you’re free to have a great, romantic time with your significant other without spending a fortune.
Take a Hike
If the weathers nice, head to the great outdoors.
Price of admission: $0.
If youre near a national park, even better.
Ive been on a few ranging from $45 to $75 per person and always had a blast.
Cheaper options are available if no food or drinks are involved.
Go cheer them on and enjoy live entertainment.
Wikipedia hasa list of professional sports teams, which includes semi-pro teams.
Colleges and community collegesoften hold open-to-the-public events and classes.
Check the special events pages for college websites near you.
Go on a Guided Tour
Go stargazing at night with your partner.
Some observatories, parks, and colleges offer these tours for free.
If you have a nearby nature center, check to see if they birdwatching or other edifying tours.
Youll likely find a free historical tour in just about every major city.
Visit a Weird Museum
Many museums have free museum days or pay-what-you-wish options.
My town has a guitar history museum, for example, in a three-story Colonial house.
Theresat least one weird museum in every state(and DC), but likely many more.
Thatsthe International Banana Museumin Mecca, California in the photo above.
Learn as much as you might ever want to know about bananas for the $1 entrance fee.
Go to a Free Movie Screening
Free advanced movie screenings > paying to see a movie in the theater.
Plus, you get to choose between breakfast and lunch options.
Brunch is the best meal of the day.
(Also, check outmore ways to save money when you dine out.)
Those dontalltend to be cheap, but perhaps worth the experience and excuse to go out and eat.
Again, it’s possible for you to find some of these events discounted on daily deals sites.
Cook a New Dinner Together
As an alternative to dining out: Cook something together.
Were fans of making homemade pizzas together, but any kind of meal would suffice (sushi?).
Apparently, itsthe second favorite activity for Valentines Day, after having a fancy dinner at a restaurant.
In that case, consultDate Night Movies, whichhelps find a movie youll both like.
Thats alsonot a huge problem.
Now if we could onlyfigure out what to order in.
Illustration bySteven Frame(Shutterstock).
Photos byMartin Cathrae,Rdikeman,Quinn Dombrowski,International Banana Museum,Lars Plougmann.
