Cheap Los Angeles - How to get by without spending a dime (well a lot of dimes) 

The benefit of renting a car in LA is that it makes visiting areas like Long Beach and Orange County more accessible, especially southern Orange County which has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

As a local, you pretty much nailed it. I do have a few things to add though: Another free outdoor activity which is popular here is hiking. The metro rail system is slowly but surely expanding. Soon more places will be accessible by rail that might be of interest to tourists including LACMA, the Academy Museum, Peterson, La Brea Tar Pits, and LAX (via people mover)

It always helps to know a local wherever you go, but after living in LA in for 3 years I do think it's essential. There's a lot of charm in LA in many of its neighborhoods and cities, but a lot of the tourist stuff is spread out. Having a local show you around does help. Also the food here is not that expensive, but there are mark ups around the popular and touristy areas.

I usually stay in Culver City when I'm in LA. The area is convenient especially when it comes to public transportation and is near Venice. Saved me alot unlike staying at a relative's place in either Carson or San Dimas.

I have a friend who lives in LA so I don't have to rent a car or hotel. That's a lot of money saved already. 🙂

I live very close to Manhattan Beach. I grew up in this area. MB has gotten much more expensive since a studio moved in here. Street parking, especially durinng the summer, has always been terrible. Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach are cheaper. By just going a little inland parking becomes easy and lodging much cheaper. The area is quite safe and we all have the advantage of beach weather, though parts of the year can be foggy. Our local diners and restaurants are good. For hime style food Joe's in Redondo Beach is a local tradition. When I was a kid John Wayne used to dock his boat in the local marina on some weekends and duck in there to grab a meal. They still serve his favorite special. I occasionally run into film and TV people in the area but don't expect to. The Kettle in Manhattan Beach, on the road running to the pier, is a 24 hour coffee shop with decent food that's also a local tradition. My favorite sushi place, assuming it's survived the insane pandemic restrictions here, is hidden away on the Manhattan Beach Pier. They even have excellent happy hour sushi. Never trust a sushi restaurant where the sushi chef isn't trained in Japan or trained by a Japanese sushi chef. If the menu is in Japanese, usually with an English translation, and the majority of the customers are Japanese, Japanese Americans or obvious locals then you should be golden. Some of our local Chinese restaurants are so tuned into Asia that new trends in Shanghai or Beijing restaurants appear here within weeks or months of their introduction in China. Our Thai restaurants are usually run by Thais. We have a sizable Vietnamese American population resident here for at keast a half century. Vietnamese food is becoming a staple here. Stip and eatat a pho (soup) restaurant and I think you'll like it. We have all kinds of good Mexican food. By eating outside of Hollyweird and the West Side you'll pay local prices, not tourist or rich people prices. Check out some of the exotic foods in our local groceries. We don't even realize they're exotic. Shop in a Latin or Asian supermarket. They cater to all the locals and things will also be in English. Many of our Japanese supermarkets are part of Japanese chains so it's like shopping in Japan, with Japanese goods at normal retail prices. One of mine has a good food court where I get extremely fresh and cheap packaged sushi and shashimi. I can combine it with a plate lunch of tempura and soup, or a ramen bowl, and tea from another food stall. I can get a Japanese dessert, like an adzuki bean stuffed waffle, from a third food stall to finnish the feast off. This only costs a few bucks, everybody in our family gets what they want, there are indoor tables to eat on and you get a huge restaurant quality meal for a fraction of the price. A lot of the customers are typically Japanese. You can do things like this a lot in LA.. Unlike New York, where many immigrants are from Europe, we get a lot of people from all over the Pacific rim from Chile to Australia. Generally we're a friendly bunch, though we all prize politeness. Being rude like a New Yorker is a good way to get into trouble. Don't do it. In every public establishment I've ever been in my lifetime here English can always bee spoken and there's no need to be uncomfortable about it. The clientele are always going to be the normal mixture of locals and we all have to use English to get along with our lives.

Your tips are great. It makes LA much more reasonable. I always loved driving by their beaches

There's free art to see all over LA, not only in museums but at galleries in the Arts District and world famous street art all over the city.

LA is price-yyyyyyy! Thanks for the tips, Mark!

good point about weighing up the travel cost vs the accommodation cost. we're travelling up the east coast of the US using public transport at the moment and we were surprised at how spread out everything is. sometimes it's worth it to pay a bit extra to be closer to where you need to be.

i live in LA yet i still watch these

Thank you so much for your guid tips. I'll travelling alone to California in the end of august soon. And it would be very exciting and also very good infomation for my first time in State. 😊

I live in LA. There are a lot of "Free" (not free) things in LA. Almost everywhere that is free to enter is not free to park. Parking examples for free places. The Getty $20, The Broad $17, The orginal farmers market, The Grove, Hollywood walk of fame, all of these are expensive to park, so keep in mind.

If people are visiting they DEFINITELY need to get food from trucks or simply just street tacos! I know most people want everything to be bougie but there is really great food ok the street. Best place to meet locals too

Another helpful video!

I highly recommend the open markets and street merchants. A really good one is where Vermont crosses the 101, near Hollywood. It's on weekends. Amazing finds for cheap.

I’m general 530am-10am traffic, 2pm to 7pm traffic.

You will notice in all of these tips, when it comes to how far everything is, we measure in time, not distance. Traffic into L.A. in the mornings is always three to 5 times as long as off peak hours. The same is true leaving L.A. after 5 pm.

I live here in LA. The museums that have their once a month free days put those tickets go online for one day a month before and they are gone in about an hour. So if you want to take advantage of those free tickets you have to plan ahead! also because of covid they are limiting entry. So keep that in mind. Also there are no walk up's for free days.

You are just amazing dear friend!!! Beautiful pearl in the world.🤩😂 What a great video, stay happy forever....👍❤🧡💯

Whenever I go to Los Angeles I usually go grocery shopping and fill up the mini fridge with food,occasionally I'll eat out

Very helpful thank you !

you are amazing very good inf you sharing keep it up. thanks

I'm moving to LA in 8 weeks. You couldn't have chosen a better time to post this lol 🙏 thanks bud. Safe travels

I know people are saying split your stay but not suggesting where. For a 5-7 day trip, any suggestions which areas I should look for ?

If your coming here to party check happy hour at the bars near you. in Santa Monica/Venice where I live it saves me a tonne of money and always a great atmosphere

I'm from here and hate it. Surprised so many are watching. Looking to move to TX or Tennessee. LA and much of CA has gone down hill. Just glad we made a fortune on our home and can move out of here.

As someone who was born and raised in Los Angeles I can tell you that you will diffently need a car hire while visiting Los Angeles. It is spread out and you can't get very far without a car. When you buy a flight ticket from say the U.K. (where I now live) you can also book a car hire. When you get to LAX you simply get in one of the car shuttles that circle the airport. They will drop you off, for free, to one of the many car hires just outside the airport.

That wasn't Disneyland, that was Hollywood. Disneyland is an hour way from L.A. In fact, skip L.A. if your main reason for coming here is Disneyland and go to Orange County. Great beaches and close to Disneyland

Hmm, that's a neat idea for AirBnB operators. If you're outside the city, work in an included daily in-city dropoff/pickup...

another big thing with paying more for better location hotels is that you don't waste so much time in traffic trying to cross the city

Hidden gem...Venice Canals.

Another shocker for some tourist is that they generalize everything as Los Angeles and they don’t realize their in another city. It is because you can drive 10 to 15 minutes in any direction and be in another city. Can be much sooner than that depending where you are. If you’re on the freeway in Southern California, in general you can almost guarantee every 3 to 4 freeway exit is another city. The freeway exits in most cases are no more than 3-5 miles apart. So you can imagine how many different cities you are driving by. Southern California is very dense with a lot of things to do.

My family moved to LA in 1924 (before me, haha) so I know the place. Since LA is not one city, people should think of it as visiting several cities and plan accordingly. Your tip about splitting up hotels or rental houses into different places is good, but it needs to be emphasized that Disneyland is not in LA.

May I recommend King Taco for some great fast Mexican food? Don’t forget Tito’s Tacos in Culver City!

Hi, Have you ever made a video about safety in US? I am interested in visiting US but the image that we have about US is that some places are very unsafe. What is your view about this?

watching this like i dont already live here LOL

Hello Walter. Will be bringing the family to LA soon. Would you know where are the public rest rooms / comfort rooms / toilet in the hollywood blvd and sta monica beach? Is it true that in venice beach they smoke marijuiana? Need to keep the kid the family away from marijuina other drugs.

Don't assume parking is free with your hotel room. Often it's an additional charge

Thank you, this was very helpful! LA is on my bucket list, but I've always thought it's too much of a hassle for people without a driver's license. By the way, have you been to the surrounding areas like Santa Barbara or Montecito? Would be nice to get some tips for those as well :)

What is more expensive Paris or LA?

any one going to LA go to Phillipes for a beef french dipped sandwich or Langers for a pastrami sandwich!

When I have family and friends visit, I basically take them to all the non tourist spots, and they love LA. Venice is a shit hole. Be careful walking on the sand and not poking yourself with a syringe. Food trucks are EXPENSIVE, and by the way gas is up to $7 per gallon.

Great video as always ☺️ I plan to visit LA but I don't want to rent a car. Now I know it's doable.

This will help my family coming from Germany next summer when they come to do a 🇺🇸 tour!

Must I have car to six flags magic mountain. Isnt it any shuttle bus to the park?

Thank goodness the original video wasn’t your new style. The center window within the screen was crazy but I honestly thought I was out of touch and it was the latest editing thing. 😆😆

L.a have a dollar or 99 cent stores to buy food, or knick nacks. There ubiquitous

Venice is a hell hole

Public transportation? We have that? 🤔😆😆😆

Is there a "the donts of los angeles"?

Are the buses still free???

Your country work parmet

Is LA pretty open as far as covid 19

Is this the german flag?

Not sure how you can enjoy California without personal transportation

Mexico city please is bigger

are the subways full of homeless?

Local here. Love your videos - been watching for years. Have to disagree on renting a car. DO RENT A CAR. You don't want to be waiting around for expensive ubers. Driver shortage right now. Pubic transit? It goes very few places and is slow, dirty, and dangerous. Good advice on picking a spot and doing things nearby. People don't realize how spread out it is. Best places to visit to do what locals do: Hollywood Bowl, Greek Theater, Dodger Stadium, Getty, In N Out, South Bay beaches and bike trail, the drive up PCH through Malibu. Hiking, also, is a religion here. Places locals don't go: Santa Monica Pier and Promenade, Venice, Hollywood other than the Bowl, Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills (boring), Downtown LA (dangerous post-pandemic).

Lodging is way too expensive

I have a bunch of couchsurfing friends

“It’s not a cheap place to visit” it’s not a cheap place to live lol

I don't want to be in that horrific town on any budget.

Help me

"Fitness Beach"?? Is that what used to be called "Muscle Beach"?? By god, PC California is way too sensitive... and I'm a lefty...

Not sure why anyone would want to visit USA yet alone LA ???

Am I the only person who visited LA and thought it was the most over hyped place ever 🥲 Florida is >>>> And the beach water is like bath water. You also don’t have to deal with human feces on the street or people on drugs yelling at trash cans on every corner 🥲🤣

Help me