I spent no more than $10/night for any accommodation, and that was only in the big cities. Most were under $5 per night because I was in the boonies. Although that was with an exchange rate of Rs 44 to US $1, and it's now at Rs. 39.50 to US $1 (
). You probably won't spend more than $10/day for food on the very high end and $3/day on the low/more normal end. This depends entirely on where you are and your personal fastidiousness with dining establishments.
For me, I wasn't willing to risk eating (too much) street food because I was only there for a couple of weeks. Had I been there for a month or more, sure, bring it on! Plan on spending about $3/day (depending) for bottles of water. Use this for everything, including brushing your teeth.
Especially in areas around the Ganges, and MOST especially during the monsoon, DO NOT consume any tap water.
Keep your mouth closed in the shower-- assuming you're lucky enough to get one, that is!-- and don't accidentally rinse off your toothbrush under the faucet. I tied a rag around the tap in bathrooms to keep myself from automatically doing that. Which I did once anyway, and promptly went out and bought a new toothbrush. (Yeah, that's being pretty damn picky, but I didn't get sick, so whatever.)
Also, another thing to consider is that many places charge different admission prices for foreigners; for example, the Taj Mahal has a difference of almost US $15.
Sucks, but it's true.
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