Back from Vegas!

Well, we're back. We had a great time, we met up with some friends from way out of town...one from New York, one from San Francisco. This trip has been planned for about a year, and we were very happy to get together and kick back. We did go out with a budget firmly in mind, and I'm glad to say we came out ahead. Here's a bit of what we did to keep costs down, but still have a much desired vacation.

First, we didn't gamble much. I spent $33 overall on gambling, and Jess spent $10. For my $33, I played Poker in a tournament format, and lasted about 2 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't place in the money, but I think I got my money's worth in entertainment. I don't think of a poker game as "I will win X dollars", but rather as "I will have fun, and might get my money back."

Another thing we did was to be very firm on our meals. The Luxor has a food court...so in the morning, rather than go to that tempting breakfast buffet, I went to the golden arches. $4.84 vs $16.95. Not a difficult decision at all. Lunch? Same thing for lunches. Ate cheap, with a mind on fine dining in the evening. Dinners? That's where we used our budgeted food amount for the day, and treated ourselves nicely, which I wouldn't have avoided. One of my favorite things about Las Vegas is the high volume of very good food, of any cuisine you might like.

Even in this, we went with some fluid decision making...we had planned on a very fine dining on Sunday, opting to go to Craftsteak. We discovered higher prices than we expected (over $60 a plate!), and it wasn't going to fit the day's budget. So, rather than follow through, we decided to downgrade...we had dessert only, and then went to a cheaper meal elsewhere in the MGM Grand. We saved a lot with that decision, and yet still managed to preserve the "experience" of eating there.

And for another very easy savings trick...we did a lot of the free stuff on the strip. We wandered around a few of the casinos, seeing their claims to fame...New York New York's skyline, MGM Grand's lion habitat, Venetian's Canals, and of course the Bellagio's fountain show. Grand total for all of those things? Zero dollars. ZERO.

We had plans to see two shows. We did see Cirque du Soleil's Ka, which I highly recommend. No, really, if you don't see it next time you're there, don't talk to me. You are not human. ;) An unexpected saving came up on Sunday, as we decided to opt out of seeing our second show, due to several factors, including Jess's back killing her (still dealing with the aftermath of the accident) and my getting very sleepy. We hadn't bought tickets for it yet, so, with good friends along, we just headed back to our room to hang out and jabber away into the wee hours.

Our coaches have really helped me learn how to stick to a budget, and can't wait to see what other great things we'll learn during this race. Now that we've had a relaxing time, we're ready to charge into the holidays and use this budget stick-to-itiveness to get out on the other side of them in good shape!

Dave