New york spending money

[Idonkt]

I'm going to New york for 10 days in December, I have paid the flights and accommodation, I'm just wondering how much money would I need to bring, I don't plan on really shopping there, maybe buy a few items but nothing expensive, and I plan to use cheap and cheerful restaurants, would anyone have a rough guide on how much I should take, I'm traveling alone.

[S0CKS]

I always like at least $100 a day per person.
Really though you could do it a lot cheaper if you want to dollar menu at McDonald's etc.

[Purpletigers]

Aim for £100 a day and some extra just in case . Better to have some you don’t spend than not have enough. There are some lovely places to eat which don’t have waitress service which makes a huge difference to eating out . Also if there’s a restaurant you’d like to eat in I’d recommend going for lunch instead of dinner .
Try the restaurants where the locals eat in Brooklyn and Greenpoint too .

[ComtesseDeSpair]

I live in London and eat and drink at some rather nice places here - and even I’ve been staggered at quite how expensive NYC is. Above estimate of $100 per day per person I think is fairly accurate if you’re planning to go to medium price restaurants and not drink much alcohol (I have no idea how anyone affords to get drunk there, the friend I visit owns a bar and that’s the only reason I can!)

Chinatown has a lot of restaurants which are pretty easy on the wallet, and some of the hipster places in Williamsburg are very nice but affordable (I encourage you to go to Pies and Thighs!)

Entry to museums and galleries is astronomical and really makes me appreciate the UK where so many world class museums and galleries are free or heavily subsidised.

[carrie74]

We went at Easter and it felt as though I couldn't step outside the hotel for less than $25😂.

We weren't shopping either, but eating was expensive, plus frequent snacks/drinks when stopping for a break. You can price up costs of the sights you want to see (and potentially pre-book - definitely now if you want to go up SoL), and travel costs here. And consider one of those passes, although when I priced it up for us it wasn't more economical.

[user1519475227]

I took $800 for 7 nights for just myself we had already paid for flights, hotel and transfers. It did me tickets to a basketball game, all food and drink (tipsy at least 4 nights) all travel and sightseeing, along g with buying a few bits and came back with about $120. That was april this year and got roughly $1.31 exchange rate. We didn't hold back re food and drink but had a great time.

[FatimaLovesBread]

We went in March and took £1000 for 5 days for two of us. We had a small amount left over that we wasted on gifts on the last day. We budgeted $250 per day

[Eminybob]

I agree with the above rule of thumb of $100 per day, however I wouldn’t actually take any cash, just use cash machines/card payments while you are there. Nationwide offer commission free withdrawals from one of their current accounts, and commission free purchases on one of their credit cards. Hi

[GMtoBe]

When we went, we spent around $600 in 4 days between 2 of us, not including clothes shopping. It was part of our honeymoon though and so I think $100 a day is probably reasonable.

[reluctantbrit]

Don’t forget that you need to pay tax on purchases which are not shown on the price itself. Also, you will have to pay around 25% tip even in cheaper restaurants.

Museums are easily $20 entry, i really appreciated the prices in museums here in the UK after a visit.

[DieCryHate]

I took £100 per day with an additional £100 to cover transfer and travel costs. We did prebook the TOTR beforehand as well as Statue of Liberty so that didn't come out of my spending money. I came home with a good chunk of cash left over. Did some nice bars and restaurants, didn't penny pinch however I didn't go shopping, other than some souvenirs.

[amusedbush]

We've been several times and always take $100 a day, and always come back with loads of cash! It totally depends on what you'll be doing. We never have a sit-down dinner in a restaurant simply because we prefer pizza/burgers/sandwiches/BBQ etc so that keeps the costs down, and we don't really drink booze so that's another saving.

I will say though, we went in November and really noticed a hike in prices even since the year before. I'm not sure what happened (the exchange rate was actually better than in previous years) but everything just seemed so much more expensive.

I've always defended New York and insisted it's as expensive as you make it but for the first time ever we started saying no to things due to cost, which put a dampener on it. It's not nice to scrimp when you're on holiday but I'm not paying $6 plus tax for a red velvet croissant, no matter how much I love cream cheese icing!

[amusedbush]

Also, you will have to pay around 25% tip even in cheaper restaurants

Steady on, I'm not a Rockefeller. 15-20% is standard.

[sweetkitty]

We are just back. We had bought our attraction tickets before we went and we probably spent $1500 at least there (family of 6) I have been before years ago but I was so shocked how expensive everything is, even McDonalds £25 for us all here was at least $40. We were in an apartment and shopped at Aldi/Target for basics cereal was $5, bread $3, jam $3. An ice-cream was $4 each too

[Idonkt]

Thanks so much ladies

[Idonkt]

Can I ask is canal street market worth a visit?

[reluctantbrit]

@amusedbush - if you are anywhere Times Square, Rockefeller Center etc, this is what is expected. I actually had a waiter complaining.

[amusedbush]

reluctantbrit

Which is one reason of many I’d never eat near Times Square 😬🙈

[MrsGrindah]

Alcoholic drinks are really expensive I found. And our large measures are much larger than theirs ( I know that’s not necessarily a bad thing but be mindful when you are checking prices)

[ComtesseDeSpair]

@Idonkt - I would go to anywhere and everywhere you can and have always wanted to go. Don’t listen to other people’s recommendations! That’s what first visits to NYC are for - going to see the city and the lifestyle you’ve seen in the movies and the tv shows, and seeing what you make of it! Canal Street market is worth a visit for that reason. Walk across the bridges (if you’re a runner - I am - then run them, a loop of the Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and through the lower east side and DUMBO will be in my memory forever) and

Explore. The best bits don’t cost money. But don’t scrimp. Some of the best restaurants in NYC might be pricey, but they’re worth splashing out for just the once, just because they are such an integral part of the city.

[TheTurnOfTheScrew]

we spent loads when we were there year before last , and we're generally pretty frugal - didn't do much in the way of shopping or fancy meals

bigger attractions are by and large $25 each - things like Empire State Building, Intrepid, MOMA. There never seemed to be much of a reduction for child tickets (including subway fares).

restaurants are definitely more expensive than London so we did a fair bit of street food. Agree that even supermarket food was £££ when we stocked up for snacks - especially fruit, even if US grown, which we found odd.

I only found my limit of piss-taking prices when were were in Cape Cod though. One beach stall wanted $5 for an ice-cream - not artisanal gelato, but a crappy mock-Cornetto.