We've lost $300k on retirement alone and $100k on our taxable accounts. We were very aggressively invested in our retirement accounts. Say La Vie. We have a long time until we retire.
We went to Las Vegas for the weekend and it was a lot of fun. We had a great time with the kids. While people don't think Las Vegas is kid friendly we found it to be. It was a lot of fun. We also spent a ton of money but that's what we chose to do. I think Vegas can be done cheaper especially the eating out and activities.
Prepaids $1668 for 4 flights, $1214 for Hotel, $1021 for O show, $253 Blue Man Group, and $688 for Go City Las Vegas Card = $4845 before we landed had been spent. So not exactly cheap for a trip, but we were ready for fun. I rented a car the first day so we could go to dinner, fremont experience and pick up friends from the airport. That was $15 parking, $18.34 car rental ($40 free expedia point i had been trying to use), $8.50 gas, and $4 parking. One day car rental then we used uber/lyft, taxi the rest of the time.
We paid $171.97 for the rest of the days for uber including a $25 tip to the airport when the driver stopped and allowed us to grab our luggage from the hotel, drove to front, then loaded it, and waited for us to get it from bellhop. He made the same as driving in tip. He didn't have to but it was super nice of him. We also tipped $5 to the maids daily in cash and a few other cash, so i'm unsure where the $120 in cash I had went (likely tips).
The kids bought a necklace and MM and $10 games for $59.40. That was the extent of our shopping except for some sunscreen and lotion from CVS. We did only handcarry after all. We also spent $5 gambling.
Our biggest expense was eating out for $1914.37 for 6 days family of four. That averages out to be $319/day. Yikes. I know we skewed it with a few fancier meals $362 morimotos (for adult couple only), $260 for Wynn Buffet dinner, $249 at hotel for drinks at cabana/pool, hotel. So $1043 really for most meals I would guess $173/day for family of four sounds more in line.
But the buffet (which wasn't great for the price and I am not a huge fan of buffets to begin with) the kids loved it. They had been asking about going to a buffet and on the last night we had a reservation at one of two open dinner buffets and they had a GREAT time. They ate well (not the value of their $40 dinner) but they did try at least 1 new thing and surprised themselves by eating so many different varieties of food they normally wouldn't eat. It was a lot of fun and we spent the full 2 hours eating and relaxing. That day was ridiculous because we rented a cabana by the pool all day 9 am - 5 pm then uber to and from the wynn and sat and ate dinner and that was it. The DH and kids had a blast. Buffets are not good value and are not good food. But they are fun and they are easy with a large group. So you suck it up and go.
Maybe I'll post some pictures. We did a lot of touristy things with the kids like marvel station, linq zipline/high roller, helicopter ride over strip, bus tour, illuminarium, ny nyn roller coaster, excalibur 4d movie. So overall the kids had a great time. But it was not a cheap weekend. $7705 all in for the family of four for 6 days. And that is gambling with $5. Had we been into gambling (mostly my DH, I wanted to but he kept saying no), then it would have cost us more. But I have to say I loved it. I liked the heat, the nightlife, the energy. I can see why everyone from hawaii loves it and it's the 9th island. Totally my cup of tea. My family had a great time. I think it could turn into an annual trip to seea a show, eat some buffet (yuck), and hang out.