{"id":3908,"date":"2009-02-24T08:38:02","date_gmt":"2009-02-24T13:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehappyhousewife.com\/?p=3908"},"modified":"2020-05-04T17:02:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T21:02:23","slug":"date-nights-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/date-nights-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Date Nights at Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many years we either could not afford a babysitter or we didn’t know a babysitter we could trust with our children. This meant date nights out of the house were few and far between for my husband and I. Then we reached the stage where our older children started babysitting for us. I have to say, this is a marvelous time! It is nice to have someone you trust (if you trust your children) watching your younger children.<\/p>\n

In the beginning we didn’t leave our children very often, but as time as passed and our kids have grown, date nights out have become more frequent. This is good and bad. Good because I think all parents need time without their children, this helps you to actually have a conversation without being interrupted 17 times. Bad, because our date night budget has gone up drastically over the past several months.<\/p>\n

If you have the money and you can go out several times a month, go for it, but we have bigger plans. We are trying to save to pay cash for a house. These trips out are taking money from our house fund and putting it in our stomachs, where we don’t really need anything extra. One reason we like to go out to dinner is to eat food our children don’t love. This doesn’t mean we can’t make these same great meals at home.<\/p>\n

So, for the month of March I am going to attempt a weekly date night at home. I will plan a nice dinner and we can eat once the kids are in bed. We could even just send the kids upstairs to be watched by their older siblings while we spend time downstairs.<\/p>\n

Each week I will post our date night menu and activity; such as movie, game, or blogging (kidding), as well as recipes and photos. Even an expensive meal at home is cheaper than a moderately priced meal out, plus we save on gas and wear and tear on our vehicle. I hope to add a dollar amount to the night as well to see how much money we save in March.<\/p>\n

This week’s date night menu:<\/strong><\/p>\n