4 Kooky Date Ideas Beginning with K

Our K-date was kind of dismal this week… but more about that later. In the meantime, here are four K date ideas for those playing along at home!
Fly a Kite
Let’s go fly a kite… up to the highest heights! I’ve had that song stuck in my head all week. Pick a clear, sunny [...]

5 Great Date Ideas Beginning with J

Jigsaw Puzzle
On a rainy afternoon, settle in with one of those huge 500-piece jigsaw puzzles and some hot chocolate and yummy snacks. It’s a great way to spend a miserable day together.
Jump Yourself Silly
Ever seen one of those trampoline parks? They have indoor and outdoor ones, it’s basically Olympic-sized trampolines all set next [...]

The 5 Best Date Ideas Beginning with I

Welcome to I week of ABC Dating. Here is the compiled list of I date ideas, for those of you who are playing along with our alphabet dating game at home.
Ice Hockey
Go see an ice hockey match! The sport has become more popular in recent years. Even our hometown of Melbourne has a [...]

5 Hot Date Ideas Beginning with H

Oooh… H is one of those tricky ones we keep coming across! These five Happy Date Ideas were the only ones I could come up with, but I know you clever little things will be able to offer some more great ideas to me as well.
Hedge Maze
Get lost in a hedge maze together. This is [...]

5 Gorgeously Green Date Ideas

We’re up to week ‘G’ and in addition to the list of date ideas beginning with ‘G’ I’ll be posting later (when I’ve written it!), the wonderful Cate and Chris from Green Renters have guested today’s post, giving us five great, green, sustainable date ideas for you to try! Challenge yourself to a month’s worth [...]

9 Fabulous Date Ideas Beginning with F

F is for Ferris Wheel
Ah, the romance of being trapped in a small, swinging compartment with the love of your life, your lips all sticky from fairy floss as you gaze out at the view. This could either be very romantic, or in the case of people like Den – absolutely terrifying. Try and [...]

6 Exciting Date Ideas Beginning with E

Ooh – we knew there’d be some sticky letters on this Alphabet Dating business of ours… but I didn’t expect one so soon! And to be honest, I was hoping Den would get stuck with them. X, for example, will be a killer. O might be a bit difficult.
But they’re weeks away yet. Let’s [...]

5 Date Ideas Beginning with D

Well we’re up to week D and Den seems to be stuck on what to do. So I’m posting this not least to give him some ideas of where to take me for date night this week! Stay tuned for our date review of whatever this particular alphabet date will end up being.
D is [...]

C is for Comedy Festival

And so our alphabet dating streak continues. C, for us, is for Comedy Festival which was a wonderfully spontaneous date we decided to go on last night.
What I love about the Melbourne Comedy Festival is that they run a box office from the Town Hall that you can walk into at any point during the [...]

Alphabet Dating: 9 Date Ideas Beginning with C

C is for Casino
Ever played roulette? No? Perfect. Set a budget for your date night (it’s no secret we like ye olde faithful $30 limit) and head to a low-betting table at a casino to learn the ways of roulette and (hopefully!) win some money. If you pick a table where there are no [...]

Unleash Your Inner Bunny!

Happy Easter, Lovers! It’s going to be a fun weekend… if you’re feeling like doing something sweet for your sweetheart then send them on a personalised Easter Egg hunt!
Imagine the look on their face when they wake up in the morning to find the house strewn with chocolate eggs! Or send them into the [...]

Alphabet Dating: 10 Date Ideas Beginning with B

B is for Breakfast (or Brunch)
The perfect date if there’s just not enough time in your week or you suddenly find all your nights booked up. Get up a little early and have breakfast with your sweetheart, whether you take them out or cook for them in bed is up to you!

B is [...]

Alphabet Dating: A is for African Cuisine

You may have caught yesterday’s post on ABC Dating – we’re going to spend the next six months working our way through a dating alphabet. This has a few benefits – we make sure we’re doing something different every time we go on a date and we also introduce a little more structure into the [...]

Alphabet Dating

Well, we felt we needed even more structure than usual this year – and to be honest, a new dating challenge. When we have SO MANY date ideas to choose from on our little date night generator, it can get a bit hard to decide what to do next.
The ABC Dating trend has been [...]

Getting Back on the Date Night Horse

I have to confess, ever since Christmas hit Den and I have been kind of… slack when it comes to date night. It’s been a blur of road trips, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, partying… summer nights at rooftop bars… bad, bad date night couple.
We’ve waned from our usual Wednesday night date night, which means some [...]

Top 5 (Non-Soppy) Valentine’s Day Date Ideas

The commercialism of Valentine’s Day seems to be grating on everyone’s nerves this year. And it’s not just singles that are hating Valentine’s Day. Couples everywhere that I speak to are vehement. “Bloody Hallmark”… “Overpriced Flowers”… “Don’t tell me when to be romantic towards my wife”

You know what everyone? Get over it.
It’s VALENTINE’S DAY! [...]

The ‘Top 10′ Date Lists Collection!

If we had a popularity contest for our blog posts, these would be the winners, so I decided to make especially for you… Our Top 10 Date Lists Collection!
Well… not all of them are Top 10s as such, but you get what I mean. A quick glance at our most looked-at posts from 2009 [...]

The Complete List of $30 Date Night Reviews!

Den and I try and do a date night every week together. The catch is, we try and do something new together every time… keeps us interesting! I’ve rounded up a list of all the date night reviews we’ve done since starting this blog – and had great fun reminiscing back in the process! Click [...]

Worst Date #4: The Nudist Beach

So, we finally stopped procrastinating and we did it!
Worst Date #4…. The Nudist Beach.
This was so-called the “Worst Date” because over on our date ideas website, it has one of the worst ratings in our user voting system. Fair enough too, the thought of it is pretty intimidating! After putting it off for [...]

How Long is a Piece of String?

A thought occurred to me last night – how long do y’all think a date night should go for? Is there a minimum length of time it has to be to be a “proper” date? And are there any “must-have” elements that should be included in a good date night?
I’m still trying to work out [...]

Mystery Date Box Idea!

This great, inspirational dating idea was submitted by Kirsty, one of our users over at $30 Date Night – I thought we should share it with you here!
“Combine all your favourite date ideas and put them in a box! My partner and I have created the ‘Mystery Date Box’ – Each fortnight we pull [...]

20 Festive Christmas Date Ideas

The rush of the festive season can leave you and your sweetie feeling a little short of time… don’t quit on your weekly date nights amidst all the chaos. Here are more than enough Christmas-themed date ideas to keep you going through the festive season!

1. Go get your tree!
2. Make Eggnog
3. Decorate the tree together over Eggnog
4. Bake [...]

Worst Date #2: Swimming at the Local Pool

Well, we did Worst Date #2 yesterday… and I’m very happy to report that it wasn’t so bad at all! Swimming at the Local Y rates badly for some reason, but I don’t know what y’all are complaining about?

We picked a gorgeous sunny day (Hello to summer down here in Australia!) and headed to [...]

Date Night Review: Joint Manicures

So. Worst Date #1 was… well, it was ok.

We started with the most benign of the four worst dates: getting joint manicures. Not a bad one, especially from a female perspective. I don’t mind a good manicure. Feedback from girlfriends was along the same lines: what a great date idea! Which makes me suspect [...]

Worst Date Challenge: Date #1 Coming Tomorrow

So, tomorrow is Date #1 of our Four Week Worst Dates Challenge. We’re starting with the least offensive date – Joint Manicures. And not just any manicures. In the interest of sticking to the rules and keeping it a $30 date, we’ve had to book them at the local beauty training college. Greaaat.
Now, I’m [...]

The Stupidest Idea We’ve Had Yet

Well, this is exciting. Denis and I have been challenging our users to a 4-week Date Night Challenge for awhile now. The idea is that you create an account over on $30 Date Night and save your four favorite date ideas from our list of amazing ideas and print them off. Then you and your [...]

How to Make a Love Map

In our spring clean-up this week (more on that later), I unearthed a file of papers from when Den and I did our pre-marriage education weekend earlier this year. In Australia, these weekends are generally a prerequisite for marrying in any given church – though after being pleasantly surprised by the genuinely great information we [...]

Guest Post: $30 Cake Night

This deliciously decadent guest post comes to you from the divine Jess Pryles of Sugadeaux Cupcakes. You can find her on Twitter @sugadeaux or visit her mouthwatering website here…
While we’re all still shaking off the winter blues, sometimes a great date can be spent as a night in. With chocolate. And cake. How can [...]

Table for One?

With Den away all week, I’ve had plenty of time to be alone, indulge in all that Secret Single behavior without having to lock doors and such… last night, I even took MYSELF on a date night. Alone.
I was watching the lovely Mia Freedman and a panel of mothers on 9am yesterday morning talking about [...]

5 Fresh Date Ideas for the Mornings

Sometimes (like last week!) the only time you can find for a date night with each other during a hectic week is a sliver of time of a morning… whether it’s a few hours on a weekend or stealing time before you go to work, here are a few morning date ideas that may appeal [...]

Pho Fo’ Date Night

One of our anonymous users suggests taking your date to eat Pho – Vietnamese noodles for date night! Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been out for authentic Pho and neither had Den. I Googled around to find some recommended places in Melbourne and was stunned to find one of the best was within a [...]

Video Game Arcade Date Night Review

So. Den is one of those guys that is constantly on his PSP (that’s PlayStation Portable for any non-gamers and non gaming-widows out there). In classic addict style, he is also in denial that he might have a problem. If you ask him, he’ll tell you that he spends maybe, 30 minutes a day on [...]

7 of the Most Romantic Date Ideas Ever

Swoon. Candlelight, soft music, long-stemmed roses and tummy-butterflies… every couple needs romance in their lives at some point. Not all of our date ideas at ThirtyDollarDateNight.com are the most romantic (some are fun, some are silly and some are downright cheesy!) but the ones that ramp up the romance factor ALWAYS seem to be appreciated… [...]

7 Completely Free Date Ideas

We notice that on our $30 Date Night site, our Free Date Ideas page has become rather popular all of a sudden!
Well, what our people want, our people get. Here’s our choice for top ten free date ideas you and your sweetie can do together! Recommended for long-term couples to indulge in when they’d [...]

Death By Cheese, aka Fondue Date Night

Wow. Who knew those Swiss were so hardcore about their cheese? I looked up our local Swiss Club for date night this week, in the hopes of trying some authentic fondue… I’ve never had it before, and neither has Den.
Let me start by getting one thing very clear: I love my cheese. I [...]

5 Worthy Date Ideas That Give Something Back

Here are five date ideas that don’t rate all that well on our $30 Date Night voting system. True, they’re not the most romantic of ideas – and we are certainly not suggesting you necessarily use them in your early courting phase! But if you are one half of a committed couple that knows each [...]

10 Saucy Date Ideas You Can Do Naked!

Our next door neighbor thinks our date ideas are hysterical – and regularly teases that we tend to take boring ideas and add ‘do naked!’ to make them a bit more exciting. It’s true. We do. And so especially for Gath, I bring you ten great date ideas that you can do naked!
Best of [...]

Date Night with Cirque Du Soleil

We had a special date night this week; Den was given tickets to Cirque Du Soleil for his birthday. Some of you might think that a night at the Circus doesn’t really fall into our $30 budget…. But we figure if they were a present, then we still have our budget to spend on popcorn [...]

10 Fun Date Ideas for a Lazy Sunday

We moved date night to Sunday this week, as it was the only spare time we could find to indulge in a few hours quietly together. There’s something lovely about a lazy Sunday date. I’ve compiled a list of a few great lazy Sunday date ideas here for you, after the jump.

The Museum Date – Twice.

The last two dates I’ve been in charge of have ended up at some sort of museum. First, the Melbourne Immigration Museum, full of old customs tools and laws, models of boats that brought early settlers to Australia and great old photos taken by migrants on their journey to this country. Yesterday, we went to [...]

5 Creative Ways to do the Movies – the $30 Date Night way!

So, we know that a lot of you love the movies… and we don’t want to begrudge you one of your favourite pastimes… but if you are going to do it, do it with flare! Remember, it only takes a small injection of novelty to make it a butterfly-inducing date!
Here are five ideas to [...]

Dancing in the Rain… Not So Romantic, Actually.

Melbourne is famous for its ever-changing weather. The saying goes – if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. In a matter of hours this city can go from beautifully sunny to pouring rain, windy and back again.

Last Wednesday, Melbourne had put on a particularly hot, dry summer day. 33 degrees (91.4f) of [...]

10 Great At-Home Date Ideas (for Parents)

I know, I know. There’s toys everywhere… You hum ‘Hot Potato’ by the Wiggles because it’s stuck in your damn head from watching it over and over again… You haven’t had a conversation for months that doesn’t involve the potty, the children, Iggle Piggle… you eat at 5 o’clock when they eat because it’s easier… [...]

The Bookstore Date Idea & 5 Other Conversation Starters

The Bookstore Date Idea is one that was suggested to us awhile ago, and I’ve been curious to try it! I love reading, always have. Den, not so much. But I thought we’d give it a crack anyway. A beautiful, warm Wednesday night so we took a stroll down Lygon Street to Borders and good-naturedly [...]

Recession? What recession?

Just got back in from date night at Maha Bar… great little spot that we have featured on the Melbourne City Guide dates! Now, you can get away with a fantastic bar snack for $30… the lamb, lemon and chilli Turkish pizza comes highly recommended and the chicken and almond bastille is great, tucked into [...]

Cookies are a Sometimes Food

Ugh… I feel like such a piglet. The last few days, Den and I have managed to make our way through an entire batch of delicious, chewy, soft, sugary chocolate chip cookies. And we haven’t even gotten started on the peanut butter batch we also made on date night this week.
 
We don’t bake. In [...]

Dinner and DVD Date Night – With a Twist

Some nights, you just can’t be assed leaving the house for date night. I was exhausted this week after organising an event for fashion week, sleeping badly… you know the drill. I just wanted to snuggle up under a blanket, eat some good food and be with Den. Boring, right?
 
Well, there’s one way to [...]

Casino Date Night

Date Night – inspired by DATE IDEAS generator.
Ummm… Hm. I think I did a really bad thing. I have known for a long time that my beloved Den (hi baby) has an addictive personality. Longtime smoker, obsessive playstation gamer, Custard tartaholic… Soon to be addicted gambler. Thanks to me.
We took [...]

Taking Your Date Shopping

We took our $30 the other week and headed to late night shopping at Chadstone (it’s a huge mall, for our US readers…). We had $30 to spend on something lovely for Den. I expected him to hate the idea, but he was quite chuffed that we were spending a night all about him and [...]

Ten Pin Bowling & 5 Other Cheesy Date Ideas

Oh, I know, I know… groan… Ten Pin Bowling is soooooo lame, right? Yes, you’re absolutely right. But the fact that it is so daggy is what makes it a whole lotta fun!

I must admit, Den did look pretty dubious when he realised where I was leading him. In fact, he seemed so unimpressed [...]