We went out with $4000, $2000 of which we purchased at a rate of $2-£1 and the rest at around $1.80-£1 so we had a 'strong' exchange rate.
I can't comment on if it was cheaper or more expensive than before as it was our first time, but I can tell you some things that we considered to be bargains!
Men's 3 in 1 Timberland coat (fleece inside a waterproof big coat) = $80
Skechers Woman's Boots (like UGGS) $26
Gap hoodies - adults, = $15-$18, kids $13
Adidas Superstar trainers..buy 1 get 1 half price, = $44 each but total of $66 for 2 pairs (they are £50 to buy in UK!)
Oakley Sunglasses = $50
Oakley/Quick Silver t shirts = $10 each
We had a Chrysler jeep, hubby says it was an HHR and it cost us less than $20 to fill the tank, which gave us around 500 miles!
We found loads of bargains, hence going out with 3 half full cases and coming home with 3 bulging cases as well as 2 large and bulging holdalls.
We haven't lived in the UK for close to 4 and a half years now so can't comment on the effects of the credit crunch there, but we agreed that the prices of things in Florida were amazing. We were there over Christmas which could have been the reason for it, but there were a lot of stores advertising sales or buy one get one half price type deals.