Unless you are part of the 1%, you probably have a budget for your trip. And believe me, there is no shame in properly budgeting and sticking to your spending plan. Aside from the occasional “make it rain” scenario at the strip club most of us wont be throwing our cash around.
Of course its ok to splurge on food and activities sometimes, but its important to be frugal when spending on housing and transportation, especially if you are trying to make it last as long as possible.
Los Angeles is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but with our pro tips, you will be able to enjoy yourself without getting one of those crazy payday loans. I think the APR comes out to like 180% on those!
Choosing an area to stay while in LA
There are some major price differences depending on where you would like to stay. Most of the hotels in the nice places like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Hollywood and Downtown will range from $150-400 a night. I would induldge in some of those for the weekends if you were interested in the more social and active areas of nightlife.
PRO-TIP: Figure out what you are most interested in doing for a week and then book an accommodation accordingly in order to spend less on traveling during that week.
Culver City is the reasonable alternative to areas like Santa Monica and Venice in regards to being cheaper and still being close to the ocean.
Staying near the beach will always be pricey, especially during the summer. If you are a water lover, look to stay at the Hi Santa Monica hostel, this way you can experience the posh beach vibe while spending less than $100 per night. You can scope some of our favorite hostels listed here.
The South Bay has some of the cleaner beaches by the way, so if you get a chance check out places like Manhattan and Redondo Beach. If beaches are your thing, hop over to The Beach Bum section for a beachy ol’ break down.
Hollywood is the entertainment capital of the world. If your interest is celebrity sightings, checking out the Hollywood Walk of Fame or the Hollywood Sign, or otherwise grabbing some lunch on Sunset Blvd and immersing yourself in the vibe of the entertainment industry, you can find cheap accomodation in this area as well.
Airbnb offers some great inexpensive housing for budgets of all types. On the following page we’ve included a guide to help you find the most suiteable AirBnb arrangement for your traveling needs.
PRO-TIP: Los Angeles offers many of it’s site’s for little or no cost. Feel free to utilize this guide to create a budget friendly itinerary. We recommend that you hop over to the The Site Seer Checklist section of this guide and choose from low cost activities listed there.
NOTE: Check out our guide to AirBNB and our hostels TopPicks on the following two pages of this guide.