Found this on Pinterest- so I cannot take all the credit..
This means in total we will go on 24 dates- 2 per month- trying something new, continuing a tradition, etc.
This can get expensive, so instead of paying for all of the date upfront, we just do a $5 gift card to the place, or just write it out on an index card.. (I budgeted $200 total from our Christmas fund- each $100 to purchase stuff). You will see we also do FREE stuff- to offset budget.
Here are some of our DATES from the passed 2 years- so you get the full idea:
January:
Me: Paint Night at the local Pinot's and Palette. I just wrote it out on a card & bought the tickets later.
Him: Dinner and a movie. He just bought a $5 gift card to the dinner place.
Feb:
Me: His birthday night- dinner at our favorite (expensive) restaurant. I just wrote it out.
Him: Local 5K on a Saturday. He got the entrance tickets.
March:
Me: Beer Crawl in Clovis. I bought him an etched Superman BEER glass off the internet. So he got a gift w/that date!
Him: 5k Fun run for St Pattys day!
April:
Me: Color me Mine- paint store/fun. I got a $20 gift card.
Him: Dinner in our local town- and Starbucks.
May:
BUSIEST MONTH, AND TAKING A DISNEY CRUISE- WE AGREED NO DATE NIGHT.
June:
Me: Wild Water Adventures- all day fun. No kids! We have season tickets! So kids go to school/kids club and we go PLAY all day. Drink beer and lounge next to the wave pool!
Him: Salsa Dance lessons- He bought the package on Groupon.
July:
Both agreed: Universal Studios- we have season tickets. No Kids. Overnight trip!
August:
Me: Wine Trip to Paso Robles. Overnight trip.
Him: it was lowkey- because August is CRAZY for us.
September:
Me: Dinner/Starbucks- cheaper date.
Him: Wine Walk at local town.
October:
Me: Phantom of the Opera Tickets- Fresno (tickets didn't open until April)
Him: Wine date at our local winery- tasting room is open.
November:
Me: Spartan RACE! I got him the waist waterproof pack he wanted. (You see how you easily can incorporate gifts into this)!
Him: Turkey Trot
December:
Me: dinner at Deli Delicious in Tulare- where we shop for Needy Kids at the outlets for Christmas. WE shop and have dinner. This is prob my favorite DATE! Shopping for needy kids who have a very SAD story in our school district.
Him: Driving around with Starbucks and looking at Christmas lights
We sometimes agree to not swap gifts until New Years Eve- sometimes December is CRAZY and we don't have time to shop/plan. You can tell we are super flexible in our dates- we stick to a budget, look at calendar to see what is feasible that month- and go from there. Most months we don't even set the actual date night - we decide at the beginning of the month which weekend is best.
Things to consider:
-We live 45 minutes from Fresno where all the "better" restaurants are and movie theaters. The first year we did this we both got gift cards to a bunch of Fresno places- but we found that getting babysitters and driving to Fresno that often was not in the budget... so those gift cards went unused. I had 5+ gift cards left for dates we just didn't get to. (We ended up using them over holiday break to offset Christmas budget). So--- this year we both kept to more local places.
-We both had same ideas on things- so by year 2 we said to NOT buy entrance tickets to things. Example: we both wanted to gift the 5k St Pattys run-- BUT what if we both bought the tickets??!!- no refunds! We agreed just to write those out on index cards.
- Gifts- my husband really wanted a MTaylor gift card for a new white shirt. So my idea was get him the gift card and plan for him to wear that shirt to dinner. My husband bought me some awesome jewelry in Cancun- so he "regifted" those to say "Wear your new earrings to _____ (place) for our date night". We are always thinking about the budget.
--Try new things- get creative!
Here is where I got the idea: http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2011/01/lets-go-on-a-date-january.html
We LOVE our tradition that lasts all year long!
-Auggie
My husband and I do not do regular gifts..
instead we gift-swap 12 dates for the next year.
This means in total we will go on 24 dates- 2 per month- trying something new, continuing a tradition, etc.
This can get expensive, so instead of paying for all of the date upfront, we just do a $5 gift card to the place, or just write it out on an index card.. (I budgeted $200 total from our Christmas fund- each $100 to purchase stuff). You will see we also do FREE stuff- to offset budget.
Here are some of our DATES from the passed 2 years- so you get the full idea:
January:
Me: Paint Night at the local Pinot's and Palette. I just wrote it out on a card & bought the tickets later.
Him: Dinner and a movie. He just bought a $5 gift card to the dinner place.
Feb:
Me: His birthday night- dinner at our favorite (expensive) restaurant. I just wrote it out.
Him: Local 5K on a Saturday. He got the entrance tickets.
March:
Me: Beer Crawl in Clovis. I bought him an etched Superman BEER glass off the internet. So he got a gift w/that date!
Him: 5k Fun run for St Pattys day!
April:
Me: Color me Mine- paint store/fun. I got a $20 gift card.
Him: Dinner in our local town- and Starbucks.
May:
BUSIEST MONTH, AND TAKING A DISNEY CRUISE- WE AGREED NO DATE NIGHT.
June:
Me: Wild Water Adventures- all day fun. No kids! We have season tickets! So kids go to school/kids club and we go PLAY all day. Drink beer and lounge next to the wave pool!
Him: Salsa Dance lessons- He bought the package on Groupon.
July:
Both agreed: Universal Studios- we have season tickets. No Kids. Overnight trip!
August:
Me: Wine Trip to Paso Robles. Overnight trip.
Him: it was lowkey- because August is CRAZY for us.
September:
Me: Dinner/Starbucks- cheaper date.
Him: Wine Walk at local town.
October:
Me: Phantom of the Opera Tickets- Fresno (tickets didn't open until April)
Him: Wine date at our local winery- tasting room is open.
November:
Me: Spartan RACE! I got him the waist waterproof pack he wanted. (You see how you easily can incorporate gifts into this)!
Him: Turkey Trot
December:
Me: dinner at Deli Delicious in Tulare- where we shop for Needy Kids at the outlets for Christmas. WE shop and have dinner. This is prob my favorite DATE! Shopping for needy kids who have a very SAD story in our school district.
Him: Driving around with Starbucks and looking at Christmas lights
We sometimes agree to not swap gifts until New Years Eve- sometimes December is CRAZY and we don't have time to shop/plan. You can tell we are super flexible in our dates- we stick to a budget, look at calendar to see what is feasible that month- and go from there. Most months we don't even set the actual date night - we decide at the beginning of the month which weekend is best.
Things to consider:
-We live 45 minutes from Fresno where all the "better" restaurants are and movie theaters. The first year we did this we both got gift cards to a bunch of Fresno places- but we found that getting babysitters and driving to Fresno that often was not in the budget... so those gift cards went unused. I had 5+ gift cards left for dates we just didn't get to. (We ended up using them over holiday break to offset Christmas budget). So--- this year we both kept to more local places.
-We both had same ideas on things- so by year 2 we said to NOT buy entrance tickets to things. Example: we both wanted to gift the 5k St Pattys run-- BUT what if we both bought the tickets??!!- no refunds! We agreed just to write those out on index cards.
- Gifts- my husband really wanted a MTaylor gift card for a new white shirt. So my idea was get him the gift card and plan for him to wear that shirt to dinner. My husband bought me some awesome jewelry in Cancun- so he "regifted" those to say "Wear your new earrings to _____ (place) for our date night". We are always thinking about the budget.
--Try new things- get creative!
Here is where I got the idea: http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2011/01/lets-go-on-a-date-january.html
We LOVE our tradition that lasts all year long!
-Auggie
Comments
Post a Comment