My husband and I have been married for 13 years and had 3 kids in just 4 years. Talk about stress! We learned the importance of date nights early in our marriage with young children. It’s easy to get wrapped in the day to day demands of work and children and forget about taking time for your significant other.

Enjoying today doesn’t mean sacrificing financial security for tomorrow. Finances were lean early in our marriage, but we still made time for each other and budgeted for investing AND for date nights. We realized we didn’t have to give up our moments today for financial security tomorrow. We could do both, because present and future are both important. We want to live well tomorrow, but don’t want to forget about the importance of today.

Here’s some interesting statistics from market research firm Kelton Global. We know for a fact (with statistical significance) that Vanguard clients experience these things more often than clients of other investment firms.

• Vanguard clients are 11% more likely to laugh with their partner compared with clients of other investment firms.
• Vanguard clients are 18% more likely to cuddle with their partner compared with clients of other investment firms.
• Vanguard clients are 14% more likely to make time for date night compared with clients of other investment firms.

Vanguard clients think long-term, tune out the noise, and keep investment costs low, but that’s not all. They laugh and make time for date nights with their partners. See more results from this survey.

Here are some fun (& frugal) ideas for date night:

Board Game Night

My husband and I conjure up some friendly competition after the kids are in bed. We have an ongoing Scrabble date and are evenly matched.

Laugh together

I find humor a great stress relief. Visit a local comedy club or watch some comedy on Netflix for a date night in. Laughing with your significant other is amazing and great therapy.

Restaurant tour

If you are foodies, start trying new restaurants in your area. My aunt and uncle introduced us to this amazing idea (surprise they are also active investors and schooled us about investing too.) They enjoy trying new foods and tore out the restaurant section of their local yellow pages. They plan their weekly dinner by working their way from ‘a’ to ‘z’ on those yellow pages. They found some amazing new hidden gems doing that and have fun together.

Take a class together

Our favorite date night activity is taking cooking classes together at the local community college. It’s fun, we get to eat what we cook and laugh at our bloopers. For the New Year, we signed up for fitness classes together. It’s always more fun when we can do things together.

Spend time outdoors

There’s something about connecting with nature and turning off electronics and ‘noise’ that is magical. Whether that’s a hike through the woods or a night of camping, get outdoors with your loved ones.

Our most recent outdoor adventure was a visit to a local winery for a night of glamping next to the vineyards. That was an amazing experience we won’t forget!

Plan a Staycation

You don’t have to go hundreds of miles from home for an exciting getaway. Plan a staycation at a local hotel or a bed & breakfast in the country. Enjoy the quiet time together close to home.

These are just a few ideas to enjoy quality time with your significant other. After over a decade a marriage I’ve learned it doesn’t really matter what we do as long as we take regular dates together to reconnect.

We invest in our relationship with each other today and invest financially to plan for more good times in our future. Vanguard keeps investments costs low and helps clients focus on long-term investing to enjoy more moments today.

What’s your favorite date night idea?

The Where Investors Belong survey was conducted by market research firm Kelton Global in 2016. It polled 1,000 Vanguard clients and compared them with 1,000 clients of other investment firms. All differences between Vanguard clients and clients of other investment firms are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The parental stat refers to clients with children of any age who provided the number of hours per week they typically spend with their children or who, compared to other people they may know, believe to be more involved in their child’s life. . The experiences of these Vanguard clients may not be representative of the experience of other Vanguard clients and aren’t a guarantee of future investment performance or success.