Friday night I took a girl out for our first date.  Sushi: $40.  Movie: $18.75.  Soda and candy: $6.  The expense was worth it, in my opinion, and she was very apreciative.  Total for the evening: $65 (I'm lucky I was able to find free parking!).

I like her and want to take her out more, but I need some ideas for frugal dates that are just as entertaining.  Reccomendations?

No one has replied to this one yet, so I'll throw my hat in the ring...

Cheap date ideas:

1. Do something active such as hiking or bike riding.
2. Do something active that neither of you have done before (have you ever rock climbing? Its pretty inexpensive to go to a gym for a night)
3.  Cook dinner together
4.  Rent a movie together
5. Have a picnic
6. Goto a museum
7. If you live near a city, explore the downtown area
8.  Do window shopping.
9.  Goto a Barnes & Noble (they can provide a lot more fun than you would think...)
10. Play a board game, a card game, or any other game that you can do at home.

Hope these help!  Anyone else got good ideas!

I second the making dinner idea. I don't know how many more I'll have seeing as mdaoust is my husband.

Seeing as it's summertime, is there a beach or lake near by. Swim during the day or picnic in the evening. I'm a *big* fan of picnics. The food doesn't have to be fancy and you can make it yourself or buy something as simple as sandwiches or fried chicken.

My husband and I have a hard time getting out as we have three little ones and recently moved to a new area where we don't know a lot of people for babysitting.  Even after we found a fabulous sitter, the cost of getting out PLUS paying her gets to be sooooo much.  Many of our current dates are Applebee's take-out and a great movie at home.  We've even been known to shut off the tv and light some candles for a more special night.  Other times, we've enjoyed free summer concerts (check your local chamber of commerce website or park & rec department for info).  We also enjoy home improvement and like to walk around Home Depot or Menard's and create our dream room/home.  This also helps us keep current with prices so we can plan better!

Before I was married, some of my favorite dates were going to Barnes & Noble and losing each other.  It's pretty interesting to find out which department the other person got lost in (and vice versa).  Then a simple ice cream cone finishes off a great night!

I've always had great luck with going to museums, alot of museums will let you in for free or limited cost and its a creative way to win a girl over.  Another option that doesn't cost much money is finding where the local farmer's market is...take your date there...pick out some items and then cook them together later.  farmer's markets are a great place to interact with your date to see if there is any chemistry there.

My wife loves sushi too but that can be steep especially when going out for this on more than one occassion!  Museums are great fun especially the interactive variety - Our downtown has a science museum that let's you "play" with the exhibits.

Another suggestion would be sporting events - we have a minor league baseball stadium with often discounted tickets and a few bucks for a large portion of beer

Oh, and check out your library. They often have free passes for multiple people for places all over the city.  That's how we've done most of our activities this summer.

Go out to play pool or mini-golfing. If she doesnt know how to play, you can teach her (and that always amounts to cute moments, well atleast in the movies)
Good luck!

Take her to the Saturday Market, Farmer's Market, Art Walk or whatever they have from where you are from!  Walk around, look at the people, do a little people watching . . . there is usually good interesting cheap food, and a lot of cities have free entertainment throughout the day! 

You sound smitten!  I hope things work out!

If you decide to take the option of staying in and cooking, you could make the evening a little more special with some candles from a dollar store, and you could probably find a few inexpensive fresh flowers from a convenience store to decorate.

You could carefully select music to play on the stereo from your collection, or the library's.

This may be a little intimate for a second date - I'm sure you could be the judge of that.