Mortgage Free - so good they'll do it twice! Wynnvegas aiming for the big house

wynnvegas

Hi GG,

Seeing as I'm wide awake with what must be the worst toothache in the history of mankind at 4:30 of a morning, getting into the holiday spirit is a great way to stave off some of the pain. For any first timer, I'd recommend staying on the strip. A lot of people don't realise that it's effectively one massive street

As for shows, there is a very comprehensive list on www.vegas.com. This includes a date range finder and is good for the one off concerts which my personal favourite, www.vegas4visitors.com, doesn't cover. V4V does list all the resident shows with reviews and ratings. I'd recommend seeing at least one Cirque du Soleil show (Mystere being my favourite although Moyra hates the clowns in them all). As to hotels, you really won't go wrong with anything 4 or 5 star. The only thing you can do wrong is pay full price. The best bet with hotels is to book direct with the hotel website as (with the exception of TI, I believe), they will fully refund cancellations 48-72 hours ahead of your travel which means that you can keep looking to get the best deal right up until the week before you go and, if a better rate or deal comes up at a hotel you have booked, you can straightforwardly call them up to get the better deal applied to your booking. British hotels have a lot to learn!

In your range, we've personally stayed at Luxor, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and Bellagio. I wouldn't necessarily dismiss some of the newly renovated properties such as Tropicana or even some parts of the Flamingo. The 5 star hotels are all amazing and I wouldn't go against any of them. I would only say that the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor are a wee bit south of the centre. We do prefer that part of the strip though so we spend a lot fo time there but if you get a decent deal at Planet Hollywood, Paris, Caesers, Mirage, MGM Grand or Monte Carlo, you won't go too far wrong. Stay clear of Stratosphere, Sahara, Riviera and Circus Circus as they're all a good bit north and don't go for the Rio, Palms, Hard Rock or Hilton as they're off the strip also.

As for websites, I use http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/las-vegas/, http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-discussion/1036400/m15250209#m15250209 and http://www.smartervegas.com/. They'll keep you right as well as the brilliant board on MSE - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2952818.

When you've got everything booked, make sure you grab all the coupons, discounts and deals you can. There are a load out there from restaurant.com and free discount books for the outlet malls to $5 per person off the spice market buffet at Planet Hollywood which is amazing and buy 1 get 1 free coupons (as many as you want) for hot dogs, pretzels, haagen dazs etc. Then you need to get clued up about the promo offers and freebies which should net you an extra couple of undred dollars of free play in your time in Vegas. Happy to help with any of these...

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Morning Folks,

Bright and not so breezy this less than fine morning. My 5th dentist appointment in as many weeks at the start of the month hasn't gone so well and I've managed to contract an infection which is upsetting me no end. Worse still, it properly reared up when I was away for three days at the end of last week so I'll have muddled through with the aid of painkillers, anti-infammatories and antibiotics before I get jabbed with something a bit strong on Monday morning in my emergency appoointment (now 6 of 7!!).

Regardless, being up at this time is ideal for updating the world with the story of our lives in the last week and a bit as it's been properly hectic at work, at home and everything inbetween. I'm just about coming to the end of my nationwide tour of restructuring and redundancies which has been pretty hard on a number of fronts. It's been done with about as much humanity and compassion as possible but it's people's livelihoods that are being affected at the end of the day so the reactions have ranged from quiet acceptance to fits of anger which reaffirms this type of process as the worst part of the job. It was absolutely necessary though as we're looking to grow in the next two years quite substantially and getting the staff base fit for purpose is a big part of how we will be able to push on.

On the event and optional bits and bobs, we've got a couple of weddings coming up and we've both been hitting the gym, pool and badminton court pretty regularly so I'm pretty optimistic about the next wii fit weigh in. I was away playing football today with a load of properly fit boys who put me to shame at nearly every turn - never felt so old in my life! Ruined that effort with a visit to the Chinese buffet place that's local to us but I really couldn't face the latter part of the stag day/night which seemed to revolve around a tour of Edinburgh's strip bars and happy ending hostelries. I've to arrange a kilt fitting for my brother's wedding in the next week or so - just hoping they haven't picked a ridiculous tartan as I really like the plain black kilt.

On the personal money front, for the first time in ages, I haven't a clue where we are. With a couple of grand in the bank and normal salaries due at the end of the month, things are fine on that front. With the assumed debt which is totalling £8,500 on a new 0% card (until 10 January 2012) (we've paid the first £5,500 off with the savings), our own 0% (until December) credit card which is sitting at about £3,000, the bathroom to finish paying for (£1,800 - end of March) and the bathroom fitting cost (£4,500 - mid April), Vegas hotels to buy (c.£2,000) and Vegas spending money (c.£3,500), we may be cutting it pretty close with the 0% deals. I think we'll manage fine though and, with the repayments coming in for the assumed debt which I haven't really taken into account as I don't know either when they'll start or how much they'll be, we'll sort everything and begin land hunting again at the end of 2011. This won't affect the business plans as I've got three (and possible 4) really strong projects in the relatively detailed planning stages. All of these will be kicked off this year to some extent - more news on those to follow soon!

Cheers,

Billy

gallygirl

wynnvegas wrote: »

Hi GG,

Seeing as I'm wide awake with what must be the worst toothache in the history of mankind at 4:30 of a morning

Aw Billy, that's awful. How can something so tiny cause so much agony. Hope it gets sorted tomorrow.

wynnvegas wrote: »

I'd recommend staying on the strip.

I did quite a bit of research on line yesterday (including last night while OH did a Waterloo Station jigsaw puzzle - it's Party Central at our house :rotfl:) and concluded that the strip was the place to be. Nice to hear a regular concurs.

wynnvegas wrote: »

As for shows, there is a very comprehensive list on www.vegas.com. This includes a date range finder and is good for the one off concerts which my personal favourite, www.vegas4visitors.com, doesn't cover. V4V does list all the resident shows with reviews and ratings. I'd recommend seeing at least one Cirque du Soleil show

Thanks for this. Donny & Marie. Sorted . I wonder what the others will want to do while I'm there :rotfl:. I don't 'get' Cirque du Soleil tbh. I saw them at the Festival a few years ago - very, very clever but not my thing (funnily enough the chap with me seemed to like the bit where the scantily clad woman writhed about in water above him ). I think tbh I was put off as there were a lot of pretentious t**ts in the audience. I can appreciate they'd be great for Vegas but I'll stick to Donny thanks .

wynnvegas wrote: »

In your range, we've personally stayed at Luxor, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and Bellagio.

Em, my range doesn't run to the Bellagio (till you adopt me ), having had a good look I think I need to stay at a cheesy resort one & Luxor seems v well priced, also Planet Hollywood. And for 'proper' hotels Platinum is rated #3 on Trip Advisor but also very well priced - any thoughts on that? I like your tip about booking & being able to cancel - but as there will be group of us I expect they'll want the security of booking now.

wynnvegas wrote: »

As for websites, I use http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/las-vegas/, http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-discussion/1036400/m15250209#m15250209 and http://www.smartervegas.com/. They'll keep you right as well as the brilliant board on MSE - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2952818.

Thanks for this. I'd seen the mse board, and the 1st posts on it are great, but these other sites are all new to me :T

wynnvegas wrote: »

When you've got everything booked, make sure you grab all the coupons, discounts and deals you can. There are a load out there from restaurant.com and free discount books for the outlet malls to $5 per person off the spice market buffet at Planet Hollywood which is amazing and buy 1 get 1 free coupons (as many as you want) for hot dogs, pretzels, haagen dazs etc. Then you need to get clued up about the promo offers and freebies which should net you an extra couple of undred dollars of free play in your time in Vegas. Happy to help with any of these...

Cheers,

Billy

Yes, I remember the discount books when I went to Florida, thought they were great then and that was before I was MSE . I also remember getting a free newspaper and it had a great deal for a hotel where we were heading for a few days - it was a walk-in booking and when we got there we got a fabulous deal but they made us say the read of the offer out before we got it. It was something like 'Hi, I'd love to stay at your super duper hotel with its amazing pools and fabulous restaurants. Can I please have the Sunday Tribune extra special super discounted bargainous room rate'. I wasn't proud so happily said it .

I'll come back to you for more tips if I may :T.

wynnvegas wrote: »

On the personal money front, for the first time in ages, I haven't a clue where we are.

:eek::eek::eek: Eek Billy - too many painkillers methinks :eek::eek::eek:, hope you manage to sort it all out.

Thanks for all your advice, much appreciated :T

[Deleted User]

Hi Billy
Hope the toothache clears up soon!! not nice!
Sounds like its been a manic few weeks and great of you and moyra to help out family in the way you are- hope they know how lucky they are to have you!
Vegas sounds fab Id love to go out there - when I have saved up enough perhaps I shall come back for some tips!

Froggy-G

Greetings Billy!

How are you? How's the toothache? Hopefully you'll be much better soon.. Did you get your appointment at the "Evil" dentist sorted out?

Vegas is also on the cards for me & OH but as far as timings are concerned we have no idea, it could be this year, next year or even 10 years time...who knows??

Have you managed to sit down and get your head around your finances? Will everything fit within your budgets?

Looking forward to hearing from you

Cheers
Froggy

pammyj74

Hi Billy from a new reader to your thread. I know that you have given lots of advice on here and an old pro at all this malarky so hoping to get more tips

Love the idea of building your own home, I have watched Grand Designs many many times and dreamt of doing the same with a lovely view somewhere

As a fellow sufferer at the moment with toothache I too have been the dentist today for the second time in three months and have a consultation at the hospital in a few weeks. I have been suffering for a few months on and off and waking up in the middle of the night time after time is doing me in. I am now on two lots of antibiotics and hope this takes the infection down, its like I have been punched in the face sometimes and my cheekbone is so sore. Hope you get it sorted soon too. Cant wait to be pain free

wynnvegas

Hi Gally,

Bloody hell - I thought I could go on and on! WIld horses couldn't drag me to see Donny and Marie but each to their own and all that. We're actually going to struggle this year for shows as we've seen the Cirque ones (none worth going back to) with the exception of the universally panned Chris Angel effort and we've seen all the Broadway based ones. We might go and see Viva Elvis at Aria this year. Unfortunately, when we go in the summer, there aren't a lot of concerts on the go but we've managed to see Aerosmith, ZZ Top and a few of the country folk I like. I'd probably make an effort to go and see Rod Stewart if he ever gets around to signing a deal with Caesers but Cher, Celine, Barry Manilow and the like aren't really for me.

Never heard of the Platinum but I'll have a wee look. In my book, 2.5* hotels in America run rings round our 4* efforts every day of the week so as long as you're not more than a couple of blocks away from the Strip, you really won't go far wrong. Really cheap efforts like Excalibur and Imperial Palace wouldn't put me off but Moyra now has her "zone of acceptance" which doesn't tolerate anything below 4*. How I tolerate her is another matter altogether!!

Let me know if I can be of any further help. I'll need to get cracking with booking us a hotel in the next few weeks so I'll post here with what I come up with. There was a cracking deal a couple of weeks ago in the Monte Carlo which I'm regretting not reserving at the time but I've every faith I'll find better in the next wee while.

Thanks for the kind wishes. Much better now thankfully and improving every day! Managed a whole day yesterday where the only pills I popped were the remainder of the antibiotic course.

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Hi TYO,

Vegas is brilliant. For some people, a couple of days is plenty. For us, I'd move there in a minute. Regardless, it's one of the few places I've seen in the world where I'd feel happy advising anyone to go as it's just something everyone has to see in their lifetime at least once. Feel free to ask away when you're getting closer to going.

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Morning Froggy,

Clearing up nicely thankfully. It will probably need yet another appointment at the dentist (I'm thinking of sponsoring the chair at this rate as a season ticket at Parkhead costs less than my recent run) but he's a good guy and it'll doubtless all be worth it in the end. Don't mention an intention to visit Vegas to Moyra ever - you'll get hounded with the pictures from the last five visits. She's like a volunteer ambassador for the place.

Sat down with the final figure after paying off the total amounts owing on the cards and we're now officially owed just shy of £14,200. It's strange but I feel really bad being owed that much - I suppose it would only be worse if I was the one owing the money. We've got our Tesco card which is 0% until December (currently just shy of £3k) and Moyra's MBNA card which has the balance transfer of £8,200 on it which is 0% until 10 January 2012. We're scheduled to clear all the debts totally on the anniversary of our mortgage free date which is a fitting way to mark it. I can really only think of three or four people we would help out in this way and I know it's well appreciated (and, more pressingly, absolutely necessary) so, whilst it will put us back a few months in the grand plan, it's not really a big deal. The plan is that the February pay will give us enough money to pay our credit cards (£500 to ours and whatever the minimum balance is on the MBNA card) and will leave us enough to pay for the bathroom being installed in April. We'll put the remainder of the bathroom cost (£1,822) on the credit card which we'll pay off at the end of March alongside the normal £500. April's pay will take care of the total balance on our Tesco card and May and June will be devoted almost wholly to the two hotel rooms and Vegas spending money. That will leave us with £10k to clear which will be £2,500p/m in July, August, September and October. Best laid plans, right?

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Hi Pammy,

Welcome to the rambling musings! Happy to help anyone in any way I can so ask away. If I can impart a wee bit of wisdom that helps even one person out, I'll be plenty happy. I've learned a lot from the guides and people on the MSE website and I'll probably always have an SOA of sorts running as it lets me plan things pretty well.

I hope your toothache improves. It's a hellish pain and I'm glad my infection was fairly mild and only needed a four day course of antibiotics to calm it right down. I'll never go any length of time without a visit to the dentist again, that's for sure.

Thanks,

Billy