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Every couple needs time together. Date nights can be expensive, but they don’t have to be. Instead of going out, having a stay-at-home date is one way to save money while still having fun and getting quality time together.

In this article, we’ll take a look at more than 40 different stay-at-home date ideas for couples. Whether you want a romantic or fun evening, there is something for you. You may be looking for something to do on a Friday night or looking for stay-at-home anniversary ideas, and you’ll find plenty of possibilities. If you have kids, you can either save the date for after the kids are in bed, or get someone to watch the kids for you (preferably someplace else).

With this list of things to do, you’ll never be out of ideas for time with your husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend. Most of the ideas are indoor activities, but there are a few outdoor activities as well. Some are free, and many others are cheap (or you can spend as much or as little as you want).

At the end of the article, you can download a free printable checklist with all of the ideas. Thanks to the checklist, you’ll always be able some great options whenever you have time together.

Date Night Ideas at Home Involving Food or Drinks

Most dates involve dinner and/or drinks, and there are plenty of ways to incorporate this into your stay-at-home dates too.

1. Make Dinner Together

Many dates involve eating dinner, but how about making dinner together as well? Make one of your favorite meals or try something new. There are so many recipes available online that there will always be countless options.

Are there any meals that you’ve been wanting to try but you always feel so rushed to make something quickly? This is the perfect time to pick a meal that may not be so fast to prepare or cook. Block off the time and make an evening of it.

2. Have a Picnic

Enjoy a picnic on your deck or patio, or just throw a blanket out on the lawn. You can get take out or just eat food you already have at home. If the weather is nice, this can be a great date idea. Depending on your yard and the view, you may be able to watch the sunset during your picnic.

And if the weather isn’t ideal, or if you have no yard or outdoor space, feel free to make it an inside picnic. Through a blanket on the floor and you can have a picnic without even going outside.

3. Get Takeout or Delivery

Want to have a great dinner at home without doing the work to cook? Ordering takeout or delivery is a great option. It can be something as simple as pizza, or order from a favorite restaurant that you don’t get to very often. You can even order from a few different places and make it a buffet.

→ Use this link to get $10 off your first order through Grubhub, a service that delivers from your favorite restaurants.

4. Themed Dinner and a Movie

Instead of just having dinner and watching a movie, you can turn it into a themed night where the dinner and movie correspond with each other somehow. You could make an international dinner and watch a movie set in that country. Or make a meal based on a scene from a movie. There are endless possibilities!

5. Make Fondue

Fondue can be a great meal, but it takes a lot of time. Everyday life is probably too hectic for fondue to be practical, but it’s perfect for when you have a free night and you want to enjoy each other’s company and do something different.

6. Make S’mores

Buy some chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows and make s’mores at home. You can use a fireplace, gas stovetop, oven, or get a smores kit that makes it easy.

7. Dessert Bar

Enjoy your favorite desserts any way you like them. Make ice cream sundaes, buy cake or pie, bake some brownies, or whatever you enjoy. You can buy the deserts or make them together.

8. Wine Tasting

Visiting a winery for a wine tasting can be a great idea, but you can basically do the same thing at home if you want to. Simply buy a few bottles of wine (or any type of your favorite drinks) and sample several different kinds. This article has some tips for hosting a wine tasting. Of course, you can adapt those suggestions to have the wine tasting just for two instead of inviting friends.

9. Tasting Party

Take the idea of a wine tasting and apply it to anything else that you want to indulge in. It could be a different type of drink, food or dessert. You could have an ice cream tasting with lots of different flavors.

10. Drinks on the Patio or Deck

For a nice, relaxing evening, drinks on the porch, patio, or deck can be an excellent option. Simply relax outside and talk while enjoying your favorite drinks. If you’re able to time it at or around sunset it can be even better.

Fun Stay-at-Home Date Ideas

If the main purpose of your date is to have fun and enjoy being together, here are some options.

11. Watch a Movie on Netflix or Amazon Prime

If you have a subscription to Netflix and/or Amazon Prime, you have plenty of movies and TV shows available at any time. It’s not the most creative date night idea, but it is certainly an easy option that most couples will enjoy. If you don’t have a Netflix or Prime subscription, another option is to rent from Redbox or even pull out an old DVD that you probably haven’t watched in a few years.

→ Get a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime here.

12. Backyard Movie Night

If it’s a nice night, why not take the movie outside? You can either project it onto a wall or screen (you might be surprised at how affordable projectors can be) or just take a laptop outside and watch on the laptop.

13. Watch a Game Together

If you enjoy watching sports, you can watch a game together. Even if you’re not a huge fan, you may enjoy watching with your significant other. If you want to watch live sports you’ll be at the mercy of your favorite team’s schedule, but you can always use a DVR, the WatchESPN app, or watch replays online.

14. Watch a Concert at Home

Going to a concert or show can be a great date (and we have some ideas that can help you to get free concert tickets), but you have to put up with a lot of other people.

For a fun date night, how about watching a live performance from one of your favorite bands from the comfort of your own home? You can easily find videos of live performances on YouTube or with a Google search, or you may even have a DVD of a concert from one of your favorite bands.

15. Video Game Night

If you have a video game console you could consider having a video game night together. And if you don’t already have a console, you can get one of the retro systems for a very reasonable price (and many adults enjoy these games from their childhood more than the modern games anyway). You can play games together or turn it into something competitive.

16. Play Board Games or Card Games

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Most of us have some board games and card games in the house, but when was the last time you played a game just the two of you? There are all kinds of options, and you can even get a new game (or pick up a cheap one at a yard sale if you want to save some money). You could also borrow games from family or friends.

17. Do a Puzzle

Like games, puzzles can also be a lot of fun and are great for spending time together. And you probably already have a few of them in the house. This is another item that you can pick up at yard sales or thrift stores for very cheap.

18. DIY Photo Booth

Create your own photo book with fun props for an entertaining and memorable evening. Use a tripod and put your camera on a timer to take photos of yourselves. If you don’t have a tripod you can simply use something flat and stable to steady the camera. See this list of DIY photo props, and there are also plenty of ideas that can be found on Pinterest.

19. Decorate for a Holiday

If there is a holiday coming up, you can take some time and decorate the house together.

20. Indoor Camping

Set up a tent in the living room. You can bring sleeping bags as well. Use the time to relax and talk, or watch a movie.

21. No Electricity Night

Turn off the lights and pretend the electricity is out. Only candles or flashlights, and no TV.

22. Bonfire

Have a bonfire in your yard, if you have a safe place for it. Otherwise, you can use a simple fire pit. Enjoy a relaxing evening sitting by the fire. You can also combine this with some of the other ideas on the list like s’mores or drinks.

23. Be Artistic

Do you enjoy painting or doing other types of artistic activities? There are plenty of things you could do at home.

24. Karaoke

Turn up your favorite songs and have a karaoke party for just the two of you. If you’d like, you can pick up a home karaoke system without breaking the bank, but you can also just sing to the music without a mic.

25. Have a Dance Party

If you’re not into singing, a dance party is another idea to enjoy some of your favorite songs. All you need to do is spend a few minutes to create a playlist and you’ll be ready for this fun date idea.

Romantic Stay-at-Home Dates

Looking for some romance? Here are some inexpensive ideas you can do at home.

26. Candlelight Dinner

Enjoy a romantic candlelight dinner in the comfort of your own home. Prepare the dinner yourself or order the food.

27. Spa at Home

Re-create the enjoyment of going to the spa, but keep it at home. You can do everything from face masks, to massages, to a foot soak, to a bubble bath without leaving the home. This article, How to Have a Spa Day at Home, is a good starting point for ideas.

28. Hotel at Home

Do you love staying in hotel rooms? If so, how about setting up your own bedroom to feel like a hotel room? To make your room feel more like a hotel, clean up the clutter. You order “room service” (delivery) and get an ice bucket and a bottle of champagne.

29. Look at the Stars

On a clear night, you can sit or lay outside together and watch the stars. There’s not much that is more relaxing. Of course, the further you live from a city, the better this will be because of light pollution.

Date Ideas for Communicating with Each Other

Talking is also a great way to spend time together. Whether you’re just getting to know each other or enjoying being with a long-time partner, here are some ideas that involve plenty of communication.

30. Talk About Your Plans and Dreams

Just take some time to talk to each other about your plans and dreams for your lives together in the near or distant future. It can involve vacations that you’d like to take, plans for your dream house, career aspirations, family plans, or anything else that impacts your lives.

31. Plan a Vacation

Take some time together to plan an upcoming vacation. Planning may not be on everyone’s list of favorite ideas for a date, but some couples will enjoy it. Research some different things to do wherever you’ll be traveling, and find some options that look fun.

32. Make a Travel List

Instead of planning, simply talk about the places you’d like to visit together and make a list. You can use this list to help decide on vacations in the future. Of course, you can always add new places to the list and cross off other places as you visit them.

33. Make a Bucket List

Your bucket list of things you want to do in your lifetime will probably include travel, so there is some crossover with the previous point, but there will also be plenty of other things that you want to do aside from travel. This can be a great activity to get to know each other, or if you already know each other very well, it can be a great way to set some goals of things that you want to do.

34. Take a Personality Test or Love Languages Test

Taking a test may not sound like a lot of fun, but how about the type of test that you can’t fail? There are many different personality tests that you can take (see this list of free ones), or you can try the love language test. These tests can actually be fun, and you’ll learn something about each other.

35. Play a Conversation Starter Game

How about taking time to talk and ask each other questions? If you’re struggling with a lack of ideas pick up a book that includes plenty of questions to get you started. There are also a number of games that were created to be conversation starters.

36. Play Would You Rather

Rrather is a fun, free website that has lots of thought-provoking questions. Go through them together and take turns answering for a fun date.

37. Walk and Talk

Ok, this one is not for a date inside your house, but you won’t need to drive anywhere. If the weather is nice you can simply take a walk together through your neighborhood and talk.

Dates That Bring Back Memories

What better way to spend time together than by enjoying good times from the past?

38. Watch Home Videos

If you’re like most couples/families you probably have a lot of memories captured on video, but you rarely watch them. Why not take a night to watch some of your favorite videos together (even your wedding video)?

39. Look at Old Photos

How often do you go back and look at your old photos? If you’re like me, not very often. Take some time and look at photos of you together as a couple, or look at photos of each of you growing up.

You probably have a lot of photos on your phone, camera, or computer that have never been printed. This could be a great time to go through photos as a couple and pick out some that you’d like to print.

40. Create a Photo Book

Go through your photos and create a photo book together. It can be photos from a particular trip or time, or a collection of random photos of your time together. Use an online service like Shutterfly, Mixbook, or Blurb to easily create a beautiful photo book.

Download the Printable Checklist

Click on the image below and download our printable PDF checklist with all 40 date ideas and stay-at-home activities for couples!