We have at least one date night a month. But I’m pretty sure we have just about talked our dear friends into a second dating co-op, so two date nights a month (without paying a babysitter) is looking good.
What is a date night co-op you ask jealously? It’s just babysitting swapping with friends. You take a turn. They take a turn. It cuts down on costs and my big kids who don’t feel like they need a babysitter, but don’t really stay by themselves yet, can play or help our friends with younger kids.
There’s really no excuse not to have a regular date night with your spouse! No money? Can’t find a babysitter? Get creative with the following ideas:
- 50 Fun and Cheap Date Night Ideas
- 20 Pocket Change Date Night Ideas
- 33 {At Home} Date Night Ideas
- 101 Fun Date Day or Night Ideas
- 24 Frugal Date Night Ideas
What date night ideas work for you? (p.s. alternating picture linky with text each week)
Thanks for hosting Kristen! Happy Valentine’s Day!
~Liz
Thank you for the date-night-ideas!!!
We just recently started *dating* again
We belong to the YMCA, and they have several date nights a month. The kids love it – they get to go play and be entertained (and thoroughly worn out!!) while we go out. It’s nice knowing our kids aren’t just sitting at home with a babysitter who is texting and although we have to follow the hours that the date night is (usually 5-10) we almost always are able to use this whenever we need a sitter.
Thanks for the great date night ideas! Happy Valentine’s Day
We REALLY have no excuse not to do date night. Our kids are finally old enough that we don’t need a sitter. Thanks for the inspiration & Happy Valentine’s Day!
I am desperate for a date night. Please tell me how a babysitting/dating co-op works!
Sandy,
(Also, someone you feel you can trust with your kids.) Then you get to alternate babysitting with that couple. We just started (it has taken us forever to find friends who are willing and able to do this!) this month. Ours works this way: the beginning of this month we got together with our friends and mapped out the date nights. That way there were no surprises. It works out that we get two date nights a month. Which I think is perfect. Not too much, not too little. On our date nights we take the kids over to their place and on theirs they bring their kiddos to us. No money is exchanged at all. We all agreed that the kids would eat dinner at each other’s house on date night. The kids have a blast playing together (it helps if your friends have kiddos your kiddos’ ages) and look forward to date night as much as we do. 
And we all agreed that the date night would be 2-3 hours long…what will we do with ourselves? 
Hope that helps you some!
The concept is pretty simple…just find a couple with kids that is as desperate as you are for a date night!
We have a date night planned for this weekend. Yeah!
Thanks for the linkup!
Thanks for hosting!
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Have a blessed day!
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This is my first time seeing WFMW. Thanks for hosting! We aren’t quite ready for a date co-op because our little one goes to be so early, but I am looking forward to getting one going in the future. Right now our “dates” usually consist of a good meal in front of the fire, nice music, and conversation instead of TV. It’s so important to take time to nurture our relationship, but it can be easy to forget. Thanks for the great ideas!
Thanks for hosting!
I can always use great date night ideas!
Thank you for hosting!
How do we keep date night costs down? We got an exchange student.
Haha, that’s not why we got her, but it’s turned out to be an unexpected benefit! Celia is wonderful with our boys, and gladly babysits for us. We don’t want her to go home!
I like the new picture linkies!
When I was a child, my parents belonged to a babysiting coop, and they got to go out 3 times a month, and babysit once a month. They had a points system that they used.
I have tried several times to swap with other parents, but because we have 6 children, and they all have less, they felt it was too hard to swap with us. Also, we often have a nursing baby, who doesn’t usually take a bottle of expressed milk. That makes it really hard to leave a baby with someone else.
Instead, we do date nights at home. Last night we had a late dinner (after the children were in bed) for our Valentine’s date.
Here’s what we do for dates at home:
http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/frugal-living/date-nights-at-home
I can usually get free tickets to basketball games at our alma mater (we still live in the same town). So sometimes we go w/o the kids. We still need a sitter though. We score free babysitting about once a month so I shouldn’t complain. During baseball season we like to go a sports bar and watch the game and play trivia.
We’ve been part of a babysitting coop for years. It works great for everyone!