The ABC Dating trend has been bandied around for awhile now. We’ve heard of couples that have done it themselves, it’s been written about in the media and now?

Denis and I are going to attempt it.

So on top of our usual date night parameters (Being a $30 Budget, taking it in turns to organise the date nights and making sure we date once a week) we are now Alphabet Dating.

It’s pretty straightforward – we start with a date that starts with A (i.e. Going to an Art Gallery) and work our way through B, C and the rest until we get to Z (Which will undoubtedly be a trip a Zoo of some sort).

It starts tonight… stay tuned for the update on where we’re going and the review. I’ll also be listing great date ideas by letter for the next 6 months as we go!

We’re looking forward to it. And hey – if you feel like your love life needs a metaphorical Berocca, why don’t you join us in our ABC Adventures?

Happy Dating!

Full List of Date Ideas We’ve Done:

1. Ten Pin Bowling
2. Going to the Movies
3. Playing Pool in a Seedy Pub
4. Going shopping for Den
5. Roulette at The Casino
6. Getting Arty at Home and Sketching Each Other
7. Italian Night at Home
8. Getting Lost in a Hedge Maze
9. Baking Cookies
10. The Driving Range
11. The Comedy Club
12. Maha Middle Eastern Bar & Grill
13. Kikki-K Love Conversation Starters (and a picnic)
14. The Bookstore Date
15. Visit the Farmers’ Market
16. Fish & Chip Picnic
17. Ice Skating
18. Vegetarian Restaurant
19. Stargazing
20. Mineral Hot Springs
21. Jewish Holocaust Museum & The Immigration Museum
22. Fondue Date Night (aka Death by Cheese)
23. The Providore in Beechworth
24. Yum Cha
25. Cirque du Soleil (Tickets were a gift = less than $30!)
26. The RSL
27. Lunch at a Winery
28. Deck 88 at Eureka Tower
29. Bingo!
30. Video Game Arcade
31. Vietnamese Pho
32. Joint Manicures
33. Swimming at the Local Pool
34. Borrow a Kid
35. The Nudist Beach
36. Plane Spotting

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 a couple of months, we bit the bullet and decided it was about time to do it.

Getting naked wasn’t even the hardest part. Finding the damn beach was! The directions we found on the web were hazy at best, it was like a state-wide treasure hunt for genitals… quite literally!

After driving around for a good 45 minutes, looping back and forth and taking wrong turns, we finally found the right turnoff at Torquay

from the highway, then found what we thought was the right “gap in the fence” and made our way down the steep cliff face pathway and onto the beach.

The sand was teeming with people. Clothed people. Family people. With children and dogs and those little tents you put up to stop getting sunburned.

As instructed, we followed the bay about 500m around to the legal nude section. We expected a big sign – “Nude Bathers May Be Encountered Past This Point”, perhaps. Even “You are Welcome to Get Naked From This Point On” would’ve been good. But there was nothing.

Until we saw him.

One guy, amongst all the families, in the water…

“Is he… naked?”

Even when you’re looking for it, it’s kinda hard to tell. You don’t really want to stare. He was out in the waves, enjoying a leisurely swim.

Then there were more of them, lying naked up near the cliffs. Even then, the sight was so foreign to us that it was hard to tell…

Until suddenly, as we kept walking, we found ourselves amongst more flesh than clothing. The odd clothed person would walk past, but for the most part, the people here were certainly naked.

And, well… here’s a video we prepared for you so you can see our little adventure. A warning that you may see a little more of Den than you possibly need to!

So, yes we recommend it! It was actually a lot of fun. We still can’t quite believe we did it… but we do recommend it (though maybe not for a first date!)… if you’re daring enough!

And you know what? Doing something that is totally new and pushes all your comfort circles is invigorating! It inspires creativity and it is certainly what $30 Date Night is all about.

Have you done it? Would you do it? Tell us all your risque stories, we want to hear them!

The Age reports:

“Hugh Jackman has a happy marriage because he has date nights.

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine star – who has been married to Deborra-Lee Furness since 1996 – has revealed he and his wife always make time to just be with one another to keep the romance in their relationship alive.

He told America’s OK! magazine: “Make sure you have a date night just the two of you together, without the kids.”

The 41-year-old actor has two adopted children, Oscar, nine, and Ava, four, with his wife – who he met on the set of Australian TV show Correlli.”

Hell yeah, Hugh! That’s the way you do it!

Go on guys, you know if it’s good enough for Wolverine, it’s good enough for you! And – what a coinkydink! – we just happen to have this amazing website full of great date ideas to get you started.

So, at one year old, we’re still toddling around finding our feet, but so happy to report that we are looking forward a much bigger and better second year of life! We’re so happy you could all share our year of date ideas, we hope you’ve enjoyed them and we can’t wait to bring you more!

To celebrate, I give you a collection of our most popular posts from our first year! Enjoy!

1. Worst Date So Far
Date Night doesn’t always go according to plan, you know…

2. Paint a Portrait Date Review
A great, stay-in date idea for couples! Love this one for parents!

3. Denis, Naked Twister is NOT a First Date
Denis’ pick-up line that didn’t work the first time ’round…

4. 5 Creative Ways to Do the Movies, the $30 Date Night Way
So, you love the movies… here’s five great ways to make it more interesting for you and your partner.

5. 10 Fun Date Ideas for a Lazy Sunday
Great collection of date ideas for when you and your sweetie just want a lazy day together…

6. Casino Date Night Review
Bet high, fun date night!

7. 10 Saucy Date Ideas You Can Do Naked
Well… do I really need to explain this one to you?

8. 5 Top Reasons NOT to Do Date Night
Excuses, excuses…

As always, check in here for more great date ideas.

I don’t get it… I spent the better part of last night having a discussion about relationship problems with a friend of mine.

One comment made was that his partner actually said “you never do anything spontaneous or take me out anywhere anymore – simple things like going for a hike!”

I almost fell off my chair – stunned, mouth wide open and brow lifted so high that my eyes almost popped out. “Mate, why we having this conversation? Have you forgotten about $30 Date Night – these are the things Emma and I do – there’s a website FULL of date ideas!!!”

The more I get involved with $30DN the more I’m learning about peoples relationships.

A couple of weeks ago, I was out for a drink with one of my best mates, Gath (yep – his parents couldn’t afford the “r” when they named him). Gath pretty much knows the ins and outs of $30DN… he was there at the conception of the idea and pretty much gets the review of most date nights Emma and I do…

The topic of motivation in a relationship came up – and who the target market would be for $30DN. He thought that new / fresh relationships would be the type of people who would do date night. I agree, but it’s the long term relationships that get the most benefit and wish that the long termers were the ones that used the site.

These days it seems that the younger couples are getting more out of date night – with a recent comment from a friend saying that a guy took her out on their first date to a GOLF driving range. She loved it, it was so different…

Seems like the longer couples stay in relationships the less effort they want to put into it. My friend with the relationship woes has been with their partner for 10 years now.

• Are you in a long term relationship?
• Does your partner ask you to be more spontaneous, and want to do more exciting things?
• Can you really be bothered?

Politicians, the media and dating ‘experts’ are all weighing in on the issue, making me wonder when the subject of a husband and wife’s date night became a political vote-grabbing tool.

From The New York Times, June 5 2009:

THEIRS is a seasoned marriage, 16 years and counting. They are middle-aged. Life is that modern-crazy haze: two girls in the windstorm of year-end school activities, the puppy that must be walked twice daily, the live-in mother-in-law. They both work long hours. Standard recipe for a drive-by relationship.

Relationship experts are applauding the first couple for giving life to the modern fantasy that longtime spouses can still be passionate about each other. Intentionally or not, the Obamas have become ambassadors for date night, a term that is a creature of these times. A generation ago, when Saturday night rolled around, parents simply went out. Now parents need to be prodded to date each other, as if they’re singles: take a break from the children, already!

Everyone should be following their lead. Our fast-paced modern lives are doing us no favours. A slew of problems, ranging from depression to exhaustion to divorce have all been attributed to our lifestyles. We are working harder and longer than ever before, connected 24-hours a day to technology and suffering for it.

I think that the health of The Obamas’ relationship should be of paramount concern to the country. The Obamas are going through one of the most important phases of their lives, and it is vital that the stresses of running a country (and indeed leading the rest of the world in the process) don’t take their toll on the relationship and leave everyone far more stressed than need be. If you don’t have a healthy personal life, you can’t be effective at work.

So we have big love for The Obamas, regardless of the amount of money they are spending on themselves. I say they deserve it! What do you think?

Of course, we at $30 Date Night have long known that you don’t need to fly your sweetie across the country to make date night special…. date night can be just as effective if you spend only $30. The key to doing date night right is not the amount of money you spend, it’s doing new things together that keeps your relationship healthy. Maybe we can convince The Obamas to try ten pin bowling or ice skating next time?

Now go! Get inspired and book a date night with your lovebird this week! Hundreds of fun ideas are waiting for you…

Last night I watched some talk show with Kevin Bacon in it discussing master-googling or google-bating, whichever you want to call it. Basically – its where you google yourself to see what comes up.

And so, I’ve just googled ThirtyDollarDateNight.com to check out who’s talking about our date ideas site and what’s being said. And I found a blog called Tame the bear

The blog post cracked me up – it was a nice post which gave credit to $30DN and paid attention to the sites many lame date ideas. I agree, pitching a tent in your backyard isn’t my top date idea either and doesn’t really work where we live – 19 floors up in the CBD.

And worse = “Meet for a jog in a scenic park, get sweaty and take it from there.” YEP, another non-inspiring date idea, although I seriously considered this date idea for a good laugh.

See back before Ems and I got together I devised a plan to get her into bed… or at least strip off to minimal clothing and see what comes of it… so I announced a “hottest body competition.” 4 months of training and then strip off and see who is looking better. She took the bait and we trained… we decided to run together as additional cardio to existing training regime. (Ems was already heavily into dance and I was a regular at the gym).

Running with Emma was something else… I didn’t think it was possible but Emma’s running style is like an epileptic fit while in motion. Embarrassing (for me) at the time, and a source of endless entertainment these days – run Forrest!

Anyhoo – my point to this post is – Tame the Bear, I agree… there are so many date ideas on $30DN that are lame. But that’s what I like about it… it’s the lame ideas that create low expectations – so when the date turns out crappy you’re not disappointed.

Yes, some are totally stupid and we try to filter out suggestions like “stare into each other’s eyes for an hour at sunset.” Shoot me instead!!!

But in many cases the lame date ideas turn out to be the most fun, simply because your expectations are so low – also you’re pushing comfort circles, doing new things out of routine keeps your relationship fresh and maintains new conversation, even if your both discussing how lame the night is – at least you’re still engaging with each other.

So, Tame the Bear… here is your challenge – grab your special friend for a lame date night and pitch that tent in your backyard. I know you hate the idea but suck it up for one night. Make sure you figure out some entertaining things to do during your campout – don’t actively sabotage the experience by making it boring (and don’t go into the house – maybe only for toilet breaks.) Then let rate the lameness.

This challenge goes out to anyone else who places the “approval of lame” stamp on the pitch a tent in your backyard date idea.

Send me your review of how lame this date idea actually was once you’ve done it?

The thing is, we love date night so much that we instantly thought others would too! But the truth is, our friends haven’t really jumped on the date night train… While they love the idea of OUR date nights, they never really start their own, and we hear a lot of excuses about why. So here are the top five reasons NOT to do date night. Sound familiar?

1. We have no time, we’re too tired, we’re too busy.
Whoa, what? You are too busy to dedicate a few measly hours a week to your relationship? Riiiiight. So, you’ll spend 50-odd hours (PLUS) at work, then get home and bring your freakin’ Blackberry, iPhone or laptop with you to cram in a few more hours of work and Facebooking between eating and sleeping… you’ll probably catch up with friends, together or separately, you’ll probably sit on your butt and watch television for hours on end together but you won’t take a night off once a week to spend with the one person you love most in the world? Priorities, people. You need to put SOME sort of effort in. Relationships are not all automatically Happily Ever After. They require work.

2. My relationship is fine. I don’t need your stupid date night strategy.
Why do we all think we should wait until our relationship has fallen to pieces before implementing something that will fix it? It shouldn’t have to get to that. This is your insurance policy, guys. This is a way to help from getting to rock-bottom at all… and why settle for “fine” when you can have AMAZING?

3. Dude, you keep using the words STRATEGY and IMPLEMENT. This isn’t a business plan.
Maybe it should be. Maybe setting goals in your relationship is not such a bad thing. A small, little weekly goal to spend some time together that you can achieve and feel like you did something worthwhile with each other! Maybe is we paid as much attention to our relationships as we do to our careers then the world would be a happier, more loved up place.

4. Right, this is all well and good for you young people, but we have children. You have no rebuttal for children. Date night is impossible when you have children.
Harder? Yes. Impossible? That’s a dirty word and you know it. First of all, if you must, then make date night a fortnightly thing. Secondly, there are PLENTY of good date ideas in our generator that can be done at home, once the kids are in bed. Yes, you might be exhausted by that time but I can’t stress enough how much the two of you still need to interact as a couple without the influence of the children. Make the effort, and you will feel more energetic and inspired for it. Get out of the house once a month on a date night together if you can manage it, and the rest of the time, do things together at home…. in fact, here’s a post I wrote just for you on 10 Great At Home Date Ideas for Parents

5. My husband would never do it. He doesn’t know how to be romantic.
(Sorry guys, I know this sounds sexist but I do hear this one a lot. Feel free to crack the stereotype for me.)
Admit it, you love being right about him being bad at the whole romance thing. First of all, give him a chance before you write it off altogether. Secondly, a retarded monkey could use the date generator, it’s really not that hard. Set out the parameters. Tell him that every week is date night. Tell him that every other week is HIS turn to organise it. Then give him the URL to www.thirtydollardatenight.com and tell him to get to it.

THE FOUR WEEK CHALLENGE
So, here’s what I propose. I’m sick of the excuses. I know you love date night. Everyone loves hearing about my date nights! Do it for one month. Just do it. Commit for FOUR WEEKS to do a weekly date night and take it in turns to use the bleeding generator to organise something. It is cheap (there are even FREE ideas in there for those that are in no position to spend $30) and it is easy and we know you’re going to love it.

FOUR WEEKS. That’s all I ask. Then come tell us about it. If you do love it, if you do notice a difference in your relationship, then pay it forward. Convince TWO other couples that they will love date night and send them on the same four week challenge. Just two.
There are so many services out there for single people, dating services, matchmaking… everyone is working to get people together. We’re working to KEEP people together. We need your help to do that.

Maybe after all these years Tina Turner has found the answer for us? “Does love actually have anything to do with it?” If she could kindly post a comment that would be appreciated…

What I do know is that a relationship needs to be worked on, by both parties. I feel fortunate that I happen to run a site called $30 date night that forces me to actively work on my relationship with Emma. And it makes her do the same.

What’s different about this relationship to my previous ones is that we consciously make an effort to spend time with each other. Our designated nights (Wednesday nights = Den and Em’s night, and we alternate the dating duties each week).

When Wednesday comes around there is something different in the air – it’s hard to explain it – it just is! There’s excitement and anticipation even though my expectations are low… I’m not expecting fireworks each time Emma takes me out, I know that she is pulling the idea from a site that only gives you date ideas that are $30 or less, so I cannot blame her if it’s a flop… I mean it’s only $30 – what can I truly expect from my partner with a budget of only $30?

On the flip side, when it’s my turn to date Emma, I don’t feel any pressure that I need to impress. I can blame the site if it all goes rubbish. To be honest, these days I go for the cheesy date ideas because they are the ones that get the bigger laughs – we’re actually expecting the night to be tragic.

So who’s got the remedy… that magic bullet to produce and maintain the perfect relationship? I shudder when I read magazine headlines of the perfect date, the perfect relationship or sexual position. Are these people the experts? Does the editor have the answer? I mean, what is the status of their relationship???

Maybe my parents are the experts, soon to celebrate their 34th anniversary! Congrats to them… Surely after such a long time of being together they are the perfect candidates to guide us with the truths of what love actually is, but I, like most children have seen the difficult times our parents have gone through… the pain, the arguments and the almost break-ups. So is love actually the rocky road that we travel?

I don’t have the answer for you… the secret to the perfect relationship! But I do know that there is an element of my relationship with the gorgeous Emma that keeps me waiting for the next Wednesday to come around…

What’s your answer?

Tina… Are you there???