Travel Budget Tracker
Planned versus actual, by category, with a per-day average that tells you mid-trip whether you're fine or need to adjust.
- Planned vs actual side by side, by category
- Per-day average that updates as you log spend
- A pre-trip section for the costs people forget
Free · No email required · Edit in Excel, Google Sheets or any text editor
At a glance
- Best for
- Any trip where the budget matters
- Trip length
- Any trip
- Time to fill in
- About 20 minutes up front
- Format
- 1 sheet · pre-trip + daily log
- Detail level
- Intermediate
- Price
- Free — no signup
What's in the template
- Category (flights, stays, food, transport, activities, other)
- Planned amount
- Actual amount
- Date and payment method
- Currency and rate used
- Per-day average and remaining budget
Column by column
A preview of exactly what you're downloading — what each column is for, and why it's there. Nothing in this template is decoration.
| Column | Example entry | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Food | Six categories is enough. More and you stop filling it in. |
| Planned | €350 | Your estimate. Keep it, even when it turns out wrong — that's the lesson. |
| Actual | €418 | What you really spent, entered daily. |
| Date / method | 14 May · card | Card versus cash matters when you're reconciling later. |
| Currency + rate | THB @ 39.2 | Records what you actually got, not the Google rate. |
| Per-day average | €94/day | The single number that tells you whether to adjust. |
Book the trip
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Flights
Check flight prices
Scan fares across airlines before you lock the first and last day of your plan.
Search flights →
Stays
Find a place to stay
Compare hotels, guesthouses and apartments for the dates in your itinerary.
Compare stays →
Connectivity
Data eSIM
Land with working maps and transit apps instead of hunting for wifi.
Check eSIM plans →
Insurance
Travel insurance
Cover delays, medical costs and lost bags — usually a few dollars per day.
Get a quote →
How to use it
- 1Enter the fixed costs first: flights, accommodation, insurance, visas.
- 2Estimate the daily costs by category and multiply by nights.
- 3Add 15% as a contingency line — it is not optional.
- 4Log actual spend at the end of each day, in local currency.
- 5Check the per-day average every third day and adjust while you still can.
- 6Keep the finished sheet: it makes your next trip's estimate far more accurate.
Planning advice that matters
Planned vs actual is the whole idea
A budget you write once and never revisit is a wish. Keeping both columns means you can see, on day four, that food is running 40% over and transport is under — which is an easy adjustment. Discovering the same thing on the flight home is just a bank statement.
The costs almost everyone forgets
Airport transfers at both ends, baggage fees, visas and entry fees, travel insurance, vaccinations, city taxes charged at checkout, ATM and card-conversion fees, tips, laundry, and the first supermarket shop. Together these routinely add 10–20% to a trip budget and none of them feel like 'travel'.
Cash, cards and the rate you actually get
Always choose to be charged in the local currency, not your home currency — dynamic currency conversion at the terminal costs several percent. Withdraw larger amounts less often to reduce fixed ATM fees, and carry a backup card stored separately from the first.
Building a contingency you actually keep
Fifteen percent, held as a separate line rather than mentally. A contingency that lives inside the food budget is spent by day three. Held apart, it covers the missed train, the pharmacy visit and the one experience you didn't know about when you planned.
Three mistakes this template prevents
Budgeting the flights and nothing else
Flights are the visible cost. On most trips they're under a third of the total.
Logging spend weekly
You will not remember. Two minutes each evening is the difference between data and guesswork.
Accepting home-currency card charges
Always pay in the local currency. The 'convenience' rate is consistently worse.
Frequently asked
How much should I budget per day for travel?+
It depends entirely on the country and your style — from roughly $30–50 a day in Southeast Asia on a shoestring to $250+ a day in Western Europe in comfort. Estimate per category and multiply by nights rather than guessing a single figure. Our trip cost calculator gives destination-specific starting numbers.
What's a reasonable contingency for a trip budget?+
Fifteen percent of the total, kept as its own line. On longer or more remote trips, twenty is safer.
Can I use this alongside an itinerary template?+
Yes — most people run the budget tracker next to the 7-day or backpacking template. The itinerary holds the plan, the tracker holds the money.
What to do next
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