What I do is I go to Kayak.com to get rough estimates for room rental prices. Then I go onto the hotel's website, see if they are running any promos for rooms and book with them directly. Sometimes Kayak has other secondary links to sites that have rooms cheaper than usual.
For example, if you join Treasure Island's loyalty awards program, you get 30%-40% off. It gets really cheap if you do it that way, even cheaper than the expedia.com, etc. One thing I like about Treasure Island is that the pool has a DJ that plays hip hop music, so its KIND OF like a poor man's pool party. They do have some families but they also do have some girls (usually midwestern girls in groups and some couples). They do not look as good as girls at pool parties and aren't as receptive as girls at pool parties, but if you're watching your money its a decent location plus logistics are good, you're upstairs. Also Senor Frogs in the hotel is a good place to pick up the same types of B-list/C-list girls, its my usual end of the night hail mary spot and my room is just upstairs.
http://treasureisland.com/special-offers
Taxi's are a rip off, stay on the main strip for sure.
Flamingo, Bally's, Treasure Island, Monte Carlo, Excalibur, etc., all usually have deals for cheaper rooms available. I'm really good at going to Vegas and making it cheap, you just have to book ahead of time. Taxi's are expensive. Food can be expensive. Going to Nightclubs can be expensive. These (except the Taxi thing) can be hacked so you can greatly reduce the cost.
To reduce drinking costs, drink in your room or in places where they do 2:1 promos. Yeah, a drink at the clubs start at $15 or 16. A red bull and vodka is $19 and an aluminum can of miller light is $10. For food, you just have to find the good deals, they are out there. Even some of the food courts in the malls are way overpriced, you just have to find the cheap spots. Also, if you join Total Rewards (Harrahs/Cesars/etc), many of the restaurants in the hotel give you a $1 discount on the food you order, at least in the lower end coffee shops, etc. There's a discount at the Buffetts too if you're into that.