New York City on a Budget

I think everyone can agree that New York City is a special place. It’s amazing how much life and excitement can be packed into such a compact island. Unfortunately, sometimes this life and excitement gets translated into an expensive trip budget. It doesn’t have to though. One of the things that makes NYC a fantastic frugal getaway is the multitude of choice FOR EVERYTHING!Here’s a short guide to tackling the Big Apple without blowing bank.Getting to NYC:Getting to NYC isn’t necessarily expensive (which is great because accommodations can be). Decide when you want to go, shop around for a few weeks and then execute on booking travel when you’ve found a good seat sale. The nice thing about NYC is that you can fly into one of three airports and there are several bus and train stations so you’re bound to find something at a reasonable price. NYC is also accessible year round so if you’re flexible in your dates, the deals will only get better. For my recent trip, I used at least 5 travel sites to compare flight prices - I usually start with a website that does comparisons, Expedia or Orbitz for example, and then move to individual airline carriers.Accommodations:Almost a lost cause in NYC. I’ve resigned myself to accommodations being a sizable cost but fortunately, it’s one of the only major expenses. And even in NYC, you can find a spectrum of prices associated with accommodations.Today, pretty much all of Manhattan and many of the surrounding areas are tourist friendly. There is absolutely no need to stick to Times Square or Central Park when it comes to accommodation. In fact, I would discourage it. There are so many beautiful and vibrant neighborhoods that staying outside the tourist core will only make your trip more interesting.To keep costs down, start with with travel websites like Expedia, Hotwire and Priceline but don’t neglect alternative options like airbnb and flipkey. On my last two stays, I’ve shared accommodations (sometimes fitting four into a room) and stayed in Chinatown which is probably one of the more affordable areas that’s within walking distance of all major attractions. Chinatown also has about a million food options within a 2km radius - it’s right next to Nolita and Little Italy!For budget accommodations there are also hostels although I understand they are difficult to come by. Other options include couchsurfing and airbnb (not necessarily a budget alternative but it can be if you choose to rent a room or bed from someone).Getting to and from the airport in NYC:I’ll admit that this step stumped me on this trip. After using an online fare estimator to estimate how much it would cost to get from Newark to our hotel, I realized that the cost of cab fare was something that pushed me a little outside my frugal comfort zone. It seemed ridiculous to pay $80-$150US for a ride that could take 1.5 hours (traffic!). I wasn’t interested in sitting in a cab for my entire first evening and certainly not at that price!Fortunately, my travel companion agreed and we explored other options including an Airshuttle, Town Car, an Airport Express and Public Transit. Based on tripadvisor reviews, public transit won. The experience was surprisingly easy and we got to Penn Station on Manhattan in 30 minutes and then hopped in a cab to our hotel (total cost ended up being under $20US each). We used the same strategy to get back to the airport on our return home.Food:Yummm...my favorite part! It didn’t help that I was pregnant on this trip. The wonderful thing about NYC is that the food options are virtually limitless and constantly changing. I tend to avoid the travel guide recommendations because I find them either dated or expensive or overly popular.On this trip, I used a combination of my smartphone map app and tripadvisor to decide where to eat. I find user reviews critical. I was also fortunate to receive some excellent recommendations from friends that either live or have recently visited the City.My travel companion and I had great culinary success in Nolita, Little Italy, and Chinatown. In Little Italy you can subsist mainly on cannolis and in Chinatown we tried several places that offered pork buns and coconut buns (there are options EVERYWHERE).In Nolita, on the recommendation of our tour guide (more about that below), we tried Prince St. Pizza and Cafe Habana - both were delicious. Casual but great quality.Other places we enjoyed included: Ferrari’s, Cafe Maman, the Grey Dog, and Eataly.Keeping Busy:Keeping yourself occupied in NYC is not a challenge. And fortunately, the options for free activities are extensive.First and foremost I recommend walking (or taking the subway) almost everywhere. The City is alive at all hours and the people watching is unbeatable.We kicked off our trip with a foot tour offered by Free Tours by Foot. It’s an organization that offers a variety of tours and the cost is based on what you want to pay at the end. Our tour focused on Chinatown and Soho which familiarized us with our area and allowed us to pick our guide’s brain on restaurant recommendations.My favorite free activities include strolling Central Park, walking through the craziness of 5th Avenue and Times Square, taking in the skyskrapers and architecture (Empire State Building and Flat Iron Building), walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, and strolling through Soho. The window shopping is also tough to beat.New York is known for Broadway and although pricey it’s one thing that I made sure to budget for. I’ve seen three shows on Broadway in New York and they have all been exceptional and worth every cent. To score the best prices, use a service called TKTS. They have booths in the South Pier area and Times Square (the South Pier area had no line) where they sell same day tickets to any show that still has free seats. On this trip, we scored 50% off for tickets to see Les Miserables and sat 8 rows from the stage!If the main attractions or museums are something you cannot live without, I strongly encourage buying a multi-day City pass that gives you access to the top sites at a reduced price. It requires a bit more planning but your travel budget will thank you because some of the main tourist sites in New York are costly.Getting to and from the airport in your home city:Sometimes we forget this step because it’s not nearly as exciting as planning our destination, but if your city is anything like mine where the airport is not close to work or home, then transportation to and from the airport is a considerable expense. On this trip, I opted to take the bus to the get to the airport, and cab home because I arrived late on Sunday and had to be at work early the next morning.Other sensible options include uber, an airport shuttle (available in some cities where the airport is outside the reaches of public transit), getting a ride with a friend, and parking (but beware that it may cost more to park than cabbing depending on the length of your stay).Other than those tips, my best suggestion would be to get lost exploring! The City has so much to offer including history, art, life and excitement that it’s hard not to enjoy just wandering around. Before going I checked out a travel guide from my local library and it was a great addition to my travel toolkit.Article by Jessica Alen, MeVest Contributor