2 Nights in NYC – New York Money Diary

I recently spent two wonderful nights in NYC but as the budget conscious traveller I am, I was a little concerned about its spenny reputation. If you’ve read my plan to only spend £5k on my gap year, you’ll know that I only get £10 per day spending money. Obviously this wasn’t going to cut it in NYC. So I started hoarding little amounts each day in the two months ahead of the trip. By the time the trip rolled around I’d amassed a nice little pot of money and was ready to explore. So here we go, my New York money diary. Exactly how much I spent during my 2 night stay in the big apple!

Keep reading to find out exactly how much I spent and exactly what on. Spoiler alert – I was under budget 🤩

DAY 1

I landed into JFK just after 1pm, surprisingly on time considering we sat on the runway at Heathrow for an hour. After a faff with immigration and customs (it’s like they’d never heard of a solo backpacker), I escaped the airport around half two. Headed across the car park to catch the AirTrain to the nearest subway station. I didn’t realise you needed a physical metro card to get out of the station so I joined the mass of travellers at the machine to buy one. The machine rejected three of my cards, I later found out I was pressing the wrong setting for a foreign card! So I had to abandon that plan and queue for one at the kiosk.

After a ten minute wait, I successfully got a metro card ($1 fee) and had it topped up with the $8 dollars needed to pay for the AirTrain ($9/£7.74). Once I was finally through the barriers, I headed underground to the subway station. NYC have upgraded their system since the last time I was in the city and you can now pay with contactless. Therefore my brand new metro card was no longer needed. Swiped at the barrier ($2.75/£2.37) to catch subway one of two. Needed to transfer stations once I made it to Manhattan to catch the 1 uptown. Discovered I was only a few blocks from Times Square so couldn’t resist taking the detour. Times Square is just as crazy and overwhelming as I remember. Standing here was when it really sunk in that I am actually in New York City.

Fight my way through the crowds to reach the subway station at the other side of the Times Square. Tap my card ($2.75/£2.37) and jump on the 1 uptown to reach my hostel. Make it to my hostel just after 4pm, yep three whole hours after I landed! As I arrived just after check-in time, there was a queue at the desks. Another 20 minutes later, it’s finally my turn to check-in. I booked through booking.com so I could pay on arrival ($120.98/£104.05).

Once I reach my room – a bunk in a 12-bed female dorm – I take advantage of the fact that no one else is in there and facetime my parents. After we’ve had a catch-up and a room tour, I let them go because it’s 10pm in the UK. Time zones are a strange thing!

After the best shower I’ve ever had (only because I slept in the airport last night!) I head out to explore the neighbourhood I am staying in and find the “high street”. They have a Sephora, Whole Foods and Target on the same street. I spend about 30 minutes in each store just wandering around 😂. I’d seen a Chipotle at the top of the street so was planning to head there to get tea. But on my way there I walk past a burger place advertising vegan burgers – change my mind almost immediately!

I order their classic vegan burger with fries and a diet coke ($31.38/£26.99). They bring over complimentary savoury popcorn with my drink which is so cute! The burger is amazing and I leave absolutely stuffed. Head back to the hostel and I’m asleep the moment my head hits the pillow.

DAY ONE = $166.86/£143.52

DAY 2

Jetlag is real and I’m wide awake at 4am. No use wasting the day so I get ready and head out. Walk a few extra blocks to catch a direct subway to Brooklyn Bridge ($2.75/£2.37). Arrive just before sunrise but it’s a very gloomy, rainy morning so the sun is nowhere to be seen. Sliver lining of it being so early is that the bridge is almost empty! I walk almost halfway, do a mini photoshoot with a random stranger and then walk back into Manhattan to find a place to charge my phone.

End up at Starbucks because I know they will have plugs. Wow! The drink options are so so much better than in the UK. It takes a solid ten minutes to even take in the entire menu 😂. I go for a peppermint oat hot chocolate with an everything bagel and avocado spread ($11.16/£9.60) so so good. Chill for a while to let my phone charge and then I head back out to explore.

After three hours of exploring, my feet are starting to ache, my phone is nearly dead again and I’m thirsty. I find the next quintessential American chain I want to experience – Dunkin Doughnuts. Gutted to find out they don’t do a vegan doughnut so I settle for a passionfruit iced tea ($4.13/£3.55) and sit down to charge my phone.

Phone is back to 90% so I’m ready to go again. Carry on with my self-directed walking tour until my hunger gets the best of me. Head to another American chain on my list, Sweetgreens for lunch. Omg it’s like subway for salads but the menu is more confusing 😂. End up going for the build your own and panic add a few bits that look good ($12.47/£10.72). For that price, I’m so glad it’s massive and tastes amazing!

Head back out to resume my walking tour for the rest of the afternoon. Seen all the spots on my list by 5pm so I jump on the subway ($2.75/£2.37) back to the hostel. After a quick freshen up, I head to Chipotle for tea. Go for a sofrita (turns out this is fried tofu) burrito, tortillas & salsa and a lemonade ($20.47/£17.61). I really underestimated the portion size and can’t manage the tortillas on top of the burrito so I take these to eat later. Spoiler alert – later never came as they ended up spilling in my bag and just made a massive mess 😂.

After walking 34,000 steps today, I’m fast asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

DAY TWO = $53.73/£46.22

DAY 3

My day starts the same as the day before, wide awake at 4am and out the door at 6am. This time I head to Central Park for sunrise. Even though my hostel is only 3 blocks west of the park it’s at the very top so I decide to take the subway ($2.75/£2.37) to the middle of the park. On the walk from the subway stop to the park I nip into Starbucks to grab another one of those incredible peppermint hot chocolates. Who knew that they have stores where you can only pick up app orders? 🤯 Yep, google maps did not tell me that! Try and download the app in store but my UK AppStore isn’t having any of it.

End up having to walk 10 blocks north to a regular Starbucks, in the direction of my hostel making the subway journey almost pointless 😂. Find the store and order my drink. So excited for it that I get a bigger size ($6.80/£5.85). Grab my drink and finally make my way to the park. Take a sip and it’s tastes different from yesterday, realise I’ve ended up with a peppermint oat white hot chocolate – yep tastes as bad as it sounds. But I’ve just paid nearly $7 for it so I drink every last drop 😂.

As it’s half six on a monday morning, the park is almost empty, just me and a couple joggers – it is absolute bliss. I whack a podcast on and wander round. After an hour or so, my handS are little icesicles and my phone is once again nearly dead so I have a quick look on google maps to see what’s close. Find out I’m very close to the Natural History Museum so head there for a look around. Turns out I’m two hours early so that plan goes down the drain 😅. Head into a cute little cafe instead and get a juice and slice of vegan banana bread ($10.50/£9.03).

In my mind, I was going to spend all morning at the park but it’s a little too cold for that so I change up the itinerary and decide I do have time to visit Brooklyn. Take the subway ($2.75/£2.37) back to the hostel to pack all my stuff up and check out. Don’t really fancy carting my backpack around so ask reception if I can leave it with them, they point me in the direction of the lockers they have but it’s $5 for the day. Add in the fact that the hostel is in the Upper West Side and I would have to factor in the almost hour round-trip on the subway to go back for it, I decide against the locker and take the bag with me. It has wheels so it’s not that much of a faff.

Jump on the subway directly to Brooklyn ($2.75/£2.37). Head straight to the famous Manhattan Bridge photo spot in Dumbo, have another mini photoshoot with a randomer. Phone is on its last legs again (yep I know I need a new one) so I dive into a coffee shop and get an iced tea ($5/£4.30). Considering I only decided to come here this morning, I take a few moments to google what’s close by. Find that I’m only a couple blocks from the Time Out Market so decide to head there once my phone has a little more charge.

Make my way over to Time Out Market and marvel at all the food stalls they have. I go for an everything bagel with tofu (who knew it could have the texture of cream cheese – mindblown!), lettuce and tomato ($9.38/£8.07) this thing is massive. Follow the signs for the roof terrace and take the lift up five flights – shocked at how incredible the views are!!

It’s still early so the terrace is empty meaning I get to choose the best table and can’t resist facetiming my parents to show them the view! I settle in and enjoy my bagel just watching the world go by.

Sit there for about an hour before I have to leave to make my train on time. Jump back on the subway ($2.75/£2.37) into Manhattan. Doesn’t take as long as I thought it would so I have time to do little browsing before my train. My hands are not loving the cold and are very dry so I head into Bath & Body Works to buy handcream. There wasn’t a price tag on the product so I’m a little shocked when I get to the till ($8.17/£7.03) probably should’ve gone to a drugstore instead.

Walk to Penn Station and wait in the Amtrak lounge for my train to be called for boarding. Weekend in NYC done and dusted. Chicago here I come 🤩

DAY THREE = $50.85/£43.76

TOTAL = $271.44/£233.50

Extremely happy with this total as I ate out for every meal and kinda just went for whatever I fancied. I’d put aside £105 to cover the hotel as I knew the price in advance and then budgeted £60 per day for all other expenses. This means that I came in £51.50 under budget 🎉

Hope you enjoyed this New York money diary of mine, stay tuned for more editions as my three months in the USA continues!