Tracking expenses YET AGAIN

To be honest, though I was an Engineer and involved in Quality, probably too much bother for me. I like the sense of "Plausible Deniability" I get from keeping a very rough tally, or, I really do not want to know, or care, what I spend on food and wine while traveling.

However, I have looked at, and may try one of the many apps available to track spending, including being able to handle currency conversion, where you can add items as you go through the day, as opposed to doing accounts in the evening, instead of better things (like adding to the food and wine total).

The Points Guy had a decent article a while back, lots of other reviews and info out there as well: https://thepointsguy.com/news/apps-track-travel-expense/

I chuckled a bit as I read your spreadsheet. My late husband would have loved it and done the same thing! (He was an engineer.....) He had an elaborate spreadsheet tracking the last 5 years of expenses by category/month and projecting the next 5 years. When he passed, I realized that I could never begin to deal with keeping that up. I just make sure that less money goes out each month than comes in unless it is a special budgeted item that I have saved in advance for. Travel is a special budgeted item!

Many of my expenses on a trip are prepaid. I do most of my "cost-saving" in the planning stage of travel. Once on the trip, I give myself permission to spend what I need to spend to have a quality experience. I was raised by frugal parents who endured the depression and I don't usually have to worry about going too crazy on the spending. In fact, my sister always reminds me to treat myself a little.

I am glad that you have found a system that sounds very efficient and works well for you. Anything that allows you to maximize your travel experiences is great.

I thought I was doing good entering all our expenses (in real time) from our France trip in Samsung notes:) I'm impressed, Paul, with your attention to detail.

I work in Finance for a hospital system and have to prepare very complex financial spreadsheets on a daily basis.
Why someone would choose to do this to themselves while on a vacation escapes me. But de gustibus non disputandum est, the Romans used to say. However I prefer the other Roman saying: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

And I thought I was a bit extreme. Lol!

I keep all my pre trip expenses on a spreadsheet by item and charge. Once I leave, I keep track of cc charges (after it has been converted to dollars) and ATM withdrawals. Then can total so I know the cost of the trip. However I have quit staying up with what I spent the cash on unless it is a significantly large amount that I want to remember

I don’t really care what I spent but sometimes it is helpful (to me or others) to be able to go back and look at some of that information. And it does help me be more realistic about what a future trip might cost.

I used to do something similar. After a few years I asked myself why I bother. I had long since gathered an understanding of how much I spend for lodging, dining etc. At least enough for planning and budgeting. So for me the spreadsheet became a lot of data but very little information.

I still do create one for when I’m traveling with someone to accurately track shared expenses.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

When connecting through Heathrow a few years back, and subject to questions before we could connect to our next flight, the questioner asked me some of the usual - how long, where have you been, etc. The final question was “how much did this trip cost you”? I hadn’t added it all up but had planned all major expenses according to our travel budget protocol. I leaned forward and whispered “I’m not sure and my husband doesn’t know what we are spending”. Boarding pass issued and on our way. Wouldn’t it have been funny to whip out a spreadsheet?

As to why, I went and looked at my travel folder. I have expenses in this system for the last 3 trips. As we are FINALLY getting around to setting up some photo books, I can now go back to the spreadsheets and see what we were doing that day, in more detail.

I know that for some this seems nutty. My wife is always checking to ensure that every penny is accounted for !!!

We start with a blank CC and X dollars. That's as good as we can get.

goanywhere, if you had whipped out that spreadsheet and starting going over it with the agent I bet they'd never ask that question again!

Would have liked to see her face if I’d done that!

Was tempted to say “why do you ask” but I know better…..

Sounds like homework on your vacation. I am interested in expenses also. To use as planning for future trips. A rough guide. I use a little notebook.
Your way….a bit much. What do you do with the results? And, god forbid, what if you are off in your calculations at the end? Does it drive you crazy?

our way….a bit much. What do you do with the results? And, god forbid, what if you are off in your calculations at the end? Does it drive you crazy?

We resolve our cash position every night. I guess it's my touch-o-OCD, but I do spend time thinking of the items I missed. It's just part of our travel approach.

Hey, just spent 2 1/2 weeks in Italy, I can tell you to the nickel what we spent in total. Could even break out air fare, hotels, restaurants and admissions. Beyond that, don't really care. The daily burn rate is the important number to me, and only for forward planning.

To each his own.

A small note pad like cops use works well! One page for daily expenses because one should know in advance the cost of air, rooms and car, for the most part. Or, just keep the receipts in an envelope and do a running tally at the end of the day or every few days. I know what I’m comfortable with spending a day and unless some unexpected issue crops up, I know what I’m spending. God rest his soul, my aeronautical engineer husband drove me crazy. I told him to stick to airplane design spread sheets or calculations and relax on the travel stuff.

My husband used to use his accountancy background to create a spreadsheet of costs for trips, but not a complicated as yours - just airfare, car hire, fuel, food etc. We only use one credit card when we travel and weren’t bothered if it was cash or credit as it all came off the one account.

He hasn’t bothered for the last 5 years or more as his view is it costs what it costs. We have online credit card statements available if we need to check the costs.

With prices rising rapidly, what something cost 5 years ago is now irrelevant for trip costings today.

I use the trail wallet app. (On the points guy list). I set up the categories for spending and add whatever currencies. Each night I enter what we spent, with description, and they do the adding. There is a pie chart so I can see what always costs the most. Also, all previous trips are at a touch of the screen. Do I forget to put items in, like the toll we paid yesterday driving from Zagreb to Rijeka, maybe (will do it now, lol) but i get an overall picture. My husband doesn’t care what anything costs. He believes we spent 40+ years working and budgeting and he isn’t doing it any more. It’s now my area.

I admire your attention to detail but I'd make myself miserable if I'd figure out what I actually spent compared to what I think I spent...

I also work out the cost of my trips. I work it out afterwards, using using the data from my credit card and savings accounts. So I like this spreadsheet, because I also like to know where the money has gone. But I would not do it during the trip. For a start carrying a laptop anywhere is a pain. I have had to carry one for work trips and hated it.

I also note in my paper diary my spending. I also find this information useful. In fact it was the original reason I started keeping travel diaries.

I know in advance what my spending will be more or less. After all flights and accommodation has been booked I know the major expenses. The rest is food,wine and public transportation,since I travel alone by preference it's not complicated.
This brings to memory the one time I traveled with another woman in Portugal;it was a disaster. She wanted to split some expenses down to the last fraction of a euro and had a public meltdown in the Lisbon farmers' market because she thought someone overcharged her by less than a euro.

I am going to add up our expenses from our latest trip because I want to see if all the posters who say that independent travel is cheaper than a Rick Steves tour are right. I am in the process of adding it all up and will report back.

I never learned how to do an excel spread sheet. Being that detailed would drive me crazy. Although I overthink a lot of stuff, the only budgeting I do is as I plan my itinerary: where to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to do. Notes are on a word doc mainly because I can understand how to use it. After that I just pay for what I want to do and buy. I know how much cash I'm taking, what my travel account balance is and what my credit card bills are.