Cheap Dates: Fun, Creative, and Romantic Dates That Won't Break Your Budget (Paperback)

by Steven C. Smith (Author) "Dating can certainly take its toll on our bank accounts..." (more)
Key Phrases: invite your date, creative date, coupon booklet, Cracker Jack, Valentine's Day (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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Great Dates, FUN Dates — for Less! -- Review

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Great Dates, FUN Dates — for Less!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (June 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761534148
• ISBN-13: 978-0761534143
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #201,779 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Good Ideas - Taken Too Far, November 15, 2005

By	J. Coberly "Random Person" (CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book definitely has a lot of creative ideas for dates and also for impressing your significant other.

Many of the ideas are very good and useful. Also, it is more than just a simple list. Many of the dates and romantic ideas are described in detail. However, the author seems to let his imagination run a little too wild when describing how some of these dates should play out.

For example, the idea of a surprise picnic on the beach is a good idea (though this might not be cheap). Getting a friend to set-up and guard the picnic site as the author describes is not impossible. However, the author then describes how your friend "slips away unnoticed". Easy for him to say; harder to achieve. Then the author REALLY goes off the deep end by saying that the picnic should have everything but wine. Then, as Smith describes it, when your significant other asks about the wine (we are to assume he or she will), another friend of yours either paddles up in a kayak or surfaces in scuba gear with the wine. Putting aside the difficulties of finding a friend capable of kayaking in the open ocean or remaining hidden along the shore in scuba gear, the timing on this would have to be profound.

Another example is the "lollipop surprise" where, according to Smith, you pull out two lollipops from your pocket and your date is puzzled to find a coupon for another date wrapped around their lollipop. He neglects to explain how you might get the coupon on the lollipop and re-wrap it in a non-tacky fashion.

Furthermore:
- Many of the ideas are not really cheap - for example, a "Teddy Bear" date as he describes it would probably run you at least $40.
- Many are repetitive - he offers in the range of 10 variations of what is really just a picnic, 5 variations of the same "take photos together" idea, and at least 3 variations of the "scavenger hunt" idea; none of which are all that unique in their variation from each other.
- Some are very location specific - the walks on the beach he suggests require you to live near a beach; the idea of a group "parking lot dance" will likely get a police response in a large city.

Now that I've gotten the bad out of the way, here are some good points.

Smith does a very good job in categorizing dates into categories to fit various stages in the dating cycle: "just friends", "great first impression", "relationship building (moving from friends to more)", etc.

Some of the date ideas he gives are wonderful. One idea, for example, helps solve the "I don't know, what do you wanna do?" question. That idea... the "Luck of the Draw" date, where several ideas are put in a hat and whichever idea is drawn is what you do.

Another example is a romantic gesture he suggests to college students: fill their dorm room with red, heart-shaped balloons for Valentine's Day.

All-in-all, the ideas are probably impossible to pull off in the way the author describes, but many are possible in their basic sense, and it certainly helps get the dating creatvity flowing.

PS: This review is from a male

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even us old and married folks need this!, May 31, 2002

By A Customer

Wow! What a find! Being married for 10 years, my husband and I fell into a rut. If we went out at all, it was simply to dinner and maybe a movie (or video rental). I was yearning for something that would bring the fun back into our lives, but that wouldn't break our budget. The date ideas in this book are the answer I've been looking for. The author gives practical, fun, and cost-conscious suggestions for creative dates that can spark a new relationship or rekindle an existing one. My husband and I have been using one idea from this book per week, and we're having a blast! What a great way to feel like a young "twenty-something" in love again!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars cheap dates changed my life!, May 24, 2002

By	tom (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

I have been waiting for a book like Cheap Dates. I have found myself coming back to this book again and again as a resource for creative ideas when I am stumped. Mr. Smith proves that you don't have to have a wallet full of money to show your date a great time. If you are looking for a way to get out of that movie and a bag of popcorn rut, this book is for you!