My husband and I are fortunate enough to have pretty frequent date nights.
And while we’re lucky enough to have that time together, we also know that there’s only so much in the budget for those nights out. So we’re always on the lookout for great deals that we can use specifically for date night.
Chinoki, an app that sends out local deals via text or e-mail, seems like it’ll be a great addition to our budget-friendly date night ideas.
Here’s how Chinoki works:
1. You go online and sign up for a Chinoki account (all free, of course).
2. Then you can go through and choose which merchants you’re interested in receiving deals from. There’s a definite focus right now on restaurants (which is perfect for our date night needs!), but there are also other retail merchants and family-friendly restaurants as well.
3. Choose whether you want your deals to arrive via text or e-mail. (Love it that we have the choice!)
4. That’s it! Now you just wait for the deal to pop up on your phone.
Here’s how one of my offers arrived (via text):
When I clicked on that link, it brought me to the actual coupon I’d be using. It was for Triumph Brewery, one of our favorites!
This week’s coupon was a quick turnaround – it expired only a few hours after it arrived, in fact. We already had our date night blocked out and our child care set, so it wasn’t a problem for us to get down there and take advantage of it. That’s not always the case for us, though.
Since it was a happy hour special, I don’t think there was any way around the tight turnaround time this time, and I believe that each deal will be different (and that it won’t be so immediate, drop-everything, let’s go get that deal. Right. NOW!) Though that does add some fun to date night, for sure!
Stop taking photos... we have a deal to catch!
We made it with plenty of time to spare – and it was a nice way to start out our evening. In fact, we were enjoying our relaxing evening at Triumph Brewery (in the nice cool AC) so much that we decided to stay for dinner as well. The atmosphere of the Triumph is laidback, making for a perfect way to start (or end) a night out on the town.
Take a look at the rest of our photos (and the food! oh, the amazing food!) on my Google + album. Seriously… you have to see their soft pretzels. They’re a must-order.
To learn more about Chinoki, visit their website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. and Chinoki #CBias #SocialFabric
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
What a great date night! Looks like a great deal too (and an awesome way to beat the heat)!
My husband was thrilled – great deal on handcrafted beer? It didn’t take much convincing!
It sounds like you had a wonderful evening and that sounds like a fun way to get a good deal. I’ll have to check it out.
Definitely a fun way to find a deal. The element of surprise makes it that much more unexpected!
Sounds like a great evening. Date nights I can’t remember the last date night we had guess it is time to plan one.
Without our family’s willingness to watch the kids, date nights would be far fewer. We’re lucky to have those nights, but we definitely look forward to them!
This is my kind of stuff! I love deals, especially for dining out!
Yes! There are a lot of our favorites on the list of merchants they currently offer, but I’ve also signed up for a bunch of other places we haven’t tried yet. I figure that’s going to be a great way for us to explore new restaurants. We’ll go where the deal takes us and see if we can find a few new favorites around the city!
Love the Triumph Brewery’s atmosphere, though we haven’t been there in a long time. Have to put it back on the list!
It’s definitely one of our favorites: laidback atmosphere, locally-sourced food and a great beer selection. And within walking distance of a couple great independent movie theaters. That’s our version of dinner and a movie – and it’s one of our favorite kind of date nights!
I’m so jealous of your date nights!
I know – sometimes I feel bad even bringing them up! Believe me, I appreciate how lucky we are to have them!