Sometimes you can find cheaper places outside of a major city and
take public transit each day.
Check the shuttle and mass transit options from airports, You can get
from JFK to midtown Manhattan via rail for $12.Bus/subway even cheaper
but ,to me, not worth the hassle.
Got to high end restaurants for lunch. Sometimes the only difference
from dinner is the price.
Try the breakfast buffet at an upscale hotel. You gel all the ambiance
and might not need to eat again until dinner.
Check for daily and weekly transit passes. In New York $22 get
unlimited bus and subway for a week and,best of all, the week starts not
when you but it but when you first use it.
Learn about the local transportation before you leave, and see if you can
use it instead of renting a car.
When traveling from NY airports, the AirTrain will save you about $40 each
way on the ride to and from your hotel.
"Thrift is sexy." ;)