Funny, cause I was lookin at the floorplans for the house, and I have a "Pot shelf" (not makin that up)...

So I can't WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT to move in...

MVP - pergo is fine. It's cheap, easy to install, looks decent.
Don't get me wrong real hardwood floors look awesome and have a much longer durability to them but honestly for you I would reccomend pergo. You need something you can easily replace when you have a midget hooker and blow style accident at your place

terra cota tiles is sort of like ceramic tile. It ranges in price depending on what you want/who you get it from/and where in the US you are

I imagine in the LV area it is cheaper than it is here

the added bonus of tile is it usually remains fairly cool as long as the sun doesn't shine on it, so in a house it should remain cool in the hot LV weather, plus it looks nice, it is durable, and you can make all kinds of crazy patterns to spruce up the design.

I would ask around, check prices at local suppliers, etc.

A lot of building materials are location specific so you may find tile to be cheaper than wood in that area of the country.