Holiday Trip Budget

What this sheet is for

This sheet is for anyone who wants to know exactly where their travel money is going before they leave and while they are away. It suits a single holiday or work trip of any length. You fill it in twice — once at the planning stage with amounts you expect to spend, and again with real figures as costs land.

How to use it

Start by writing your departure and return dates in the Trip dates field at the top right. Under Funds set aside for trip, record every source of money you are bringing: savings set aside, a travel allowance, currency already exchanged, or a card limit ring-fenced for the trip. Move to Trip expenses by category and enter your budgeted amount for each of the fourteen rows before you travel. As you spend, fill in the Actual column and the sheet calculates the Difference for you. The three summary lines at the foot — Total funds available, Total spent, and Remaining balance — give you an instant read on whether you are on track.

What is printed on the page

“Holiday Trip Budget” is laid out as income and expenses: a four-row income table, a fourteen-row expense table with pre-filled category labels and budgeted / actual / difference columns, and three summary totals at the foot. Under the title it reads “Plan and track every cost for one trip, from booking to final day.”, and the line at the foot of the page says “Save receipts as you go — reconcile actuals each evening so nothing is forgotten by the time you get home.”.

The expense categories slot holds 14 entries — “Flights / train / long bus”, “Accommodation (all nights)”, “Travel insurance”, “Visas and entry fees” and “Airport transfers / parking” and nine more — so the sheet is already filled in for travel rather than left as blank rows to label yourself.

The summary labels slot holds three entries — “Total funds available”, “Total spent” and “Remaining balance” — so the sheet is already filled in for travel rather than left as blank rows to label yourself.

The remaining labels on the page are “Trip dates” for the period label, “Funds set aside for trip” for the income heading and “Trip expenses by category” for the expense heading.

Two things about this particular income and expenses are settings rather than text, and “Holiday Trip Budget” has them set like this. Difference column is on: add a 'difference' column to the expense table. Notes box is off: replace the third summary total with a small notes box.

Tips

Fill in flights, accommodation and insurance costs first — these fixed bookings are usually already confirmed and easiest to enter accurately.

Use the Emergency / contingency row to set aside roughly 10 percent of your total budget for unexpected costs such as medical fees or delayed transport.

Convert all foreign currency amounts to one base currency before entering them, and note the exchange rate you used in the margin.

The other layouts in this set

“Holiday Trip Budget” is one of three sheets in this set, each a different fixed layout filled for the same topic. “Trip Spending by Category” uses the category envelopes layout and “Daily Travel Spend Log” uses the running ledger layout. Pick by how you work: the layout decides how much you write and where, not what the sheet is about.