You can have a lot of fun doing volunteer work together. Volutneer your time at a homeless shelter - a soup Kitchen - or the local hospital. You and your date (or partner) could go visit all of your friends and family in the town - knocking on their doors - asking for 1 can of food - and then when you're done collecting it all, donate it to the local food bank. Go read to senior citizens at a nursing home. Donate blood together. Create a ritual that on the 1st day of each season, no matter what is going on that day, go and donate blood together. Spend Halloween at a hospital - dressed up in zany costumes - entertaining children. This is also good at Christmas time - visiting kids in hospitals who may feel like they're missing out on the holidays. Visit the maternity ward of a hospital and goo gah over the babies. Mow the lawn of an elderly person together - just because, and just for fun. You get the idea! --Deb

dear brenda-- this is a great date that can earn a lot of brownie points, and is probably the cheapest yet most rewarding that i have done. Arrange to pick your date for just a simple night on the town. (this part actually has nothing to do with the date itself) When you drop her off tell her you have something you would really like to show her, but you will have to leave early in the morning in order to arrive on time. Once you pick her up (a good time is around 4:30 or 5 in the morning) you drive out to a very remote area( the beach is a good choice) take out a blanket and a few breakfast items you have stashed in the back and sit out and wait. When the sun first rises and you are both there to witness it, you will be surprised just how great your day will be!! If by any chance, any of your readers live in the state of Maine, Cadallac Mtn. in Bar Harbor is the best place. Its the first place the sun can be seen rising in the whole United States! Its breathe taking!!!!! ---Benjamin

Our town is really small so there isn't ever anything to do. Buger King is one of our main attractions, so we played in the balls one day. I was so much fun to peg balls at eachother, and if you are lucky there will be little kids who want to play with you also. But be careful, Buger King does't like big people in the playground. -Rachel

Flying styrofoam airplanes in the park --Ron

About David's Whip Cream Idea: It is really fun and sexy, but just remember: when using whipped cream around sensitive areas (eg. genitals), to either wash up, or hop in the shower, afterwards. Me and my significant other had a little "Yeast Infection" incident from whipped cream and couldn't have sex for about a week. I do fully recommend the idea, though; it's quite steamy. Just looking out for ya. Joe.

In my town theres a little museum that has a thing called the House Party the first saturday of every month. Basically all the old folks get together and meet in the basement and just bring their banjos and guitars and accordians and stuff (lots of music), theres also usually square dancing and things like that. It sounds kinda lame but its a blast once you get there. Especially good if your date is outgoing and it's a first. We had a ton of fun, very cheap (like 2$ a person), and the old people love to see younger "kids" out. --tom

I know this is really unoriginal, but having your date over, cooking dinner for him, and then watching a good rented movie can be REALLY cheap, especially if you know how to make interesting meals out of Ramen Noodles. Or if he happens to be a cook at the restaurant you waitress at you can play dumb and have him come over and "teach" you how to cook. This will give the two of you something to do together that will provide hours of fun and entertainment. And if you want to be more romantic about it you can make it a candle lit dinner and play a mix of your favorite romantic tunes in the background. If he gets the picture he'll ask you to dance (whether or not you rent a movie is up to you, but hopefully you won't need it) --Allie

One thing that is a lot of fun, maybe not for a first date but especially if you're date is your best friend: Wear cutoff jeans and walk along a creek and play in the mud. Explore trails and pick flowers. Push each other in the water, try to catch tadpoles, climb trees, maybe take a picnic lunch. This is really fun in the fall when you can play in the leaves and the weather is nice and crispy cool. It's nice when you have to wear a sweatshirt but not a coat. Don't try this in the middle of August, especially in a humid climate, or it will just be miserable. It's so fun to explore and be adventurous together! --Debbie

Going shopping at second hand clothing stores can be interesting too...There are several places in the downtown area where I live that sell second hand clothing that is in good shape. You can dress each other up in cute discounted designer clothes and then wear them on your next date (if you're as picky as I am about my clothes then the shopping experience will be a long enough date). And if it doesn't take a long time for you to shop then you can just sport your new duds at the local bowling alley or miniature golf course afterward. --Allie

If you're not bashful............ Go to the grocery store and get a bunch of boxes from the produce department. Take them home and spend about an hour decorating them with your date. Then go around your neighborhood and sell them as dog houses! People will buy them! Sell them for 50 cents each, then take the money you raised and buy ice cream cones! We had ton's of fun! --Dave

Most towns have quaint little coffee shops or at least a Starbucks. The town I live in has this really cool nostalgic coffee house called Maude's. They have awesome deserts and they have all sorts of board games you can play and if you pick the right night to go they even have live music...A couple Mocha Lattes, a shared piece of Cheese Cake (which by the way you can feed each other if you want to be romantic), and a nice game of Monopoly can be a great cheap evening out. --Allie

I was young when my date did this but I would still do it today. He took me to a place where they have one or more lights shining on a huge wall, like a church or something. We had the whole area in front of the light to make big or small, short or tall shadows! It was so fun making our shadows quarrel or "squish" eachother. A good release of energy too! --Claudette

Again an unoriginal cheap date idea would be to just chill at either your place or your date's place and channel surf with a little chinese take out or a pizza...If you happen to have the American Movie Channel or Turner Classic Movies then you can catch a good old fashion flick. There are so many channels on cable now days that the only problem you'll have is deciding which channel to watch. --Allie

In New York:
-- Get Chinese food take out and then walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, take pictures of each other in the middle; feed each other chinese food with chop sticks when you're mid-span; walk back to where you started and promise to do it all over again.
-- Take the Staten Island Ferry (25 cents) and a bottle of champagne or good wine and a box of chocalates. Cheer your departure from the terminal, your passage in front of the Statue of Liberty, your good fortune for having met each other, and the fun you're going to have the rest of the night.
-- Take a subway ride to litttle Odessa, the Russian enclave in Brighton Beach. Sitting on the boardwalk, look at the polar bear sized men and women in teeny bikinis and laugh; put on your best Russian accent and promise your "Natasha" or "Boris" a good time, then get Blinis and Vodka at one of the Russian restaurants, make believe you're spies and end up home. (Cost: less than $25)
-- Check out the free concerts, opera, or movies in the park (any of the big ones) and bring a picnic basket (with some botttled water, wine, cheese and bread) and blanket or comfortable low chairs, and candles. Enjoy! (Can do the same for fireworks but you've gotto know when they are.)

My sweetheart and I have been through some pretty tough times financially. We still are, only not quite so rough anymore. I am an antsy kind of person, so I just have to get out from time to time, even if we cant afford (on good conscience) to go out for dinner! Here's a few activities we've come up with:
--- Being Kids Again: Go to a local park that has a playground, swing on the swings, try to go down the slide, and reminisce about when we were little kids.
--- Go on a Picnic: Pack a lunch and go out to eat. A friend of ours was getting married a couple states away. About 1/2 of the way there, we pulled over at an exit, found a grassy spot under some trees and away from the highway traffic, and munched in the beauty of Virginia. I always keep a picnic blanket in the trunk of my car for "just in case".
--- Pretend to be Posh: Go window shopping for something you know that you will never be able to afford, at least not until you hit that million dollar lottery. Gratutituous phallic symbol statues, HUGE mirrors, leather furniture. Dont be afraid to ask questions. And if they ask if there's any particular reason you're looking, just say you're Christmas shopping. And let's say you do have a couple dollars to spend. Here's a few things we do when we have a couple bucks burning a hole in our pockets:
--- Appetizers Make Great Meals: Sit down resturants like Chi-Chi's, Chili's, TGI Fridays, etc. have good appetizer menus, and the plates are HUGE! 2 sodas (free refils!) and an appetizer sampler will cost about $10, more or less. It may not be a full satisfying meal, but it's good stuff and it gets you out!
--- Matinee Day: Look in the local paper for movie showtimes, pick a few you would like to see and arrainge them so you can hit them all during their matinee or twilight showings, saving the Cinema Saver $2/seat theater for last in the evening. Well, it's not such a good idea HERE where I live now, but back in Central PA, we could hit three movies in one day, and spend only ($4 + $4 + $2/person) $20. We kept some snacks and soda cans in our pockets, shhh, dont tell! Of course, if that's too pricey, then just 1 matinee or 1 showing at the Cinema Saver would be just as appreciated.
--- See the Local Attractions: Most places have tourist spots, and not all of them are costly. Central PA has Hershey, you know, the birthplace of the famous chocolate bar. Hershey had a place called Chocolate World, and it's a free ride through a mock-up of the Hershey's Chocolate Factory, and you can learn how they make their chocolate bars. And after the ride they force you to walk through their tourist traps of buyable candy, souveneirs and t-shirts. If you can make it through that, outside is a cute little walkway through all sorts of quaint little shops you can browse through. I know Hershey doesn't hold the patent on free attractions, so look around your area, there could be something of interest in YOUR area! Although be warned, they may force you to pay for parking...
--- Craft Fairs: Especially in the spring and summertime, local orginazations host craft fairs. Town events, schools, churches, they need to raise funds for stuff, and craft fairs are a great way to do it. People will pay alot of money for space to put their booth to sell their wares, and you wont have to pay a cent (except for perhaps parking again) to browse through them. My hometown always has a Colonial Craft Fair every year, to celebrate the town's heritage, and everyone who works there has to dress in clothes from the colonial times, it's kind of cute! Plus, if you buy any of the food, you can feel good knowing that your couple of bucks will be going towards a good thing.
Just a few ideas of what we do. :) - Lisa

Okay, this is for the lil' teeny-bopper high-schooler's such as myself. When prom's over, you know that you have this fancy, expensive dress, and that your date (unless he rented it) has a fancy, expensive tux, right?... and you about how often that dress is going to get worn, so why let a good outfit go to waste? Call up your prom date, and tell him to 'Put that tux on again...[you're] taking [him] out'!...and go to a fun, simple place like Quiznos or Burger King. People will stare and you two can have a great time being silly yet 'sophisticated'. : )

Play with your dog and act like it. Ask your girlfriend to shave her armpits if it's too long. Have a BBQ in the back yard while you're add it go to the pool and swim naked!!! Afterward, have hot steamy sex in your parents room.

My Boyfriend and I sometimes just want to hang out together... What we do is we go to his place and go through is MP3s. we will simply choose our favorite songs and put them on and talk about them. What is also really cool is that you can communicate with the songs. For example, if he would do something wrong, I would decide to play "Baby did a bad bad thing", and he would then play something to suck up to me like "Genie in a Bottle"! It's cheap, funny, and relaxing...

If there's a local arboretum or botanical garden, those are fun to walk through with your date. Bowling is also a good idea as it gives you a chance to laugh at each other. ~Amy

My best date would be: to bring my girl on a walking tour of the city (there's so much to do in montreal) and let her think we are roaming around the city aimlessly. (the night before, find a nice spot and find a place to hide the bag of goodies) take her to that area (the old port during the Benson & Hedges International fireworks competition) and let her sit down on the blanket (which you carried with you all day - just in case you found somewhere nice to sit), take off for a few minutes to get the bag of goodies... lay out the supper/lunch/brunch out and let the wine and fabulous fireworks do the rest... --patts