How to enjoy a day in Boston for $40 or less

Whether you’re a visitor or a local, we’re trying to help you hack a fun day in Boston

Updated: 6:30 AM EDT Sep 27, 2024

With just $40. Who can have the best day? Hi, I’m Leanna. I live in Boston and my friends are challenging each other to see who can have the best day in their city with just $40. Let’s go the challenge. All four of us fellows with the reinventing local TV news project. Must have *** coffee, do an activity, eat lunch and cap off the day with *** dessert and any other freebies we can find in our cities of Boston, Chicago, New York and DC again. So whether you’re *** visitor or born and raised, we’re trying to help you hack it. We’ll start in Boston, which is currently one of the most expensive places in the country to live. So we’re starting with something completely free. It is *** beautiful day out today and I’m so excited because we are starting our day in post office square downtown with *** free yoga class. I brought my own yoga mat but our yoga hub instructor, Laura Cuddy comes with all the gear you’ll need for this class. You just have to show up. This is just one of several free classes in the city yoga hub. Offers throughout the year, we go to the students, not the students coming to us. So we teach out in, let’s say the public domain, the greenery here and gentlemen, men can make for *** great start to the day. And Laura says, making it free removes any barriers to participation. That’s one of the greatest gifts that you can bring people is to bring them into the space, create *** sense and feeling and truth of safety and movement. After class coffee is actually just *** steps away. We’re taking *** break from Dunk’s today because on the other end of this park, you’ll find sip cafe, *** greenhouse like space providing serenity in Boston’s busy financial district. I opt for *** cup of drip coffee, but you’ve got plenty of food and drink options here. I spend the first of my $40 bringing my total so far with tip to 474. I take my time to enjoy the scenery and then I’m off to our activity to get there. We need to take the tea and each ride is 240 meaning I have $32.86 left to spend today. Our destination is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where admission for one adult is typically $20. But here’s the thing, I don’t have to pay full price for my museum ticket because I have *** library card, the Boston public library and many surrounding branches offer museum passes for free or super reduced prices. My name is Narita. I am the senior administrator of library services. Narita says there are 18 different kinds of passes you can get with library card, you can book at the library online, online at the library or even call the library for help booking your pass. Do people take advantage of these *** lot? Yes, but there’s still *** lot of people that don’t know that we offer museum passes, New England aquarium passes. If you’ve ever been there, I believe it’s up to maybe $30 for one person. And with taking that out in the library is for, for, uh, it’s one path for four people. Um, and it’s absolutely free just when I thought I couldn’t love the library more than I already did. This means instead of $20 my museum ticket today was just $5 leaving me with $27.86 left. This museum is known for not just its expansive collection, but also what’s missing from it. Several pieces were stolen during an unsolved robbery from the nineties and empty frames still hang as *** reminder. You can also get free admission on the first Thursday of each month and anyone named Isabella gets in free now, you’ll want to book ahead. It does get busy here and your pass allows you to select the time that you enter the museum. Once inside. Take advantage of the free audio tour. On the museum’s website. It’s *** great feature but be courteous and bring some headphones after the museum. It was time for lunch. So I took another $2.40 ride on the t across the river through Cambridge to Leslie University where I met an expert on Boston dining. Um ok, let’s do the hot Udon with beef and let’s add an egg. Sarah is one of the four sisters who run sister snacking dedicated to helping you find the best eats from Vermont to New York City and everything in between, including *** few international destinations. I brought you to Yega Aara for some amazing Udon. The most expensive thing on the menu is $20. So you’re not spending more than $20 on this lunch. You gotta go to the original location because it’s just so much more authentic and it just feels so quintessential and cozy eating your soups says you can find all kinds of good and affordable eats in the city. I got the cold Udon with beef delicious and spent $16.10 including tips. Sarah’s got *** very cool gig. She says sister snacking has served up some awesome connections. Everyone loves food. Um Whether it’s like one of my oldest friends wanted to talk about something I posted about, wanna hear about like details or meeting new people and they realize what I do. Just everyone connects so easily over food. It’s like one of the most fulfilling conversations to have after lunch. I say goodbye to Sarah and start walking with just $9.36 left. And eventually I make my way to Harvard. Yad starting here. You can do *** free self guided walking tour of Harvard’s most iconic buildings using the free app. After you’ve done that, you can enjoy the greenery of Harvard yard and pick up *** copy of the Harvard Crimson. Gotta support student journalists. OK. So I have just *** few dollars left in my pocket, but I know exactly how I’m going to send it for my final challenge of the day. I head across the street to Taiyaki NYC and the Dough Club for *** truly unique ice cream experience. Ice cream comes in *** fish shaped pastry, often served at Japanese festivals and weddings, representing prosperity and happiness was *** little more expensive than I anticipated costing me $9. So definitely an indulgence. All leftover change goes into the tip jar and that is the last of my $40 but my day isn’t over just yet. I had around the corner to Palmer Street outside Club Passim where they host *** free summer concert series in partnership with the Berklee College of Music. On this day, I got to enjoy student Maggie Mackenzie’s delightful covers and original music. So fun. So that’s *** wrap on my day. How did my colleagues do in New York? Chicago and DC like and follow her part Two.

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How to enjoy a day in Boston for $40 or less

Whether you’re a visitor or a local, we’re trying to help you hack a fun day in Boston

Updated: 6:30 AM EDT Sep 27, 2024

Boston is one of the nation’s most expensive cities to live, work and play, so how can you plan a day out without breaking the bank?Whether you’re a local or a visitor, we’re showing you how to hack it, not just in Boston, but also in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.Here’s the challenge: Who can have the best day exploring one of the major cities with just $40? Check out the video above to see how we spent our day in Boston. The four fellows with Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project are challenging each other to see who can have the best day in their respective cities, spending no more than $40. Each fellow must get a coffee, do an activity, grab lunch and cap the day off with dessert and any other freebies we can find. Oh, and we had to log transportation costs, too.Check out the video below to see how our day in Boston compares with New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.In Boston, we took advantage of free outdoor Yoga with YogaHub in Post Office Square. We also used the Boston Public Library Museum Pass to get a reduced-cost ticket to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and ended the day with free live music in Cambridge. We also grabbed lunch with Sara of the popular Sistersnacking social media platform, and enjoyed the city’s green spaces. Meanwhile, the fellows in New York, Chicago and D.C. ventured into their cities’ zoos, parks and markets.So, how did we do? What would your perfect day in the city look like?

BOSTON —

Boston is one of the nation’s most expensive cities to live, work and play, so how can you plan a day out without breaking the bank?

Whether you’re a local or a visitor, we’re showing you how to hack it, not just in Boston, but also in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

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Here’s the challenge: Who can have the best day exploring one of the major cities with just $40?

Check out the video above to see how we spent our day in Boston.

The four fellows with Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project are challenging each other to see who can have the best day in their respective cities, spending no more than $40. Each fellow must get a coffee, do an activity, grab lunch and cap the day off with dessert and any other freebies we can find. Oh, and we had to log transportation costs, too.

Check out the video below to see how our day in Boston compares with New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

In Boston, we took advantage of free outdoor Yoga with YogaHub in Post Office Square. We also used the Boston Public Library Museum Pass to get a reduced-cost ticket to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and ended the day with free live music in Cambridge. We also grabbed lunch with Sara of the popular Sistersnacking social media platform, and enjoyed the city’s green spaces.

Meanwhile, the fellows in New York, Chicago and D.C. ventured into their cities’ zoos, parks and markets.

So, how did we do? What would your perfect day in the city look like?

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