Once you’ve been married for several years and things start becoming somewhat ordinary from day to day, a new phrase becomes part of your vernacular whenever you find yourself going out to eat or doing anything you used to do before you got hitched – date night.
Such was the case one Friday evening when my wife and I decided to go out to dinner and a movie – uncharacteristic for us at the close of a busy work week.
We started with dinner at a local chain restaurant, which thanks to a $25 gift certificate, only wound up costing us $15 out of pocket. Not too shabby. The movie was even better as I still had two free passes saved up from a few Christmas’ ago. All in all it was a pretty cheap date and a very enjoyable time.
It got me to thinking though just how expensive everything in getting and how costly it must be now to take that special someone out for a night of food and entertainment. With chain restaurants running on average of $40-$50 for two people depending on drinks and movies now costing a staggering $11-$13 for one adult ticket, your “date night” could easily cost you close to $75.
I don’t know, maybe being a neurotic homeowner has made me frugal – a penny pincher who often thinks about what he’s spending his money on before he spends it.
Funny how when you’re a teenager, and money is even harder to come by, you never worried about what it would cost to go to the movies once a week or eat out all weekend long. It was something you did for enjoyment during a time in your life when responsibilities were almost non-existent.
I guess with the right planning, a date night can still be inexpensive – you just have to find a few people who are kind enough to help subsidize the event.