Oh, and speaking of winning, I brought $300 to Las Vegas to pay for three days of food, drinks, ente

Hey, party people.   I m back from Las Vegas and almost recovered from the jet lag and three-hour time difference.  It s crazy what a difference the time change can make, isn t it?  It s 3:00 p.m. right now but it feels like noon.  Sigh.
Anyway, I m happy to report that we had a total blast starting with Friday night on Freemont Street.  As you can see from the pic above, the weirdos were out in full force and the drinks were a flowin . We gambled a little bit but we mostly just walked around and enjoyed the lights and sounds of old Las Vegas.  We also watched a Rod Stewart impersonator who was pretty dang impressive .  Unfortunately, his friend made sexy eyes at Greg and asked if I was in an open marriage.   ( Ummmm ..no)  We left about two seconds after that happened.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this trip was pretty low budget .  Our flights costa rica luxury hotels were basically free because of our Southwest costa rica luxury hotels Rapid Rewards points and we booked the cheapest hotel on the strip we could find.  And that, my friends, would be the Travelodge costa rica luxury hotels Las Vegas Center Strip.  Not only was it $87 per night, but it offered completely free wifi, free continental breakfast, and no resort fees.  It also had an awesome location right across from Aria and New York, New York.  For the price we paid, it was seriously awesome.
I m not about to go on an anti-gambling rant because that would make me a total hypocrite.  We re all adults here, right?  I don t see anything wrong with gambling, although I m too cheap to do it more than once every few years.  The thing is, some people take it to such an extreme. costa rica luxury hotels A few sad things I experienced in Las Vegas:
I was at the Cromwell playing a table game.  A few seats down sat a drunk guy named Bob who kept blurting out his deepest, darkest secrets.  It all started when he admitted that he was supposed to pick up his girlfriend at 2:00 p.m. that day and forgot (she kept calling his phone and he would occasionally answer then hang up on her).  He also admitted that he had lost $6,000 costa rica luxury hotels playing the same game the day before and was hoping to get comped a  free hotel room to make up for it.  Other bad news: Since he owed his ex-wife $4,000 per month in alimony, he didn t care if he gambled all of his money away.  Oh, and if he won big while I was at the table, he promised to buy me a fully-loaded Ford Focus.  Ahem.
I was waiting for Greg to come out of a bathroom and happened to be standing next to an ATM when a random guy came up to use it.  He was drunk and sweaty and asked me to help him figure out how to withdraw as much as possible.  I ve lost so much money, he admitted.  I ve got to win it back.
I was sitting at a $5 Texas Hold Em Bonus table when a guy sat down with $2,000 in chips.  The minimum to play this game works out to $15 per hand, but he was intent on betting at least $100 per hand, sometimes more.  Over the course of an hour, he lost almost all of his money.  I could tell by the look in his eyes that  he was totally panicking .  He did start winning again but was only at around $400 by the time I left the table.
I don t necessarily think that anything is wrong with gambling, but it makes me sad to see so many people lose.  People are quick to say that Las Vegas wasn t built by winners and that s 100% the truth.  For everyone who walks away a winner, there are hundreds of people who have blown through cash they sorely needed, or are wasting their productivity and potential sitting at a smoky casino costa rica luxury hotels table all day and night.  It s sad to see people squander so much of their income and savings, when you know that a lot of them probably can t afford to do it.  And you could often tell by the look on people s faces.  There were plenty of cheers and screams when people were winning, but there was just as much gloom and despair when people were losing.   It was sad.
Well, that s about all I have to say about gambling.   However, there were several other things I noticed about Las Vegas while I was there.  For example, one thing I usually hate about casinos is the fact that so many people smoke.   I absolutely hate sitting next to people who are smoking, and a casino with hundreds costa rica luxury hotels of smokers is basically my version of hell on earth .  The good news is, it seems like fewer people were lighting up then usual, and a lot of the people who were still smoking had switched to vapor cigarettes like Vapourlites .  Vapourlites costa rica luxury hotels are basically smoke-free devices that let people inhale nicotine and enjoy the physical aspect of smoking, but without the nasty carcinogens and smell or regular ol cigarettes.  And even though they still pose some health costa rica luxury hotels risks, the FDA says that electronic cigarettes are far less dangerous than regular ones.  More good news: They re cheaper too.
Speaking of cheap stuff, we found plenty of cheap food options in old Las Vegas and on the Las Vegas Strip.  For example, we had Chipotle for dinner one night.  Mmmmmm .  In some random casino in downtown Las Vegas, we had a giant batch of late night French fries for $1.35.  I can t remember the last time I paid $1.35 for anything!  Those cheap meals, coupled with the four free buffets that we won on myVEGAS rewards meant that we spent very little money on food.  Winning!
Oh, and speaking of winning, I brought $300 to Las Vegas to pay for three days of food, drinks, entertainment, and gambling, and I came back with $334.  That means that I basically partied, ate, and gambled for free.  I m not really surprised.   I m typically pretty good at gambling because I absolutely hate losing money.   If I sit down and lose a few hands, I leave.  Period.
Holly Johnson is a wife, mother of two, and frugal lifestyle enthusiast. She is the co-founder of Club Thrifty and a staff writer at Get Rich Slowly, Frugal Travel Guy, and U.S. News and World Report's "My Money Blog." costa rica luxury hotels Holly has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, costa rica luxury hotels Kiplinger Personal Finance, Fox Business, and Daily Finance.
I m not against gambling and sometimes do it myself but I am a very sensible. I always set a limit (a very low one) and once it s gone, it s gone and I don t throw more money at it to try and win my money back. I think that s the mistake people make and continue to gamble money to try and make up for their losses.
Wow, I m impressed! I m a terrible gambler and usually lose, so the hubs and I set usually a $10 or $20 maximum per person. That way if we lose it s not that much money! Sounds like some of the people you met were in pretty bad situations (and only making it worse for themselves). Did you get that Ford Focus though???
It s nice to hear you had a great time at Vegas, Holly! I m not a gambler costa rica luxury hotels myself but there are some people in my family who have lost a lot to gambling. And by a lot , I mean A LOT. I don t think gambling is necessarily a bad thing but like in everything else, there needs to be moderation. People costa rica luxury hotels should not be allowed to blow all their money away on some small chance of winning big.
Ouch, losing $6,000 from playing? Is Bob a millionaire or what? Gambling is not bad, but for me you need to set a limit on it. I don t know how to gamble, I only play cards very seldom costa rica luxury hotels and it s only for fun.
Sounds like you had a great time, though next time I hope you have enough time to plan ahead and get the free hotel stays through myVegas slots! I ve seen people lose a lot of money, but I ve also been to the WSOP where people buy in thousands each tournament. That means each time someone loses all their chips they in essence costa rica luxury hotels lost thousands of dollars. But poker is a whole different world since it s a strategy game where you are playing against other players instead of the house.
I ve never been particularly drawn to Vegas, it just doesn t sound like my crowd, but I ve read a lot of blog posts about people really enjoying it. I have the same views as you on gambling a little fun is fine, but getting yourself costa rica luxury hotels into trouble for a possibility of a win? Not my thing!
I always used to Vegas with my coworkers costa rica luxury hotels when l lived in L.A. It was always after our quarterly bonus. My limit was always $50-100 which l usually lost within the first few minutes and would just spend the rest of the time at the penny slots getting free drinks. My partner at work would lose thousands he didn t have. His wife would get mad and spend an equal amount at the outlet mall on the way back from Vegas! It happened every time, every single time. I always said they should put billboards of people costa rica luxury hotels going to Vegas (smiley, excited etc) and put the same people s faces on the billboards back (sad, crying,panicked). It might deter people. Oh..my partner ended up moving to Vegas! I m glad you had fun!!!
My wife s family came to visit us from Africa when we lived in Southern California. We borrowed a friend s motor home and drove to Vegas. When we got to the state line, I stopped the RV, walked back and demanded everyone s wallet. After some protesting, costa rica luxury hotels they handed them over. I took $20 from each wallet, handed it to its owner, and kept all the wallets. You get them back when we cross here again.
Glad you had a good trip and bonus on coming back with more money. I ve seen a few of those same situations while in Vegas and it is always sad to see. I think part of it is the lure of believing you can win big and part of it is likely addiction. Smoking drives me nuts as well. I wear contacts and it always messes with my eyes.
My father in law works for MGM and the stories he tells of the money they spend on things is insane! He used to work in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and said people at the MGM group spend money on par with them.
I have found that the strip casinos (mega resorts) tend to be less smokey since they are so open compared to freemont street. That being said I almost like the closed in nature of freemont street better.
Glad you came back with more than you left with, that s awesome! I also despise costa rica luxury hotels smoking. While I love my parents, they smoke, and I die a bit inside costa rica luxury hotels each time I m around it. I ve never been gambling as it doesn