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Tuesday, August 2

Frugal Las Vegas - the Budget

I found a cheat sheet in the way of someone else's Vegas Vacation Budget. Over at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff the writer and her significant other spent $2,004 for four nights and five days in Sin City. I'm spending 9 nights but I would like to keep my costs under two grand as well.

Here is how I am budgeting my spending:

Round Trip airfare : $266.40 (one of the two flights was FREE using airline miles)
Parking at Airport : $0 (our plan is to sweet talk a friend into giving us a ride... otherwise a taxi might be the best bet)
Baggage fees : $0 (gotta love Southwest. Besides, we pack light)

Rental Car for 9 days: $364 (Ford Mustang convertible - sure, it's not the cheapest, but it's a FUN car)
Gasoline : $100
3.5 star Hotel off the Strip : 4 nights for $0 (comp based on the gambling I did in 2010 at the mystery shopping conference)
5 star Resort in Phoenix: 2 nights for $185
2.5 star Boutique Hotel in Vegas: 3 nights for $53

Food : $180 (budgeting $10 each per day for 9 days)
Souvenirs : $20 (we're not big on "stuff" but just in case)

Other uncategorized : $332 (this is my "cushion" for unexpected expenses)
Gambling expenses: $500

Total Budget : $2,000

In all my trips to Vegas I've never been to one of the shows. Who knows, maybe we will try one out this trip. If so, my plan is to borrow from the "other" category to fund it. As noted we are planning a side trip to Phoenix. My partner is from there and has family in Phoenix so I thought a little road trip would be fun and would keep us from getting bored with gambling.

An observation about my comped hotel room: I lost a total of $840 during my Vegas trip last year at the casino where we will be staying. While there last year I received I think 3 free meals. Based on that level of play in a single 3 day visit in 2010, I've been offered 4 free nights in the hotel, 4 free breakfast buffets and $100 on gambling credits. Seems fairly generous.

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