The importance of putting your marriage first

I have been told that your marriage should be something that you spend money on, but until that last month or two, I was more focused on paying off debt then I was on putting money into my marriage. I thought that date nights were something that was too "expensive". However Steve showed me that we were both feeling quite down and that marriage is something that should be cared for. So for the past month or so we have been focusing on date nights when we can and now we are planning for our first overnight getaway in three years to amish country. I cannot begin to describe what a difference this has made in our attitudes. We are both so much happier. I have heard from so many couples that say that a marriage should come first. And we've worked hard to make it so that the date nights haven't cost us much money at all. Even the weeknight away we are doing very cheaply. What we've done to help:
* Swagbucks: We've used our swagbucks to purchase resturant.com giftcards to go out to eat.
* Appitizers at a local diner. When you only purchase appitizers and pop it's pretty cheap. We've been able to do $15-20 including a generous tip.
* Go window shopping together. (Hand holding is required :)
* For the getaway we are using a giftcard I was given for a birthday present, we are packing drinks, snacks, breakfast, and a nice dinner in our cooler. Lunch is typically cheaper and so we will be doing lunch out. The place we are going to provides dishes, a grill, a refrigerator, and a microwave so we can do some basic cooking if everything else is prepared already.

I would encourage all married couples to think of your marriage and put time into it. It doesn't have to be expensive, just think outside the box. We've decided that the night away will now become a yearly thing. It is that important to us.