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Greetings All,

As a newlywed who is also newly-expecting, my life has been a bit more-errr-hectic of late.  I figured things would settle down after all the Thank you’s were mailed, but the “Honeymoon Baby” pregnancy meant that we simply went from one life-changing event to another.  We’re still working on our house (you’ll recall it had orange shag WALLS when we first bought it in ‘05), and now we’re also trying to navigate pregnancy and plan for the baby.

What I didn’t really see coming, was that we *almost* fell into one of the biggest traps married or cohabitating LTR types face:
We almost forgot to put energy specifically and solely into our relationship.

 I was at a girlfriend’s the other night, and she mentioned the need for “Date Night”, and I actually laughed and said “we could never allocate an evening together every single week like that!”.  Yep—that was my reaction.  Yikes!  Now, after some consideration, we have started “Date Night”—it’s Tuesdays, if you’re curious, and it has already done us a world of good.

As with all great things, there are a few simple ground rules we use:
(1) We cannot do chores or errands or what-have-you unless it’s together (realistically, grocery shopping may sometimes be part of our date night after the baby comes along)
(2) The Date can’t cost much unless it’s a special occasion (ie; and anniversary or what-evs)
(3) We alternate who chooses the activity.

Last week, for example, we made incredibly tasty BLT’s with home grown veggies, then we made ice cream cones and took a walk around a nearby lake we’ve been meaning to check out.  At first, it was hard to turn off my brain—so many things weren’t getting done!  But then, it became this near-sublime experience to just be with each other….a lot of my stress seemed to melt away…or at least get paused.  And really, my “To Do” list could wait a night.

Some of you may be asking what exactly this has to do with being frugal.  And okay—most of that is sorta indirect, I’ll admit.  You’ll save money by not making your Date Night an ongoing competition of one-up-manship.  You’ll save money by not going through boyfriends (or husbands, for that matter) like they were bottled water—this is true for those folks that are fconstantly operating under the “Grass is greener on the other side” philosophy, rather than trying simply fix what’s broken.  Finally, I strongly suspect that you’ll save money b/c you’ll feel more fulfilled by the things that really matter, rather than attempting to fill that strange void with new clothes or a new car.  As for me; I really look forward to Tuesdays now!

Feel free to share your thoughts/comments/ideas below!

~Penny

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