What's better flooring?

I have three rooms that need floors. One is a bedroom for a 4 year old, the other two are guest room and office space. I can't decide if I want to go with carpet, tile, or lamanite floor. I am on a really tight budget but need it done soon.

Any advice for someone on a penny crunch?

Best advice I can give you: invest. If you put a little extra money into it, you'll save in the long run. In the case of flooring, you really do get what you pay for.

Carpet is a better option for a bedroom (unless you have allergies), especially a child's room, again, invest a little money, if you're worried about the child doing hardcore damage to the carpet, get a cheap-ish area rug, if it gets ruined, you can roll it up and toss it.

Tile is the most aesthetically pleasing, the easiest to clean, and is the most durable, but do remember that it's COLD on the feet. Also remember that while it's the prettiest, it's also the most dangerous when wet.

Go with the laminate, hands down. I've had a laminate floor in my bedroom for over 6 years and it's faired pretty well (save for where I dragged my bureau out... it scratched the life out of that area...ooops). I just paired it with an area rug. Be warned, however, it attracts dust and pet hair like crazy.

I'd recommend laminate floor because it's easy to clean and maintain. You'd probably want to get a throw rug too for your son's room just to make it a little more homey in there. We have lamanite flooring and I really like it. Carpet stains and is bad for people with allergies and tile is so cold and hard, I wouldn't want it anywhere besides the kitchen or bathrooms. The only way you can go cheaper though is probably to go with cheap carpeting. Then you'll have to replace that a lot sooner though. Check out Home Depot, they usually have a no interest for one year special and other frequent specials on flooring in general.

I suggest you go with the laminate for durability, aesthetics and costs. Pick your floor which can range from around $2 to $5 per square foot and plan on spending about $2 per square foor to have it "professionally installed". Home Depot and Lowe's offer the best selections of flooring for the money.