Utah County is a rich resource for BYU students looking for cheap and fun dates.
John Livingstone, a BYU LDS marriage and family professor, said it’s easy to find cheap dates in Utah County.
“This is the cheap date center of the world,” Livingstone said. “Because you’ve got so many poor, starving students, single and married, and it’s such a beautiful area because you’re within 10 or 20 minutes of mountain parks, mountain scenery, and places to go.”
Livingstone’s son-in-law designed a date jar full of slips of paper with date ideas inside.
Ideas from the date jar include left-handed bowling, an outdoor movie with snacks, wandering around campus, and a progressive dinner with each course from a different restaurant.
“It’s a very fun thing,” Livingstone said of the date jar. “I actually put them in Blackboard so the kids can pick them up anytime.”
Many students go online to look for cheap date ideas, such as scavenger hunt lists. Ashlee Spangler, a freshman from Port Orchard, Wash., said one of the best dates she went on was a scavenger hunt.
Spangler said after looking up scavenger hunt lists online, they went to the mall and took as many photos as they could.
Another cheap idea Spangler suggested was sculpting with fruit.
“We just had a contest to see who could make the most creative sculpture,” she said.
Danielle Spencer, a junior majoring in earth and space science education, said her first date involved mini-golf with a twist.
“We played mini-golf, but our arms were tied together,” Spencer said.
Spencer said each couple then worked together to play the course.
“It was kind of an interesting first date because I’d never been on a date before and then my arm was tied to this guy that I’d never met before,” Spencer said.
Spencer said one way to save money on dates to dances is to cook dinner in your own kitchen beforehand.
Students, according to Livingstone, will always be able to come up with ways to date in Utah County without going over budget.
“It’s a wonderful place to be — cheap date Heaven,” Livingstone said.
