Knowing what you've spent — and what's left — takes a lot of stress out of travelling. Trip Planner gives every trip its own budget and expense list, and a separate Budget & Expenses page that adds everything up across all your trips.
Set your trip budget
Your budget is part of the trip itself. You can enter it when you create the trip (Budget (optional) plus a currency), or later: open the trip, click the pencil button next to its name and fill in Budget in Edit Trip.
The budget is optional. Without one you can still record expenses — you just won't see how much is left.
The Budget tab
Open a trip and click the Budget tab. At the top you'll find:
- Today's Spending — what you've recorded for today. Click Set daily limit to give yourself a daily spending cap. A bar then shows how much of today's limit you've used — it turns amber when you're getting close, and you'll see Limit exceeded! if you go over. The daily limit is saved in your browser, so set it again if you switch to another device.
- Total Spent, Daily Avg, Budget and Remaining — your four key numbers.
- Budget Usage — a progress bar showing how much of your budget is used.
- By Category and Daily Spending charts — where the money went, and on which days.
If you've recorded expenses in more than one currency, use the currency drop-down at the top of the tab to switch between them. Totals are calculated per currency — amounts aren't converted.
Record an expense
Scroll down to Expenses and click Add Expense. Fill in:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Description | What you paid for, e.g. "Dinner at the harbour" — required |
| Amount and Currency | How much you paid — required |
| Category | Accommodation, Food, Transport, Activities, Shopping or Miscellaneous |
| Date | When you paid (today by default) |
| Payment Method | Cash, credit card, debit card, wire transfer or mobile pay |
| Split Type | How the cost is shared with your travel group: Equal Split, By Percentage, Custom Amounts or Itemized |
| Notes (optional) | Anything you want to remember |
Two time-savers:
- Scan Receipt (auto-fill) — take or upload a photo of a receipt, and Trip Planner tries to read the amount and fill in the form for you. Always check the result before saving.
- Recurring Expense — turn this on for costs that repeat every day, such as a daily parking fee. One expense is created for each day of the trip.
Click Add Expense to save. To change an expense later, click it in the list; to delete it, hover over it and click the trash icon.
Record expenses as you go — at the end of each day takes two minutes. Trying to remember everything after you get home is much harder, and your Today's Spending limit only helps if it's up to date.
From the expense list you can also download your expenses as CSV or PDF (available on paid plans).
See all trips together: Budget & Expenses
Budget & Expenses in the sidebar shows spending across every trip. At the top you'll see Total Spent, the number of Transactions and your Top Category. Underneath, a Category Breakdown shows how your spending splits, followed by every expense grouped by date.
Use the buttons below the totals to filter: All Trips, or a single trip. Like the Budget tab, the page shows one currency at a time — pick it from the drop-down at the top.
You can add expenses here too: click Add Expense, choose the Trip, and you'll also be able to choose a Day of the trip and who paid (Paid By). The Paid By buttons list the travelers you added to the trip, so add everyone's name to the trip first.
Booking costs (flights, hotels and so on) are tracked on the Bookings tab and don't automatically count as expenses. If you want them in your spending totals, add them as expenses as well.
FAQ
Activity costs on the itinerary are plans. Total Spent only counts the expenses you've recorded on the Budget tab or the Budget & Expenses page.
The expense is saved in the currency you chose. Totals are shown per currency, and the trip summary tiles use the trip's own currency, with a note if some expenses are in other currencies. Nothing is converted automatically.
No. On the trip's Budget tab, expenses are deleted as soon as you click the trash icon, so be careful. On the Budget & Expenses page you're asked to confirm first.