to be able to afford something /to do something

Question

I want to use different ways of saying " I can't afford to go to Las Vegas." Can I use "poder permitirse" (or just "permitirse" without using "poder"), "permitirse el lujo," and/or "darse el lujo" without changing the meaning? That is, would the following sentences mean the same thing?:

1) No puedo permitirme ir a Las Vegas (o No me puedo permitir ir a Las Vegas) (or is "poder" even necessary? Ie., Mo me permito ir a Las Vegas);

2) No puedo permitirme (o just 'No me permito' without using "poder") el lujo de ir a Las Vegas.

3) No me doy el lujo de ir a Las Vegas (o No puedo darme el lujo de ir a Las Vegas---using "poder")

Answer 1

En México he oído decir algo como lo siguiente: "Pos, no tengo los centavos para--------"

You are right. We often speak on not having "ni cinco centavos". Of course there is no such thing as cinco centavos, the smallest coin being 10 centavos. - gringojrf, May 2, 2015

Yes, I think variations of this one are in very common use, nice photo. - annierats, May 2, 2015

Answer 2

What you have said in effect is "I can´t allow myself" and "I don´t give myself the luxury", but not being able to afford to do something indicates lacking the money to do it, so I would say something like: No me alcanza para el viaje a Las Vegas.

permitir literally translates as to permit or to allow, but in SpanDict, the definition of "afford" is "permitirse " - malbecblend, May 1, 2015

You can talk that way if you want, but we don´t use "permitir(se)" in matters of not enough money unless you say something like "La falta de dinero no me permite ......" but it´s uncommon to say this - 005faa61, May 1, 2015

My dictionary has this - "I can’t afford a holiday. No puedo permitirme unas vacaciones." - ian-hill, May 1, 2015

Answer 3

Another suggestion:

Por falta de dinero no puedo viajar...