a new one altogether.

Go somewhere out in the majesty of nature, take a bunch of pictures on your phones (bonus points for cute selfies), and at the end of the day, pare them down to your favorite. Post them on your feeds at the same time — whoever gets the most likes by the time you get home gets to pick what movie you watch that night!

Between the two of you, you probably don't have enough food in the pantry to make a genuine potluck. Invite another couple over to bring a dish of their own — Friendsgivings can happen any time of the year!

Gather up all the mementos you've saved from past dates — ticket stubs, receipts, little notes, or trinkets you've gotten for free at events — and stick them in a time capsule to either bury in someone's backyard, or agree to lock up until a specific day.

Nap at their place. Nap at yours. Nap on the couch. Nap in the park on a sunny day. Nap on the porch. You thought it sounded like a ridiculous idea at first, but now it's sounding pretty good, huh? Psst: couples get better health benefits from sleeping in the same bed.

Go cuddle with some puppies, gawk at some fish, make kind-of-sort-of friends/acquaintances with some cats, and try your hardest not to leave the store with your own circus of pets in tow.

Head to the library or to your local community center's website for a posting of all the free workshops and classes available in your area. Often the activities are quirky, or maybe a skill you wouldn't think would interest either of you, but at least you'll be in it together.

Before you meet up, decide where you want to have a scavenger hunt, and take the time to plot out all the clues. Set it up in the space before you both meet at the decided time, and then see whose scavenger hunt stumps the other most!

Check the local community calendars to see if there are any performers in the park or the community center, or go support a friend who is playing out at a local venue.

Still can't decide on what you want to do for your free date? Put yourself at the mercy of your friends, and let them decide what you're doing. Don't knock anything until try it!