Our favorite romantic times have always been things that we *did* together, instead of just going someplace to be entertained.
1) We love playing board and card games (our selection is more Settlers of Catan and much less Uno).We play with just each other or with my adult siblings.
2) Sometimes we bake cookies, or make up a HUGE batch of stovetop popcorn and watch old movies. We have a tradition of prefacing movies with our rendition of the 20th Century Fox introduction music, even if it's not a Fox movie.
3) Reading aloud to each other. We alternate who gets to choose books. We've shared many books this way: The Hobbit, Snowcrash, Cryptonomicon, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Atlas Shrugged. Often he'll read to me while I'm doing something fiddly, like sorting coupons, folding laundry, crocheting, or cooking.
4) We used to have a long commute together, and he used to take his camera along to take pictures of skyscapes. He gets really excited about skyscapes and I loved watching his enthusiasm. We have hundreds of stunning digital photos of interesting clouds, sunsets, rainbows, thunderstorms, bird flock formations, phases of the moon - you name it!
Like in all frugal activities, it sometimes takes more imagination to do things frugally, but how much more memorable and fun!
