Las Vegas is the easiest vacation spot anywhere to plan and implement a budget vacation. The reason, of course, is that the business of Sin City is gambling. Resorts there expect gamblers to come, and further, to lose. To entice gamblers, Vegas hotels offer bargains in rooms, food, entertainment and in many other ways.

Budget-minded visitors, especially those who are modest or non-gamblers, can take advantage of those benefits. For instance, while an upscale resort hotel in New York, Paris, London, San Francisco or Singapore may charge $500 a night for a basic room, the most luxurious Vegas resorts may offer a suite for $150, and throw in a free buffet meal or two. For example, if you're looking for a budget Vegas vacation, consider a package (flights and hotel included) deal you'll find on the internet or listed with your neighborhood travel agency. If you confine your search to Monday through Thursday during a non-holiday week, you'll find many great bargains. The prices vary according to the location of your selected Vegas hotel. The old, traditional hotels on Fremont Street in downtown Vegas could offer three-night package deals for $300, including airfare. Newer resorts on the famed Las Vegas Strip could offer a similar deal for $600.

Before committing to a purchase, keep surfing for special last-minute bargains, many offered through online travel agencies, including Travelocity, Expedia and other familiar sites. Another way to find a budget vacation in Vegas is to check frequently with your union, school, university, church or social club for group trip plans. Groups can get very great Vegas package bargains; for instance, for every ten or 15 members, one gets to go free.

Another way to make your Vegas vacation a budget bargain is to take advantage of that Sin City tradition, the eat-till-you-burst buffet. No one gets up early in Vegas, so at about 10 am, on your first morning, eat a modest coffee shop breakfast of juice and cereal, or coffee and cruller. Then, at 2 pm, hit the buffet and eat a full meal, including soup, salad, main dishes, drinks and dessert. Depending on your hotel and location, the price can range from $8 to $40 per person. Stuff fresh fruits and cookies into jackets to serve as the next day's breakfast you won’t have to buy.

At hotel check in, your room usually has all kinds of free and discount tickets in on the desk. Additionally, tourist magazines are full of similar kinds of savings. They offer discounts and free stuff for restaurants, Broadway-style shows, excursions and many other Vegas goodies.

Additionally, if you decide by noon that you want to see a first-rate show that night, ask your hotel clerk where the nearby half-price ticket booths are. All unsold tickets for that night's performance in many theaters and clubs may be available at bargain prices.

Finally, just a few of the many features in Las Vegas that are absolutely free. Try the Fremont Street Experience at night. It's an enormous digital video canopy 50 feet above the street that displays continuously fantastic sight and sound shows. At the Mirage on the Strip, there are nightly eruptions of a volcano that spews up more than two stories. At the Bellagio, nightly displays feature high-spouting dancing fountains and familiar music from Sinatra and other vintage musicians.