Savings in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is filled with so much fun things that those few dollars can add up very quick! 

But during my families vacation in April we found so many ways to save money. 

First thing I did was book our room. Like I said before (here) I always look for hotels with a breakfast included. This saves on money. 

We booked the Embassy Suites. It's 2 blocks away from the Strip so this means I avoided all those resort fees which can run an additional $10-$30 per night. Yuck!!

Next thing is I ordered our Go Explorer Passes. 

This was the first time I purchased these and I am now a forever fan. I entered in the city I was wanting to purchase, in this case Las Vegas. It then pulled up all the shows, activities, restaurants, etc that I can chose from. I can chose to purchase a pass good for 3 or 5 attractions. Since my family and I were only going to be in town for a long week I chose the 3 attractions. 

But before I purchased I checked Groupons just in case. I found these passes for about $10 cheaper per person. That's an extra $60 saved. 

And to get the most bang for our buck we tried to chose the most expense attractions instead of the cheap stuff offered. 

We chose The Ultimate Variety Show that's at Planet Hollywood. Tickets are $69.99 on their website. This show is so amazing! I recommend it to everyone. 

Then we chose CSI: The Experience that's at the MGM Grand. Tickets on their website cost $28! This is really fun! Our family is really into crime fighting shows we it was awesome to be able to solve our own murder. Can you tell from my daughter's finger guns?

And last we chose Paris:The Eiffel Tower. The pass only allows daytime hours so make sure to read the fine print. We were totally fine with this. The cost for a daytime ticket is $17.

We were debating on using our last attraction for another show but my kids really wanted to go here. We homeschool and last month we learned about France so they were so excited when they seen the Eiffel Tower. Just don't look down!!!

And now what else did we do? Vegas is filled with coupons.

There's coupons in booklets that lay around everywhere. In our hotel, on the corner, at restaurants, etc. Oh my goodness! People are just handing out coupons as we walked the street.

While walking someone handed me a booklet about a show and I skimmed through it to see if I could find a coupons and Viola'; there was a 20% off coupon for the M&M store. My kids were so happy to visit here. And I was happy to save a few bucks! :)

For lunch we packed wraps, power bars, water bottles, fruit, etc. Everything we could pack to save on cash and calories.

Also in those Las Vegas visitor magazines that are in hotel. Those are my new favorite hidden treasures.

(source)

This places names all the place to:
-Golf
-See a movie
-Eat
-Gamble
-Bars
-Tours <---- and this caught my eye

Hexx Chocolate and Confexxion offers free chocolate tours and tastings! I signed up on-line on there website (HERE) and within an hour we had our appointment. I'm sure the times vary based on how busy they are but we were blessed.

 We got to tour the back room and see how all their yummies are made.
Then we were seated and given 2 trays of chocolates (1 per person) to try all their different chocolates. I now have a new #1 chocolate.

There's so much free stuff in Vegas. So much that my family and I didn't even put a dent into our bucket list. 

There's tons of street performers. It's nice to tip when they put a show on but I don't tip just because they are wearing a costume. These Hello Kitty were dancing then started dancing with my daughters. So I paid each $1. 

Cool dragon in MGM.

Hershey Store 

Looking at waterfalls.

 
Carol's Bake Shop. It's free to look but how could we pass up those sweet smells. So we paid for some cannolis.

  3D movie at the M&M store

 Checking out the M&M race car.

Flower carnival at the Wynn Hotel. 

But beyond the free stuff there's some things we paid for because we just wanted to have that memory. Like lunch at White Castle. We love those little burgers!

And Taste Around the World in the Everything Coca-Cola store. For around $20 we got these 3 trays of kid cups. (18 cups total) and got to try Cokes from all over the world. 

No one liked the Coke from Italy. 

But one thing we absolutely wanted to experience was the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur. 

But these tickets have convenience fee and taxes on top of the actual ticket but thanks to one little thing my family saved $200! 

I got myself an M life card. It's free to sign up for (21+ yrs old) and there's some great unadvertised discounts. When we got to the ticket counter my husband asked if there's any discounts since the show was starting soon. The employee said only if we had an M life card. And I remember signing up a while ago but never printed it out. So we went to the M life counter and the worker printed my card out for me. When we returned back to the Tournament of Kings ticket agent she took the discount off. So we ended up savings tons of money just because of this little sapphire. 

If you've never heard of this show it's amazing. It's a full 3 course meal and a medieval show. The show is so thrilling, exciting, and loud it just pulls you into the show where you'll be screaming for your knight and banging on the tables. We left with sore throats and hurting hands.

But thanks to my M life card we were able to snag discounts here and there on drinks of soda and small upgrades from being seated first. There's so much more perks that I'm going to have to look into this more.

This is it. We came, we loved, and made more memories with our kids. We were able to go big in one of the most extravagant cities in the the world. (Probably the world!) So hope this helps you.

3 Ideas for Picking A Hotel

Picking a hotel that fits my families needs USE to be difficult. I would go with the cheapest place no matter what. All we needed was a beds, right?

WRONG!

Now a days my family is getting bigger. I'm not talking about adding more people. I mean my babies are now teens/pre-teens. We need more space!

We're planning a weekend trip to Vegas soon. It's close enough to Salt Lake that we can get there in 6 hours. And it's a nice change of pace from our daily routine.

So when I look for a hotel this is what I look for.

#1. A room big enough for everyone.
 So staying on the Strip is out of the questions. Something about being split up from my family on a family trip doesn't make sense. So I'm looking for family rooms or suites. Sure the cost might seem more but in reality it's the cheaper route.

1 single room on the strip can cost $60 a night (we're staying 3 nights) x 2 rooms (praying these rooms are adjoined) + $20-$30 hotel fees for each night = I'm looking at $540 minimum for hotel cost!
So we stay off the strip. But still close enough that we can walk or shuttle (if the hotel offers). So staying off the strip can cost us about 40-50% less since we are not paying those nasty hotel fees.

#2. BREAKFAST INCLUDED!!!
Look below....

I use bookings.com for my hotel searches. There's tons of searching sites but this is the only site I've found where I can book now and pay when I get to the hotel. And I can cancel up to the day before just in case my plans change with no charge. 

Anyways this is my search for Vegas and family of 6. The sites my cost will be around $268-$310 for the weekend at these hotels. And this is a great price for my size family. 

But looks what happens when I add breakfast included in my search.

Now the cost is $325-$347! The cost is around $40 more but knowing my family this is a great price. For $40 more I'm paying an average of $13.33 a morning for breakfast. That's like paying $2 a person.  Even if my family goes to a dollar menu for breakfast I'm looking at spending around $5 a person! So this is a great price. Plus we can eat as much as we want. So we fill up on breakfast! 

#3. Kitchen! 

Mini fridge and microwave are a must! I can usually read this in the room description but sometimes I get surprised to find a kitchenette or a full size kitchen in my room.  The reason why I look for a kitchen is.....remember that cost for doing to a $1 menu- Now cut that cost in HALF! All thanks to using the kitchen items provided in our hotel room.

On the first day we arrive at our hotel our family just chills. We relax, unpack, shower, and stretch our legs for driving so long.  And I assess the kitchen area. Once everyone is cleaned and refreshed  we go to the grocery store. My husband insist on finding a Super Target. This way we can get the food and whatever else we might have forgotten. Like swim trunks, sun screen, socks, toothbrushes, whatever. Plus we're all about saving with cartwheels and red cards. 

So while at the hotel I will make my list of items we'll be using for the next few days. 

Wraps: our go-to meal 

-tuna pouches (high protein) 

-tortillas 

-pre cooked frozen chicken

-small mayo

-produce

( apples, celery, lettuce, avocado, oranges...

 things what won't smash in my bag while we're out exploring)

And added yummies for our kids:

-cup of noodles

-yogurt tubes

-juice boxes

etc. 

So my family will fill up at the hotel breakfast. Then we go out and enjoy our destination. 

While at Vegas our kids want to go to the M&M store and the Coke store. Last time we tried the Cokes of the world and we all loved it! And they want to do this again. 

Anyways my husband and I budget to eat out at a restaurant 1-2 times and know we'll pick up a few snacks here and there. 

For restaurants we plan to take advantage of lunch specials.  Cost of restaurants are about 50% less during lunch hours which are normally from 11-3pm. We sit down around 2-2:30 and enjoy a great meal at a fraction of the cost. But most days I will pack up my daytrip bag with waters, snacks, and wraps so my family doesn't get the HANGRY! After we eat we explore some more. While my husband and I can go long into the night exploring and finding the cities treasures our 6 & 7 year old are sleepy and cranky by 8pm. So we head back to our hotel, give them bubble baths, and enjoy an easy microwave meal. 

Hotel picks can vary. Based on where we are going my family likes those little extras:

Pools for Vegas are nice. But pools for California are dumb. Seriously the ocean is a few miles away. 

Exercise room- we will never need!

Parking cost- I only find places that offer free parking.

Internet access- doesn't everywhere have this. Even if not our iPhones is all we need since we're vacationing to unplug. 

TV/DVD player- we don't care. We never watch the TV anyways. 

High Security- We've got the highest protection; God! 

Well that's what my family and I do pick the best hotel for us. Good luck on your searches and go adventuring!