Cheap Fall Dates For College Students

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pitt chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

It’s officially that time of year! With the weather getting colder, it’s time to warm up next to your “boo” and go on those fall dates! But with most of us being in college, those dream fall dates you see on Pinterest can be unrealistic and out of your price range! With that in mind, here is a list of cute dates to do with your significant other this fall season that won’t break the bank and that are college-friendly, no matter if you are a freshman or a senior!!

Starting off with a classic—you can’t go wrong with a visit to a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard. Most of these places don’t have an entrance fee and only charge you based on what you pick! Along with this, many of them will have cute food stands, hayrides, petting zoos, and fun activities for you to do. This is a great opportunity to put on a chunky sweater (one of our favorite fall trends here at Pitt Her Campus) and grab photos with your significant other!

While I love pumpkin carving as much as the next girl, when you live in a dorm or an apartment building, there is really nowhere to put your pumpkin once it’s carved. This led me to think of painting the pumpkins instead of carving them that the air won’t rot them, and you can use them as indoor decor. You can find cheap paints at dollar stores or spend a little more to get better quality paints on Amazon. This is a cute way still to do a pumpkin date night without all the mess!

This one is an absolute classic! This is what my boyfriend and I are doing on Halloween, and it is always a fun time! There are many places to get matching PJs; one of my favorites is TJ Maxx/Marshalls. They have really cute pajama pants for really cheap. I always recommended checking out your local stores, also. I found mine at CVS this year, which was a surprise to me. To add a spooky twist to this, you can do a horror movie marathon, such as Scream or The Conjuring. Most streaming services offer a free trial or student discount that you can use to watch these movies on!

I’m jealous of anyone who gets to do this!! Making pumpkin or Halloween-shaped pizza seems like a blast and just the right amount of messy. To do this, you will need to go to your local grocery store and get pizza dough and all the toppings you want. Maybe it is my competitive side showing, but I think it would be fun to see who could make the better-shaped pizza! The best part is even if the pizzas do not turn out the prettiest, they’ll most likely taste good, so you can’t lose!

Take advantage of your campus’s fall events!! All of these will be free to students, and it is a great way to get out and do something fun with your partner at a really cheap cost (free 99). These events normally have food and fun activities, and are a great way to have a fun date night at no cost.

Haunted Houses are a really fun date night, especially if you and your partner are into horror and like a good scare. Normally, during the month of October, there will be pop-up haunted houses for the Halloween season. These normally don’t cost much to get into, and they are always really fun.

If you live in a more rural area (or not!), there is a chance that you have a local fair or Oktoberfest going on around you! These are fun fall events where you can get apple cider (big fan), pumpkin snacks, and just good food in general. Never underestimate events with food trucks; as a foodie myself, I have found some of the best food at small food trucks! If you don’t live near a fair but an amusement park, there is a high chance they will have a Halloween event going on or some fall event. I have attended some of these in the past, and it is a great experience, and it is definitely a fun time.

There are so many ways you can go about this one!! Small businesses will sell cookie kits that give you everything you need to make them, or the simple Pillsbury Dough ones they sell at your local supermarket. No matter what way you decide to go about it, nothing is better than baking a sweet treat with your partner. As someone who likes to bake, I think this would be a fun date idea, and, just like the pizza night, if you are decorating the cookies, nothing is better than a little bit of friendly competition. Loser buys dinner?

The atmosphere of fall is absolutely beautiful, along with the weather. Going on a picnic with your partner, no matter the season, is romantic. Especially with how life can get busy this time around with midterms, we forget to take a moment to breathe and just relax. You can pack your own food, grab an old blanket, and head to your local park for this date. It is one of the simplest yet most romantic.

As a walk-a-holic, this is one of my favorite ones. I love nothing more than a long walk or hike in the summer, so adding a mix of fall to it seems like one of the best ideas. Getting up and around with your partner is a great idea to explore around where you live and discover new places that you may not have known existed, and with the chilly weather, nothing warms you up more than bringing a nice cup of hot chocolate on your walk.