Currently the exchange rate is about 10 $ for 1 euro. This is slightly more than it is but makes for easier, and safer, calculations when buying things.
The kowloon area is a great place to stay. It has many varied areas within it from big brand shopping to nice little markets.
The main road through this area is Nathan Road, this is a good place to get a hotel on as its the easiest road to find and has metro and bus connections all allong it.
Try to get a hotel > no. 100. Below that are many Indians and Pakistanis harassing you to buy fake watches, bags and drugs which can kinda get on your nerves. If you want the cheapest place available and dont mind harassing, or tiny rooms, then a room in the Chung King mansion is ok. It's really only a bed, toilet and shower (and not like the photos most of the little hotels and hostels show online 
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If you are staying longer than a week you should get an octopus card, its the equivalent of the oyster card (UK) and the OV Chip (NL). It costs 150$ including 50$ deposit. Traveling with metro and bus is cheaper with this than buying single tickets. I found the metro and bus very reliable, they go quite often (every 3 minutes or so during the day).
Most shops on Nathan Road are tourist aimed, i.e. the prices are all 150-300% of the shops down the side and back streets of Nathan Road. It's the worst in the shops < number 100 where most shops don't even have price tags. Quick example: in a camera shop < no. 100 on Nathan road they wanted 1200 $ for an 8gb high speed flash memory card. This is almost what i would pay in Europe. In a shop around no. 200 the guy wanted 700$ (this was the price on the tag in the shop). I eventually got the same flash card in a parallel street of Nathan Road, about 4 streets over, for 450 $.
There are many great markets in parallel and side streets of Nathan road on either side selling anything from electronics to clothing to food. You should always haggle over prices but if you hate this or are not very good at it look for the markets with price tags. Quite a few have this and although you could get it cheaper if you haggled i noticed that the ones with price tags were usually lower than the first price given by non-tag using markets. The difference being around 30%. Example: There was this remote control helicopter i wanted, one of the markets had it with tag for 350$. When i asked the price with a store that had no tags i got 450$, at this same store (remembering the 350$) i eventually got it for 250$. Interestingly by the way, a store on Nathan road was asking 550$ for it. All in all its best to bring a notepad or good memory, check out various markets and places and try to haggle a bit, note all the prices and use that to get the best deal where you can. This can be a bit tiring but you get used to it and it can be fun 
The Hong Kong island area is certainly something to see but its very expensive. Everything seems to be very expensive there. What is certainly worth seeing is the peak tram. Takes about 10 minutes going up a 45 degree angle right to the top. Will cost you 55$ including a ticket to go to the peak view. Make sure its a clear day though else you wont see much. The wan chai area can be somewhat intimidating, there are many gogobars and such and a western looking man has a good chance of being pulled into them by the girls standing around outside. Near the metro station is a nice computer market, although it wasnt much cheaper than europe but with some bargaining effort you could prolly get a discount. Also in the wan chai area is a lovely outdoor market, its a bit more tourist friendly with most of the stalls and shops using price tags. Prices are pretty good too. Its a great mix of cooked food, fresh food, clothing and trinkets.
If you are there for chinese new year, or any other event with some kind of show, go early! especially if you want to make photos! There will be a lot of people going to any event and you will need to camp a good spot 2-3 hours in advance.
Another well known market is the stanley market. Personally i didnt like it much, it was a lot smaller than i thought it was and prices were so-so. It was very touristy and it felt very american (there were also a lot of americans there, i believe their navy stops over there from time to time. In stanly there are also 2 nice beaches, these looked quite nice and i would have used them were it not winter and 10 degrees
Be wary of massage salons in any area of Hong Kong. There are a few real massage salons, i noticed (and experienced) that the ones looking more like beauty salons with a female target group were often actual massage salons without the "extra services". Make sure your masseur is a bit petite before you order a chinese massage as the walking on the back thing can be quite intense if she is too heavy…
My best advise: get a local friend!! asap, probably best to try and fine one before you go. There are plenty of options for this in todays "social media" world. Above all, have fun!
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