The Six-Cent Date...and More Dating Ideas on a Dime

If you think grocery shopping on a budget is tough, try dating on a budget. It really seems impossible to date with a college budget when everything costs money. However, there are ways to curb college dating blues. Here are just a few inexpensive...but fun...date ideas to try out:

1) (For BYU Students) Go to the International Cinema. They play so many great movies for free...and the fact that they're international makes date night a little more unique.

2) Penny Golf: go to the highest floor of a building on campus, take 3 pennies each and mark them with your initials. Then, drop pennies down the hole in the stairwell. The goal is to drop the penny all the way down to the first floor, but it's surprisingly hard. Consider your first drop your first 'stroke,' find where your pennies landed, and drop your pennies from the landing site. Whoever gets all 3 pennies to the first floor in the fewest 'strokes' wins. It's a weird activity, but it's actually fun (I should know. A date had me do this last weekend).

3) (BYU Students) Hike the Y! It's fun and it's great exercise! Besides, the view of Provo at night is worth the trip.

4) Check out your college's free or discounted events. There are usually concerts, dances, or student association events going on every night for free. BYU Students: Join the Honors Program and get a Great Works card for great events discounts.

5) (If you have a little more than a dime) Go out for ice cream -- not dinner. A dinner date can burn a serious hole in your wallet, but ice cream is more fun, and it usually doesn't cost much. If you want to save even more, go to the grocery store with your date and get ice cream and toppings there. It's more personalized, and it's more fun, than the traditional restaurant experience. Besides, if the date doesn't work out, you have ice cream and toppings left over.

6) Photo Scavenger Hunt (great for group dates): Make a treasure map around campus or around town, and bring a camera along. Have your date travel with you to different locations and do activities along the way. At a park, for example, she might have to spin on the merry-go-round 10 times before she gets the next clue.

Have fun Friday night! And don't forget to do your homework...