First time to Mexico. Don't imagine I will be eating outside of the AI for the most part as we are a larger group. How much would you take?

It depends on if you like to shop or not. Plus you'll want to eat out a little maybe for lunch at least.
Are you planning on any organized tours?Ziplines etc?

Well, you'll certainly be missing a lot. Puerto Vallarta is renowned for it's restaurants. Far superior to AI food, probably safer as well.

I spend about $25 a day for food, transportation & everything else but room when alone but I am a Cheapskate.
Tours will run you $50 to $100 US dollars so how many you going to take? Are you a drinker? Take cabs or ride buses?
I know people who spend several hundred a day or others like me who do not drink, don't do tours & take buses spend next to nothing.

We pre-book our tours on-line before going. We went AI also, but did go out a few times for dinner/drinks. We only stayed 4 nights, so we brought $800 for shopping, spending money and outside food/drinks. We came home with some money.

We had a blast at Andales bar. Very fun. We didn't care for PiPi's. Some of the worst Mexican food we've ever had as well as the plain margaritas. My husband got sick. Daquiri Dick's was very good for breakfast, but was a little expenive at $30.

I got into a huge debate on another board regarding AI vs. non-AI in PV. We prefer the AI and unless you've been to PV many times and/or actually know where to go to get the good cheap food (we didn't, even after much research) the AI was the way to go for us. It's also not very convenient to get to many places unless you are willing to rent a car. Overall, we didn't care for PV and probably wouldn't return. We prefer the Caribbean Mexico side better.

There are ATM's in PV -- just in case.

That's really impossible to say without knowing what activites you plan to do. I love Puerto Vallarta, but don't stay all-inclusive. Is your resort out in Nuevo (~30+ mins. north) or in downtown PV? My guess is out in Nuevo you'd stick mostly to your resort, and the only cash you'd need would be for tipping the staff. If you stay in the Marina or the Hotel Zone or Zona Romantica, likely you'd spend more time out enjoying downtown and need more cash.

You can get peso either by changing money upon arrival or using an ATM card.

I'm puzzled by KVR's comment about not being convenient to get many places unless you rent a car.

I vacation 1-2 times a year in Vallarta and have never rented a car (I do stay in town), and get around just fine on-foot and using the local busses and taxis.

To clarify my comment, PV is a large town with lots of area outside of the main town. We stayed in the Romantic zone, which was good for walking to certain places, but in order to get to other areas, like the Marina, Nuevo Vallarta, Hotel Zone, and the Downtown Zone, we needed transportation. You can only walk so much, so far. We did use taxis a few times. The taxi drivers we encountered drove like crazy maniacs.

Like I said, unless you've been there many times before and know how to get around and where everything is located, it makes a difference. For the first time vistor like us it was very daunting.

Thanks for the explanation. I appreciate your views. Maybe I do take thing more for granted because I've spent a bit of time in PV. Walking from the Zona Romantica up into El Centro (downtown) for example is barely a 10 min. walk. I do everything on foot within this area, using taxi only to come in from and back out to the airport.