Most stores do not carry vinyl plank floor. Home depot used to carry 6mm, 8mm, but look quite cheap.
A couple of months ago, I was at HD, surprised to find Armstrong offers very nice 12.7mm vinyl plank floor at $1.99/sf. Look and feel is very close to normal midium price range laminate floor.
Another solution is not to use cheap tile. In one of my condo (on the 1st floor), I used 16x16 porcelain tile with nice texture, look and feel is similar to marbel stone. I paid only $.79/sf. Guess what, I used up 26 boxes with only 2 pieces left, I rushed to the store to buy another extra box for future replacement. It was all sold out.
Big stores quite often sell tiles at discounted price if it is the last one in their inventory.
