plan your new year's eve party in sydney now

The boats in Sydney Harbour were all lit up for
New Year's Eve.

Don't laugh but if you plan to go to Sydney, Australia for the specific purpose of celebrating the birth of the new year, you need to start planning now.

Last year, my husband and I were one of the first people on the planet to say buh-bye to 2013 and say hello to 2014. We had a great time but I wish I had more time to plan it so I could have booked cheaper deals. See, Australia is not a cheap place and the recession that hit a lot of countries appears to not have made it there. Learn from my mistakes and start planning now.

1. Start looking for flights. It will be pricey so start tracking them on websites like Yapta.com. Once you see a drop in price, book that flight. If you plan to use frequent flier miles, reserve them now. Seats allotted for frequent fliers tend to disappear quickly.

2.  Unless you plan on staying with someone you know or with a host from Couchsurfing.com, start looking for accommodations now. Unfortunately, because Sydney tends to get a lot of visitors who want to be among the first ones to celebrate the coming year, a lot of hotels (and sometimes hostels) will raise their prices. So, you want to book when they are still somewhat affordable. Also, accommodations tend to book up fast around New Year's Eve. The law of supply and demand displayed at its finest.

The hotels by Circular Quay/The Rocks - the area closest to where the fireworks will go off - will be particularly expensive. Of course, accommodations outside the Circular Quay/The Rocks area will be cheaper but, you will still have to pay a bit more because of the holiday and you will have to find a way to physically get yourself to the fireworks viewing spots.

Alternatively, there is a youth hostel in The Rocks that is very central and fairly affordable but they get booked fast. Similarly, camping spots and rooms in lodges in an island in the middle of the Sydney Harbor tend to also disappear quickly.

Hotwire.com and other websites have a tracking tool that will allow you to see when hotel prices drop. Start tracking those prices now so you can book when (and if) they drop. Websites like Tingo.com allow you to get some money back if the price of an accommodation you booked on their site goes down. Whichever type of lodging you choose, book your accommodations sooner rather than later.

A panoramic view from a dinner table at Quay,
which overlooks the Harbour Bridge to the left,
the Opera House to the right, and the sober masses below.

3.  Figure out where you want to be when the clock strikes 12. Do you want to be at a bar, a restaurant or on a boat? If so, plenty of places in Circular Quay accept reservations as early as six months in advance. Note that the boats, bars and restaurants tend to hike up their prices for that special New Year's Eve party. If you have accepted that expensive fact, I think Quay restaurant, which was on the 2013 San Pellegrino's 50 Best Restaurants in the World list (but lost its place in 2014), has an awesome view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House for your viewing pleasure.

Do you want to be among the masses watching the fireworks? If you don't want to shell out a lot of money, plan to be around these vantage points. Keep in mind though that it is highly likely that the authorities will not allow alcohol consumption in the viewing areas so you won't be able to raise a glass of booze to ring in the new year.

Celebrating the birth of 2014!

Do you want to be at a house party? If you want to leave it to chance and meet some locals, I say you still need to give "chance" some help -- start asking your friends and family if they have contacts in Sydney. Who knows, maybe your college roommate's cousin's best friend moved to Sydney and could take you along to a raging party when you visit.

Hopefully, these tips will save you some serious cash, or at least get you to start planning an awesome New Year's Eve celebration in Sydney. If it does, we'd love to hear from you.