Sydney is an amazing city, but sometimes it can cost quite a bit to live the good life. Here are 20 clever ways to save money on nearly everything from entertainment and events, to food and drink, to shopping.
Cheaper Movie Tickets
Dumaresq Street Cinema in Campbelltown has $7.50 tickets.
Ritz Cinema in Randwick is an independent art-deco cinema with $6 Monday tickets for students only.
Enjoy some discounted movie tickets. Source: Pixabay
The University of Sydney holds free concerts as part of the
'What's on at the Con' series. Organ recitals, jazz performances, classical guitar, and more (most are for free, although a gold coin donation kindly accepted).
Shop Smarter
Paddington Market is held on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm at 395-435 Oxford Street. You can expect fashion, crafts, jewellery and gifts at reasonable prices. The food court also has a bakery, chocolates, coffee, and cakes. Enjoy a wander, and some live music for free on a Saturday morning. If you love seafood, then the iconic
Sydney Fish Market is the place to go. Entry is free and there is an extensive range of fish, shellfish, and other fresh produce offered at discounted prices. The market is open nearly every day of the year at the corner of Pyrmont Bridge Rd and Bank Street, in Pyrmont.
Sydney Fish Market. Credits: Wikimedia, edwin.11,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sydney_Fish_Market_(493807932).jpg
Although some of the blockbuster shows are expensive, there are many free sections of the
Art Gallery of New South Wales, and The
Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) at Circular Quay to check out. There are also several great local galleries with free entry, and a range of contemporary and other art - these include
White Rabbit in Chippendale,
Black Eye Gallery (photography) in Darlinghurst, and
Blender Gallery (Paddington).
Art Gallery of New South Wales at night. Credits: wikimedia, jasoncstarr,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Art_Gallery_of_New_South_Wales_at_night.jpg
There are many free museums in Sydney to check out on a rainy day - here's some more unusual ones you may not have tried -
Nicholson Museum (Camperdown),
The Rocks Discovery Museum,
Sydney Tramway Museum (Loftus), and the
Australian National Martime Museum. Most are free entry or a few gold coins.
Cheap beer
With a bit of planning, those few beers don't have to be expensive, for example, Beach Burrito in Bondi has
$4 beers (4pm to 6.30pm) on weekdays, and Pyrmont Bridge Hotel has
$6 beers (pints) from 5-6pm. If you are after a jug of beer with a friend, check out Dove & Olive in Surry Hills, for their 'Thrifty Thursdays'
$12 jugs of craft beer.
Great food at cheap prices
There are so many options for really cheap snacks around town, that you won't want to pay full price again. Try the
$1 Hot Dogs (Tuesdays) at Soda Factory in Surry Hills, the
$1 oysters (Wednesdays) at Morrison Bar and Oyster Room, at 225 George Street Sydney, or the
$2 Tacos on Tuesdays at El Camino Cantina (18 Argyle Street in The Rocks).
