With tough economic times pinching the budget, at-home dates are bound to grow in popularity. However, you don’t want to sit on the couch staring at each other either.

Keeping your date indoors isn’t the only way to save money at home, but it’s a great start when you need to save money or reduce your debt load.

Here are some cheap indoor dates

• Not great in winter, but when weather permits stargazing is a great opportunity to just be silent, or talk about whatever is on your mind. In winter, take out a blanket and sit by your fireplace.
• Get a DVD at your local library or Blockbuster, and have a movie night at home. I prefer this to going to the theater anyways, because I love snuggling up on the couch with a blanket and some good food.
• Hold a poker night or play a (sexy) board game.
• Hold your own wine & cheese tasting: instead of shelling out big bucks, get a variety of different cheeses and some different wines, and set up your own wine tasting. Light some candles, and you’ve got yourself a romantic, and relatively cheap, evening.
• Pamper each other with a foot massage or back rub. Get some nice massage oil, light candles and take a relaxing bubble bath together. Life is stressful enough, just taking your time to unwind together can really help set a great mood.

An evening in doesn’t mean you are not having fun. I can think of many times I’ve gone out, spent money, and had a lousy time. Staying home, and setting up an evening filled with activities you like, you can have a load of fun, while taking the pressure off your pocketbook.

Of course there is nothing like balance. You can’t stay home every single date-night, and you can’t expect to go out every night either. Tipping the balance a bit more towards the home-front, can definitely save you a bundle of cash.

What do you like to do on an ‘at-home date’? What is your main reason for going out instead of staying in?

Are you between the ages of 15 and 29, and are you interested in a more cultural date than your standard “dinner-and-a-movie” package deal? There are some great programs if you live in the Toronto area. Here is a list of three cultural treats that cost $20 or less per ticket!

Dance Break

Dance Break is a membership program that allows you to buy tickets to the National Ballet for $20. It is accessible to 16 to 29 year olds, and completely free to join. As long as you are one of the ticket holders, you can also purchase an additional ticket at the same price for your date, regardless of his or her age.

Extra bonus: you get the best seats in the theatre, excluding the Grand Ring. Regularly, you would have to pay over $100 for some of the seats you can access at only $20.

The catch: you can only purchase tickets on the day of the performance, so they are subject to availability. But really… there’s always some extra room!

For an overview of the 2008-2009 program from the National Ballet, go here.

T-Soundcheck

The Toronto Symphony (TSO) has organized a program called T-Soundcheck. If you’re between 15 and 29 years of age, you can sign up to buy tickets to the TSO for only $12! Sometimes there are even special promotions that are cheaper. Right now, you can buy tickets to Mendelssohn & Haydn at $6 a piece!

In addition, there is also an option called Tsoundcheck plus. These are ticket packages where you get to choose four concerts to go to. These packages are available if you are between 15 and 34 years of age. You get to pick between main floor, mezzanine, or balcony seating for the concerts, and you are automatically assigned the best possible seats.

Dating someone older than 29? Not to worry; as long as you are below the age of 29 you can purchase an extra ticket, at the same low price, for anyone else accompanying you. Regardless of your date’s age! If you can’t find a date, you can even take your mother instead, and just pay $12 for the ticket.

You can find an overview of the 08-09 concert season here.

New Age: Canadian Opera Company

Although at the Canadian Opera Company everyone under the age of 30 can purchase $20 tickets as well, it appears from their website that each ticket holder has to be under the age of 30. This is a considerable difference between the other two programs mentioned before.

Nonetheless, it is still a great deal and if you must take someone who is older, you might be able to get a rush ticket on the day of the performance for the same price.

Benefit: You can buy your ticket a week before opening night. For each performance about 150 seats are reserved for the New Age program. The seats are in sections 3D, 4C, and 5B.
The Catch: If you are on a date, both of you have to be under the age of 30 and bring valid photo ID.
Because the seats available are restricted to certain sections, you have a better chance at getting a great seat with the t-soundcheck, or Dance Break, programs.

Opera for a New Age tickets are available in person at the Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W., Toronto, or through COC Online using the Promo Code “DEAL.” Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m.

Have You Attended?

Have you gotten cheap tickets through any of these programs? Where you happy with your seats, and which one is your favorite?

Stop nagging at each other to pick up the dry-cleaning or take out the garbage! Instead, trigger your competitive side by sharing a To-Do list online.

Task2GAther is an online task manager where you get to add and manage to-do lists and access them from anywhere you have an internet connection. Best of all: you get to share your to-do list with friends or family,… or a spouse. Instead of sticking notes on the fridge, update your shared to-do list online and perhaps Hubby will remember to pick up the dry cleaning on his way home, instead of leaving it for tomorrow.

Why share a to-do list?

Relationships are vulnerable to nagging and disappointment when the littlest expectations are not met. Instead of making the chores you both need to do a part of your daily conversation (when you should be spending quality time together instead!) make a shared to-do list of chores you are both responsible for. This makes it easier to take care of some random chores and make your boyfriend or girlfriend happy.

So you messed up… you know you’ve made a mistake and now you need to confess you are sorry. Whether you know you were wrong because your girl- or boyfriend is giving you the cold shoulder, or you just realized it all on your own, it is important to own up to your mistake and restore the relationship.

Simply saying “I’m sorry” is not always enough though. You may very well be sorry, but will you do it again? Have you done the same thing before? If you are a repeat-offender in the relationship game, then your “sorry” will be worth less and less over time.

Even if you have made the same mistakes again and again, if you finally realize you were wrong after all and want to make things right, you can simply change up how you say you are sorry.

How to apologize
Ever heard an apology that sounds a little like this: “I’m really sorry I called you a bitch, BUT…”?
The “but” might be followed with something like “you drove me to it”, or “I was very frustrated”, or a range of other excuses. This, my friend, is NOT an apology. Here you are saying you’re sorry, but you are actually shifting the responsibility over to the other person again. You are not saying sorry, you are instead blaming the other person for ‘making’ you do something you now regret.

You may still be forgiven, but the relationship will never be what it was, or could be.
A better way to apologize and actually restore your relationship, you truly have to own what you say, and mean it. It will depend on the person you are apologizing to in terms of how you will end up phrasing things. However, you will generally say you are sorry for a specific action or comment, and then explain you will try your best not to do it again.

If you are a repeat offender, then just saying you won’t be doing it again holds little value after three times. Your promise will be greeted with the “yeah yeah” it is worth. Instead, explain what you will to do prevent making the same mistake.

If you call your loved-one names, and although you would like to stop it seems you keep doing it again, make sure you distance yourself from a situation where this behavior is triggered. If you yell during fights about particular topics, then take some distance. Go for a walk, clear your head, and only return when you are calm enough to face this issue like an adult and talk it through.

Dealing with the emotional trigger
Having said that, it takes two to tango and if your partner acts like a child during a disagreement, then perhaps you should have a chat about communication skills. There isn’t a thing in the world that really requires raising your voice for, so if your name-calling is triggered by her yelling, then although you have to own up to your mistakes, you still need to find a way to peacefully discuss a hot topic. That’s for another article though…

As a couple searching for romantic travel destinations, it can be hard to agree on something you both will enjoy. You can narrow down your list by finding out what each of you enjoys the most, then putting your lists together to agree upon a final destination you both love. After trying these simple steps, you should find the planning to go a lot smoother.

Here are some simple questions you can ask yourselves to narrow down your list..

* Are you interested in travelling to famous landmarks? There are some amazing historic monuments and museums that some couples find very romantic.

* Are you looking to relax in a tropical setting? Some popular destinations are Mexico and the Caribbean. (For a complete list, check out the website below).

* Do you want to do any extreme sports while your there? Skydiving, snowboarding, para-sailing…there are tons of them you may want to look in to.

* Are you looking to go somewhere that has a lot of fun activities to keep you busy? Some examples are scuba diving, going to concerts or taking day trips.

* Are you looking for a trip that is all inclusive? There are many websites that can offer you great deals if you book a package deal. These are usually flight + hotel + meals. Some also may include transportation or activities. (If you book your trip during a low season, or book a last minute deal, you can save huge amounts of money)

* Would you prefer joining tour groups, or doing things on your own? Many European trip companies offer tour groups. Many people enjoy these because it gives them an opportunity to meet different people and they may feel more safety as a group.

* Do you enjoy nature? Would you like to go somewhere that you can ‘take it all in’? There are so many beautiful countries filled with waterfalls, mountains, rivers and majestic scenery. Do some research to find the perfect on for you and your partner.

*Are you looking to stay in one place or would you enjoy a cruise to several different locations? Cruise bring more variety which many people like. However, you must adhere to the cruise’s time schedule.

Try going over these questions with your partner to narrow down you list. Answering them will hopefully help you identify a romantic adult getaway you both will enjoy.

Good Luck!

Foodies and lovers get to turn up the heat in the kitchen with an online foodie community: www.foodconnect.com.

This is a user created food network that allows you to trade and search recipes, create a profile, add favorite recipes to your favorite recipes book and even create a shopping list based on the recipe(s) you choose. I wish I could make a simple statement like “this is the facebook of food lovers”, but it is not really like that. Your personal profile on Food Connect is not as important, socially, as the recipes you upload. So while this is a social networking tool in a sense, it is more like social collaboration and exchange. Food Connect is more a tool, than social networking. Creating a profile helps you connect to other people’s recipes and keep them bookmarked and handy. It also creates a custom shopping list based on the recipes you choose, which some could find handy. However, it does not necessarily help you find a date to feed all this home cooked food to! Food connect really connects you to food, and leaves it up to the user to find someone to feed it to.

So the DatingSOS.com verdict is easy:

www.foodconnect.com is the ultimate tool for every foodie.

What makes foodconnect.com so great? These and many other features:

- Free nutritional analysis, for all recipes on the site and every recipe you submit.
- Share your recipes with your friends and other foodies.
- Discuss recipe ideas and techniques.
- Plan your meal and easily print off your shopping list.
- Create the perfect dinner party

All of this and much more and best of all its all free. Get to foodconnecct.com to get started today.