This is a great question. The economy is not great. People just can’t go out to fancy restaurants. If mom is the primary care giver because you have kids and dad is the primary income, that means you probably won’t have a lot of extra income floating around. You have to be prudent with your money. Here are a few ideas:

• Set up your home to have mini-date nights. Set a bed time for your kids that is earlier rather than later. You don’t have to crash in front of the television, just plan to snuggle on the couch and feed each other a little snack. Maybe a glass of grape juice or wine if appropriate. Turn the lights out in the kitchen, light a candle and feed each other dessert. Be creative. (Just for fun, here is a BAD example of a home date night!)
• Use a baby-sitting co-op. A baby-sitting co-op is working with other couples who also have little kids and need a date night. For example, if there are four families with children, they can set Friday as the date night, then rotate watching the kids. That way you get three date nights a month. On the fourth Friday you have 100 kids tearing apart your house. Hopefully the other three free Friday nights will help you take that in stride.
• Work with single people you can trust. If there are single-people in your church that you trust, invite them over for dinner a night or two a week. They will love the home cooked meal. In payment, have them watch your kids for a night so you can go on a date. Make sure these are single people you trust. One of the worst things that can happen is to have single people and married people segregated in the church. The singles will learn a lot from the married.
• Do a coffee date. You don’t always need to go out for an expensive dinner. Simply dress up and go to a local coffee shop, buy a coffee and split a cookie. The conversation and alone time is more important than the price of the meal. All the caffeine will help you talk for a long time.