OK well, not really cheapskate or we wouldn’t be going at all…or we’d go and be eating frozen meals in our hostel on skid row sharing a bathroom with random other travelers.

Last time we were in Vegas we got married and had a whirlwind weekend, driving straight from the airport to the marriage license bureau to dinner w/ my inlaws.  Whew!  It was the craziest, most emotional, most amazingly wonderful weekend of my life!

When we first started planning this trip, I was all…It’s our first anniversary we have to do it BIG!  We’re staying at encore or cosmo, and we’re renting a cool car, and we’re eating at the best places, and we’re doing a pool party and we’re gambling all over town and and and and and…..

And…no.

Reality time, Dan.  We’re doing this vacay on a budget since we have so much to save for and now have a destination wedding in February to attend so that’s more $$.

Ummm can I just say….I LOVE VEGAS!!! And I’m so excited and grateful to have an anniversary trip there!!  My head has been in the clouds for the last couple weeks with vegas on the brain.

Vegas Vacation Goals:

• come back richer than I arrived
• enjoy my anniversary
• find a way to surprise John with something (i’m totally stumped here!)
• take lots of pics w/ John
• take photos in the canyons
• find crapless craps somewhere (best game!)
• avoid shopping, avoid outlets, do not step away from John in the fashion show mall
• work out at least once, dammit

Airfare:

Instead of paying $800, I used my miles and our flights are $10 total. You can’t beat that…wait…yes you could…if they were first class seats for $10 it’d be amaaaazing.  But I’m happy with the deal!!  John’s poor long legs wont be too happy about being squished, but…I’ll remind him that his flight was $5 and that should ease the pain…. a lil.

(this can’t be real, right?  The armrest is taking his virginity!)

Hotel:

We’re staying at The Orleans.  We’ve gambled and eaten there in the past, and it has great reviews on Tripadvisor, but we usually stay at higher star level places (through priceline!).  I’m sure it’ll be great though, and we saved about $300 off the price of the Hard Rock that I originally had booked.  Total for 6 nights $450 (including tax/resort fee)  (And I get 4% cashback from mr. rebates!)

I stalked travelzoo, otel, and a bunch of other sites until I latched on to this deal.  Hooters was cheaper by a bit, but had pretty bad reviews.  There was a downtown hotel for $188 for 6 nights!!! But it had one star, bad reviews and looked like it was on the set of a horror film. (I admit I did consider it for a minute…..or two…. the $188 was so tempting.)

Car:

We always rent a car in Vegas, I just cant do it with the cabs and tram thing…Those cabs really add up!  The best full size car deals I found was through car companies I’d never heard of in my life.  But have decent reviews: Fox and Payless.  I like Paying Less so it’s a go for me!  $195 total for 7 days no matter which we choose.

Food:

Well…I spent a total of $11 on $250 worth of coupons on restaurant.com during their 90% off sale.  (Actually I spent $8.25 if you consider the mr.rebates cash back I’ll get on the purchase)  So we’re definitely eating at the 7 restaurants we purchased coupons for, including Border Grill, Stripsteak and Fleur.

And we’ll also visit our fave dinner buffet at Bellagio, but otherwise we’ll be eating on the cheap. We usually go to a buffet in one of the casinos for breakfasts, but we’re going to do IHOP or some similar cheapie spot and eat for less than 1/2 the price of the buffets.  Also the Orleans buffet is inexpensive too so we’ll try that.

In&Out burger is in Vegas so conceivably all of John’s meals are taken care of if we really want to go cheapie.

I found THIS LINK that has all the deal food specials in Vegas.  I remember being so proud of myself after eating my $5.99 steak and lobster dinner the first time we went to Vegas.  I was expecting a crap steak and lobster the consistency of rubber, but was pleasantly surprised that everything was yummy.

We also tried a $0.99 shrimp cocktail that made me want to die….so….not every deal was a winner.  Though the fried oreos I had afterward made up for the gross shrimp.

Gaming:

I love craps!!  I try to play at $5 tables, and sometimes $10 but we’re only going to do the $5 tables and play where we get matchplays, or happy hours (like 5-7pm at the Westin where roulette – a game i hate and never play, is only 50 cents and craps is $2!), and the downtown hotels with lower limits.

Cosmopolitan is having a $100 freeplay promotion where if you lose your $100 buy in, you get it back!….So we’ll definitely go there.  We know if we lose we get our buy in back, and if we win, WE WIN!

Also going to get the players card at every casino we visit so we can get the funbook coupons ::sigh:: i love coupons!

Excursions/Free Fun:

We love to hike in the canyons out there so that’ll be our fun free activity in the mornings.I also found THIS LINK of some of the free sights in town so we’ll go do a few, I definitely want to go see the animals, and watch the fountain show again, and visit freemont street for the light show there.  We’ll also be lazy by the pool a lot too…if weather lets us.

We’ll do a “real” (read: overpriced!) excursion when John’s Bro and SIL and his friend and wife join us.  We’re thinking ATVs or something else active and off-strip.
I’ve been keeping my eyes on the vegas yipit for all the coupons/deals I can find.

Shows:

We only see shows we can get tickets to at the 1/2 price ticket booths like Tix4tonight.  Instead of seeing a show every night we’re just going to do two or three.  One will be a cirque du soleil show and one will be Penn & Teller cuz John likes them, and not sure about the 3rd (if there will even be a third.)

Nightlife: No clue yet.  But we’re only going to bars/lounges with free entry.  Not going to any of the “hot” trendy places….with these guys….

FYI: I google-imaged “guidos dancing” to get this pic….please google it and enjoy your findings….also check out guidosblog.com… Look for the Swedos!  You’ll like it.

Shopping: None.  *Gulp*  That saves a lot right there!!

Soooo….that’s the plan.  I’m not even shopping before this trip for vacation clothes (that’s a big deal) and I’m not doing my lil “oops John, I forgot to pack my conditioner” trick so I have an excuse to go bucknuts in the hair section of walmart.  I’m saving my pennies dammit!!

I can’t wait to head out west and see the mountains, feel the warmth, and hear the dingalingalingaling of the casinos.  In my head I’m already there….

Are you headed anywhere this fall/winter?  Any must-do things in Vegas that you’d recommend? Any FREE things to do in Vegas that you’d recommend?