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"Last week, Melissa shared a great date idea for saving money in the new year. As it turns out, a steakhouse night with your couple friends isn&amp;#39;t just a great way to save money, it might be a really good move for your relationship.\nPinterestFacebookTeenagers playing miniature golf\nPHOTO: Getty Images/Brand XIn a new book, Two Plus Two: Couples and Their Couple Friendships, authors Gregory Greif and Kathy Deal studied 426 people and concluded that being close with another couple is great for relationships. It gives you another relationship to watch, so you can see how they handle their ups and downs. Seeing your partner interact with other people can make you appreciate them even more--maybe you didn&amp;#39;t realize just how charming your boyfriend can be when he tells a joke over cocktails. Plus, for the jealous types out there, it provides a more worry-free way to be friends with members of the opposite sex--this research showed that sexual attraction among couple friends was pretty rare.\nWhile I urge you not to forget about your single friends (hey, that&amp;#39;s me!), I do think hanging out with other couples when you&amp;#39;re in a couple is awesome. For one, it&amp;#39;s a good time, and for two, you can develop a secret fantasy that your future daughter will grow up to marry their future son.\nOccasional double-dates are great, but here are some ideas for really cementing friendship with another couple:\nA double order of couch potatoes, please! Is there a TV show you all like? Make it a habit to watch the show together whenever possible. I used to do this with my friends and our boyfriends when Lost was on the air, and we&amp;#39;d linger for an hour afterward, discussing the show, and then spend the next day dissecting recaps we&amp;#39;d read online via group emails. You don&amp;#39;t have to be obsessive nerds to enjoy TV together, but I do recommend it for optimal bonding.\nSign up for an activity together. It can be hard enough to coordinate two people&amp;#39;s calendars, let alone four, but enlisting in a wine-tasting class or joining a kickball team together is a great way to get in the habit of hanging out, since you&amp;#39;ve already paid for it and committed it to your schedules.\nPiggy-backing on Melissa&amp;#39;s idea, start a dinner club. My parents do this with three other couples. The host couple buys groceries and prints recipes, then assigns each couple a dish to make once they arrive. Couples that eat together, stay together\u2026and also, can diet together later. And endless cycle of friendship!\nDo you like hanging out with other couples? What&amp;#39;s your favorite double date activity?\nAlso related to double dating:\n5 Celebrity Couples We Want to Go on a Double Date With\n3 Cheap Double Date Ideas\nBooks: Would You Ever Start a Book Club With Your Guy?\nPhoto: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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