New York City is not known as a cheap city by any stretch of the imagination. However, we decided to take it on anyway. Since Mr. MMM and I only live a few hours away, it certainly wasn’t our first trip to The Big Apple, but it was our daughter’s first trip that she’ll actually remember. Due to this momentous occasion, we wanted to do some of the touristy stuff that she would recognize and expose her to the real New York City at the same time. I have to say, mission accomplished. If you’re wondering how we had frugal fun in New York City, keep reading! 

After a whirlwind weekend vacation in The Big Apple, I wanted to share some of our tips and tricks for maximum enjoyment with minimal financial outlay. Let’s do it.

Warning: We splurged a little too. 

Why New York City?

As many of you already know, we’re still in the process of pursuing financial independence, which means we’re still working full-time jobs. Along with full-time jobs comes a set amount of vacation time each year.

Mr. MMM has a more flexible schedule as his work is contracted. However, I’m stuck in an office under fluorescent lighting and, therefore, only have a set number of weeks off each year. To make the most of our time as a family, we make sure to schedule the majority of our vacation time during the summer months since that’s when Mini Monster is out of school. Genius, I know. 🙂

We chose New York City because it’s a cultural hub that is only a few hours away from our front door. Our daughter has been there before but she was much younger and sadly doesn’t remember any of it. This time, we wanted to make sure she remembered it in a BIG way.

Inexpensive Travel

I have driven to New York City plenty of times in my life and, despite it not being that far from us, it really is a pain in the butt to do. And it’s not free. Driving to NYC means dealing with traffic (lots and lots of traffic), tolls, and paying for gas. Not only is it not cheap, it’s also a big hassle that we just didn’t want to deal with on our mini-vacation. So, we opted to take a train instead.

As expected, the train was more expensive than driving, but it was hassle-free and it made our trip seem like a real vacation – especially for Mini. Despite spending a little extra, we were sure to take the train at non-peak times for optimal savings. #frugalwin

Planning Our Frugal Trip To The Big Apple

Any frugal vacation starts with a ton of research. I spent hours researching hotels and things to do that would provide us with hours of entertainment and keep us on budget.

We decided to stay in Midtown since we would be able to walk from the train station to our hotel and save on travel costs. Also, Midtown is where Times Square is and, although not our first choice, we knew our daughter would absolutely LOVE the sites and sounds of the area.

After hours of online research and comparison shopping, we booked a hotel in Times Square and made a plan to only venture away from Midtown one time to show her the World Trade Center and Wall Street.

How We Had Frugal Fun In New York City

Take a look at how we organized our weekend to have frugal fun below!

Food

Not surprisingly, food can be VERY expensive in the city and we didn’t always score a frugal win in this category. However, we did our best to choose inexpensive options and share meals whenever possible. We enjoyed delicious burgers and dogs at the Shake Shack and some genuine New York Pizza at Lombardi’s.

A Walk In The Park

One of the most important things for our daughter was to see the Balto statue in Central Park. Good for us – this was FREE and FUN. After dropping our bags at our Midtown hotel, we took a long walk down to the park and made our way to Balto. Thankfully, it was close-ish to where we entered the park and she was in awe.

American Museum of Natural History

This was one of the BIG things on our frugal NYC itinerary. Something a lot of people don’t know is that most museums are pay-what-you-want, despite having a sticker price. So, that’s exactly what we did.

The AMNH currently has a sticker price of $23 for adults and $13 for children. I can tell you that we paid a fair price but substantially less than that considering we were only planning on enjoying the museum for a few hours.

SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway

How could we possibly stay in Times Square and not expose our daughter to a Broadway musical? Answer: We couldn’t. Our daughter’s first choice was The Lion King; however, since this was her first Broadway experience and we weren’t sure how things were going to go, we directed her toward a less expensive decision.

Fortunately, SpongeBob SquarePants was playing on Broadway and discount tickets were being sold at TKTS. If you’re not familiar with TKTS, let me enlighten you. TKTS discount boots are located in Times Square and sell same-day Broadway and Off Broadway tickets for up to 50% off. Yes, 50% off!

Mr. MMM was gracious enough to stand in line for our SpongeBob tickets while Mini and I made our way back to the hotel to rest and clean up. We did make one mistake though, we didn’t go to the TKTS ticket booth as soon as they opened on the day of the show. That meant, Mr. MMM had to wait in line for an hour to buy tickets in the hot summer sun. But, at least we scored SpongeBob tickets at half price.

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a must-see in NYC – at least it was for us. And, once again, it was right next to Times Square and within walking distance of our hotel.

We trotted Mini down one morning and she was able to see the golden statue above the ice skating rink. Unfortunately, the ice skating rink was full of vendors and such since it was 90 degrees outside, but it was still nice to see. While there, we perused the shops and took in the NYC vibe and culture.

Bryant Park

Bryant Park isn’t nearly as big or popular as Central Park, but it’s a beautiful little green space in Midtown that is worth a look if you’re close. Locals hang there and it’s a wonderfully authentic NYC experience.

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Splurging Is Essential

What’s a vacation without a little splurging here and there? After all, that’s why Mr. MMM and I work so hard and save all year long – so we can enjoy things we like and spend money on things we value. Things we splurged on during our mini-vacation to NYC included the following:

A Boutique Hotel Splurge

Mr. MMM and I have a rule when we go on vacation, we like our accommodations to be at least as nice as our home. And our home is pretty nice.

Maybe that sounds a bit snobbish, but we don’t care. In our opinion, vacations are about relaxation and enjoyment. We chose LUMA as our home-away-from-home for our weekend getaway and we were not disappointed.

FYI, LUMA did not pay us a dime to mention their hotel either. We just really enjoyed our time there and highly recommend it to potential NYC-goers. Our room was new and beautifully designed. And the hotel staff was amazing. They also had a hotel robot named Alina that delivered things to your room. #socool

The Empire State Building

A trip to the top of the Empire State Building was essential for our trip. Mini requested a trip to the Statue of Liberty, but it just wasn’t in the cards this time around. And since the Empire State Building was in Midtown, we were able to easily walk to this iconic destination from our hotel.

We splurged on the tickets that went all the way to the top of the needle. If you’ve never been there, you have the option of buying tickets to the 86th-floor observation deck (outdoors) or buying tickets for both the 86th-floor and the 102nd-floor (inside observation room in the needle). We went for both and it certainly was NOT cheap. But, Mr. MMM had never been to the ESB before, so we went for it.

It was a clear day and the views were incredible, but I can’t recommend paying extra for the 102nd-floor observation room in the needle. It was indoors and it wasn’t much different than the view from the outdoor 86th-floor observation deck.

A Nice Dinner

We spent quite a bit of money on a nice dinner at an authentic NYC restaurant. No chains, no characters, and no gimmicks. Just pure New York City. It was truly wonderful to relax and enjoy a quaint and quiet restaurant along with a glass of wine for the adults (Mr. MMM and me).

Note: Mini had milk and a decent time as well.

And there you have it, our frugal yet fun weekend getaway to New York City. With a little planning (okay, a lot of planning), we were able to enjoy The Big Apple on a budget and still feel like we were pampering ourselves. It truly was a win-win.

What are your tips for saving money on an NYC vacation?