Just like the title of the classic CHEECH & CHONG flick suggests, Things Are Tough ALL OVER.  And that includes at the Playboy Mansion.

According to the "Los Angeles Business Journal", HUGH HEFNER is being forced to cut corners at the Playboy Mansion.

For one thing, parties won't be free anymore.  You know those parties celebrities are always attending at the mansion???  Well, those celebrities never had to pay before.  You just get invited and you show up.

But "insiders" say that Hugh is now opening those parties up to ANYONE... as long as they pay.  Tickets to Hef's parties are going for between $5,000 and $25,000. 

Tickets to the annual Halloween party, which has always been a huge draw, are 10-grand this year.

You may not have known this, but Hugh Hefner doesn't actually own the Playboy Mansion himself.  The Playboy corporation owns it, and he rents it for $700,000 a year.

But Playboy stock is way down, and there are reports that Hugh is close to declaring BANKRUPTCY.  Although Playboy denies this.  So Hef has to do more than just charge for parties.

He also may be cutting staff... like maids, gardeners and other laborers.

One thing Hugh will NOT get rid of, however, are the RANDOM-ASS HOES, as "Girls Next Door" starlet KENDRA WILKINSON described them earlier this week.

There were rumors that Hugh might have to set some of his BUNNIES free.  But a so-called "source" says, quote, "They're not even on the payroll.  So they would be the last to go. 

"The mansion, Hefner and the bunnies are a world-famous brand that could never be duplicated.  Nobody's going anywhere."